If you would like to discover the natural sights of Albania, a Vlora boat trip is the perfect choice. The abandoned Sazan Island, the Haxhi Ali cave, and the private beaches of the Karaburun peninsula offer an unforgettable experience. In this article, we share our personal impressions and practical tips for organizing a full-day boat tour. The natural beauty of the tour is a solid 10/10!

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Full-Day Vlora Boat Tour: Travel Times and Duration

This is a full-day programme, as the round trip from Qerret – we have our apartment here – takes approximately three hours, and the Vlora boat tour itself can last 2 hours or even 6 hours. We chose the longer, 6-hour version, and this article is about that experience.

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How to Get to a Vlora Boat Trip

So, Vlora and Central Albania, the place where the Adriatic Sea meets the Ionian Sea, and the sandy beaches typical of the Adriatic are replaced by pebbly, rocky shores. From Qerret, there is a dual highway to Vlora, with a maximum speed limit of 90 km/h; respecting this, though sometimes going a bit over, we reached the port on the outskirts of the city — which looks like a rusty industrial dock — in about an hour and a half. This is where our Vlora boat trip started, which we booked with the 3 Fiori company (locals pronounce it Tre Fiori). We rented our car in Durres through Discovercars, a Toyota Corolla, which cost 40 euros per day in June of 2025. Everything was fine with the car, and communication with the company was easy. (You can hire a car in Tirana, Vlora or Saranda too, this is our comprihensive guide, how to do it.)

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Vlora Boat Tour with 3 Fiori

Of the four speedboat tours, you have to choose the Sazan – Haxhi Ali Cave – Karaburun route, which costs €32 per person, but it was worth every single euro cent. At the time of writing this article, the tour still had a perfect 4.9-star rating on Google after 3058 reviews — truly a fantastic Vlora boat trip experience.

Our speedboat docked at the fishing port of Vlora — the starting point of our 6-hour Vlora boat trip to Sazan Island and Haxhi Ali.

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Where to park for the Vlora Sazan Island Boat Trip

In the GPS, you have to type this: Porti i Peshkimit in Vlorë (it looks like a shipwreck port, don’t be scared, you can drive in almost to the police container — the coast guard has a rusty metal box there), in front of it there is a larger gravel area, not paved, where you can leave your car, and the Vlora boat trip starts from there. (If you book on their website, they will give this place as the meeting point. This is their office address, and from there they take tourists by minibus to the port I mentioned above. It is up to you where you want to meet them, but if you go directly to the port, let them know in advance!)

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Schedule and Details of the Vlora Boat Tour

The tours depart daily at 9:00, 11:00, and 13:00, and last 6 hours: covering Sazan Island, Haxhi Ali cave, and a really nice private beach on the Karaburun peninsula — this is the full programme of the Vlora boat trip. The speedboat takes 22 people in total, 20 passengers plus 2 crew members. They do not stick too strictly to the exact departure time — for example, our 9:00 tour started around 9:30 — but you do not have to worry, it will go. Our group included Dutch, Poles, and Belgians. I had a great chat about football with one of the Dutch guys, and it turned out he’s a PSV Eindhoven fan. Once everyone was settled on the speedboat, the captain cranked up the music and hit the gas. The small boat then zipped across the blue sea, with a light sea mist kissing our faces – it was as real an experience as you could wish for.

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What to Pack for Your Vlora Boat Tour to Sazan and Karaburun

Take sunscreen, a hat, and water shoes with you. Refreshments (beer, soft drinks, water) will be available on the boat, included in the price of the Vlora boat trip, and you can buy food at the last stop on the beach, where there is a restaurant. But if you bring sandwiches, that works just as well.

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Visiting Sazan Island by Boat

We went in early June 2025, on a day when rain was threatening, sometimes drizzling, sometimes overcast, and sometimes the sun came out, so the photos do not always show how beautiful the sea really is there. Our first stop was Sazan Island, which served as a military base during communism and is still part of NATO today.

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Sazan Island: Military History & Tourist Access

Sazan Island was one of the most important military bases in the Mediterranean during the two World Wars, but especially during the Cold War, and it is also Albania’s westernmost maritime point. Around 3,600 bunkers were built on it. Since it was once inhabited (according to locals, during Enver Hoxha’s time, 12 military families lived there permanently), there was also a hospital and a school, which today belong to the Ministry of Defence. The island has only recently been opened to tourists.

Sazan Island rising from the Ionian Sea — Albania’s secret military past and a must-see stop on every Vlora boat trip.

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Sazan Island Tourism: Trump’s Son-in-Law, Ante Portas

The most recent news about Sazan Island is that in the summer of 2025, the Albanian government granted a construction permit to Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who plans to build luxury hotels on the island. The port here still shows the rust of communism, with corroded steel beams and crumbling concrete here and there, but that does not bother the speedboat captain when calmly docking. Next to the port, there is a small cove with pebbles and rocks; the water is refreshingly cool — our small boat stayed there for about half an hour.

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Inside Haxhi Ali Cave: Pirate Legends and Tips

The cave’s namesake was an Albanian pirate of Calabrian origin, who regularly hid here with his son in the 17th century. The karst cave, formed in the limestone cliffs, is 30 metres long, 10–12 metres wide, 18 metres high, and about 20 metres deep. Its walls are full of bat colonies. It is worth paying attention to when you arrive: take photos on the way in, because then the light is behind you. Once inside, the light comes directly from the front, so pictures will not capture the cave’s beauty as well.

Inside the majestic Haxhi Ali Cave — swim, snorkel, and soak up history during your Vlora boat trip adventure.

The place was already used in ancient times by merchants and travellers, and archaeologists have found amphorae from those times deep in the cave. Be prepared that the boat only stays inside for about 15–20 minutes, and you will share the space with other boats. It also gives a chance for a bit of snorkelling or swimming — if it is extremely hot outside, the water inside will feel pleasantly cool, shimmering in bluish-green colours.

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Karaburun Peninsula: Private Beach Experience

We spent most of the day on a private beach about 20 minutes by boat from there. The speedboat took us there and said it would come back for us at 16:00 — and so it did.

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Karaburun Private Beach: Costs and Space Tips

The Karaburun peninsula is the largest in Albania. It lies on the eastern side of the Strait of Otranto, at the boundary between the Adriatic and the Ionian Seas, which is why it has been one of the most important strategic points in the Mediterranean since ancient times. Its name comes from the Turkish words Kara Burun, meaning “Black Cape.”

Sunbathing and swimming at the exclusive Karaburun private beach — the perfect finale to a scenic Vlora boat trip along Albania’s coast.

On this private beach, they charge about 15 euros for an umbrella (with two beds underneath), so keep that in mind, as there is quite limited space. There is not much room to lay down your towel where there is no umbrella, so they have designed it quite cleverly.

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Karaburun Beach Restaurant and Lunch Prices

At the restaurant, we tried a salad with feta cheese, olive oil, and fresh bread — the salad cost 13 euros, and the bread 7 euros — not exactly cheap, but very tasty. We spent the time swimming, sunbathing, reading, and generally enjoying ourselves.

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Vlora City Center and the Muradie Mosque

From there, we headed back to the port, and before reaching Qerret, we stopped in Vlora’s city center, where a huge monument marks the place where Albania’s independent nation state was proclaimed on November 28, 1912, and the provisional government led by Ismail Qemali was established.

The jewel of the city center is the famous Muradie Mosque, designed by the greatest architect of the Ottoman Empire, Mimar Sinan, during the reign of Suleiman I, completed in 1542. It does not belong to the built Albanian heritage strictly speaking, but rather to the social, community heritage — still, it was interesting to see how in the parks of the city, men gathered in groups to play board games.

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Bonus Tip: Albanian Riviera Road Trip

(If you go on your own, and only sign up for the shortest two-hour speedboat tour, then you can still fit in a road trip along the Albanian Riviera on the panoramic SH8 highway, which runs 130 kilometres from Vlora to Saranda, mostly along the coast, but also crossing the 1,027-metre-high Llogara Pass, from where you have a stunning view of the Ionian Sea. In this article, I will also show in detail what Instagram-worthy photo spots, hidden beaches, and bays are worth visiting during the Albanian SH8 Riviera road trip, and also give tips on where to rent a car for your journey.)

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FAQ Block – Vlora Boat Trip to Sazan Island and Haxhi Ali Cave

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