What to Bring, and Who Should Not Book

What is provided, and what is not

Provided: the boat, an experienced skipper and life jackets. That is the list, and it is worth reading as a list rather than as an outline.

Not provided: food and drink. On a shorter cruise that is a detail. On a full day it is not, and it is the single most common thing passengers wish they had known. Bring water in particular, because sun and salt air dehydrate faster than people expect and there is nowhere to buy anything once you leave.

Bring what you would take on a day out rather than what you would take on a hike. A cool bag is not excessive on a summer full-day option.

The boat has shade, but not everywhere and not for everyone at once. Assume you will spend a good part of the day in direct sun.

It is also worth checking your meeting point rather than assuming. The operator runs several options of different lengths and the departure point varies between them, which is a detail that has stranded people at the wrong pontoon.

What to bring

Sunglasses, and proper ones. Light coming off water is relentless and squinting for six hours is genuinely unpleasant.

Sun cream, applied before you board and again during. This is the item people most often underestimate on a boat, because the breeze removes the sensation of burning without removing any of the burning. A high factor, reapplied.

A hat that will not blow off. On a moving boat that means something with a strap or something you are prepared to hold.

A towel, which the operator lists, and which is useful for sitting on hot upholstery as much as for anything else.

Comfortable clothes and comfortable shoes. Deck shoes or trainers with a soft sole are ideal; heels are not, and bare feet on a hot deck are a mistake people make once.

A light layer for the run back. The sea breeze at speed is cooler than the beach you left.

Leave behind anything you would mind losing. Deck space is limited, things slide, and a boat that is moving does not care what you put down. One small bag that closes is worth more than three loose items.

A towel and sunglasses on a boat seat

Cameras and phones

Bring one, obviously. This is one of the more photographed coastlines in Europe and the reason is not mysterious.

Secure it. A lanyard, a wrist strap or a zipped pocket, because a phone dropped over the side of a boat above a limestone seabed is gone. This happens on every coast, every summer, and always to somebody who was sure it would not.

Expect salt spray and expect the lens to fog and smear. A microfibre cloth is a small thing that improves every photograph you take after the first ten minutes.

Inside the cave, the contrast between the lit sand and the shadowed dome defeats most cameras. Expose for the rock rather than for the light, or accept that the bright patch will blow out. Phones in high dynamic range mode do better than they used to.

Video is worth remembering here as well. The cave has sound as well as light, water moving in a hard chamber, and thirty seconds with the audio on carries more of the place than any still frame does.

Who should not book this

The operator lists four groups and they are firm rather than advisory.

Pregnant passengers. Back problems. Heart problems. Wheelchair users.

The reason in every case is the same. A yacht at sea moves constantly and unpredictably, boarding involves stepping onto a deck that is not still, and there is no version of the trip in which any of that becomes flat, stable or level.

On a coast with swell running in, even a calm day involves motion. That is fine for most people and it is not a small thing for anybody whose back or heart makes it a risk.

If you are unsure rather than clearly excluded, contact the operator before booking rather than turning up and hoping. Being told no at the pontoon is the worst possible version of this conversation.

The rules at the cave

Two of them, and both matter more than they sound.

Nobody gets out of the boat inside the cave. Landing on the sand is not permitted, for anybody, on any vessel.

Swimming to or inside the cave is not permitted either. This is not the operator being cautious; it is a rule that exists because people swimming across water used by boats, in a confined chamber with swell in it, is a genuinely dangerous combination.

There is one more that reads oddly on a booking page and makes sense on a boat: life jackets are equipment and deliberately damaging one is charged for. It appears in the terms because it has happened, not because it is expected of you.

Beyond that, the ordinary things. Listen to the skipper, hold on when the boat is moving, and stay seated when asked.

Before you book

From meeting point to water

1. Check your meeting point

   It varies with the option booked, so read the confirmation rather than assuming a single address.

2. Sun cream on, before the boat

   Applied on land and reapplied afterwards. The breeze hides the burning without preventing it.

3. Step onto a moving deck

   Take the offered hand. This is the moment the health restrictions exist for.

4. Secure everything loose

   Phones on a strap, hats held, bags where they cannot slide. The boat will move more than you expect.

5. Stay aboard

   No landing on the sand and no swimming, whatever the sea is doing that day.

6. A layer for the run home

   Sea breeze at speed is cooler than the beach, and most people want a light top by then.