Strel Swimming Adventure Holidays Reviews 

My first ever Open Water Swimming trip to abroad. A friend of mine recommended Strel and Turkey and he was was right: it was an awesome experience! Sun, swim, good food and wonderful international group. Worth every euro!

Relaxing and easygoing, safe. Felt like an active holiday without stress.

This was my first time sea swimming these distances and I felt in very safe hands throughout. Our swim guides Ryan and Anna were excellent, the boat was great and the swimming sublime. Kas is a great place to explore and we had the pleasure of swimming with turtles. My one concern as a coeliac who can only eat gluten free food, is that the food on the boat was a pot luck approach ( without any info) which was tricky at times.

Wonderful trip, vessel, crew and trip leaders…can’t say enough good things about out Turkey swim trip …GO!

I had a wonderful time swimming in Loreto in May 2022. The weather was beautiful and the water was warm, calm and clear! The Strel guides took great care of us and I always felt safe swimming and exploring the waters and beaches of the islands off of Loreto. Thanks for an amazing week!

Best possible post-pandemic open water swimming experience! We felt really safe and protected by Borut and the team. Loreto and its surrounding natural, protected park is a hidden gem. Swimming sites were varied and the aquatic life was spectacular - huge schools of colorful fish, manta rays and of course, dolphins, whales and turtles. We hardly saw any other people/boats - perfect swimming conditions.

We went on an 8-day swim trip to Kas, Turkey in September 2021. Best vacation I've had. The staff was extremely competent, interesting, and fun. The hillside hotel was lovely and had a delicious fresh breakfast buffet. Days were spent on the boat, which stopped for us to swim in different, equally beautiful locations each day. It was all completely relaxed and self-paced, with swimmers of various levels all having a great time. Delicious lunches on the boat were prepared by the captain's wife. Overall, this was a delightful trip and we have already booked another!

I had never been on a swim trip before going on the Strel swim trip in Kas in September, 2021. It was the best vacation I ever had. The hotel was lovely, high up on a hill with an ocean view. Every morning our group would gather at the Turkish gulet to hear about where we would be swimming that morning. Every swim was delightful in different ways: one following a bay, another island hopping, another swimming over an ancient submerged city. Swimmers could go at their own pace. I loved swimming slowly and savoring being in the crystal-clear Mediterranean and absorbing the views. The lunches on the boat the Captain's wife prepared were extraordinary: full spreads of a variety of vegetables, fruits, seafood, meats, and rice dishes delicately seasoned and perfectly cooked. We would then relax, read, talk on the deck for an hour or so before the afternoon swim. The evenings we had to ourselves to explore the many restaurants or walk to the Roman amphitheater outside of Kas to watch the sunset. Our small group of travelers assigned to the same boat ended up liking each other so much that we often all had dinner together, including our amazing (and hilarious) Strel guide Diane. Strel made sure every detail of the trip was flawless. Almost immediately after returning from this trip, we made plans to take another Strel trip, this time signing up for a boat swim trip off the coast of Turkey. We can't wait!

What a fun way to get in shape, even while ,swimming and eating and drinking our way around Croatian islands and coast!!! Great group of people and well organized swims by Borut and his crew! I will do this again for sure!!!

I went on the Swim Sail Cruise trip in Turkey and it was an absolutely amazing experience. Before the trip I had good communication from the Strel Swimming team who promptly answered the questions I had. On the trip the boat was beautiful and extremely comfortable to stay on, the swims were idyllic, and the food was so tasty! I enjoyed relaxing in the sun in my free time as well as us stopping off at interesting points along the coast. If you enjoy swimming, I would certainly recommend Strel Swimming holidays for a well organised, care-free holiday experience.

Despite low water levels, swimming in Lake Powell immersed us in clean, calm water. With little current and nothing scary in the water, we felt free to enjoy the unique, beautiful rock formations, including dinosaur tracks! We could imagine when the land was all under water. Borut and Martin prepared delicious, healthful lunches for our mid-day breaks.

I swam at Loreto at the end of October. Strel’s first year there. Beautiful. Hats off to Borut for assembling a great crew.

This was my third time swimming in lake Powell. The first 2 times I was there with my family and the last time with my lap swim buddies from home. lake Powell is the most perfect and fun swimming pool. You will never swim in a more interesting place. The water is clean and a perfect temperature. I was lucky enough to have Martin on each of our trips. What a pleasure to meet a legend and hear all of his swimming stories. Borut and Nina are expert guides and took us to the best swim locations. I cannot recommend this trip highly enough.

I really enjoyed Kas Turkey trip with Strel Swimming last October. This was my second trip with them. Three guides: Anna, Ryan and Borut were all fantastic. Gulet boat was very comfortable and lunches delicious. Captain Osman and his wife are super nice hosts. Kas is a lovely small hidden gem in the southern coast of Turkey. Swimming was very pleasant and the water is super clear. I can't wait to go back...

I booked a swimming holiday with Strel during the pandemic based on good reviews. The booking with confidence guarantee stated the holiday could be rearranged once with no penalty. Strel cancelled the holiday and I was offered either a cash refund or to postpone the trip to a later date. Wanting to support the travel industry I agreed to postpone my booking. I was unable to travel on the rearranged date due to covid. I expected to be able to change my booking under the terms of the booking with confidence guarantee. I contacted Strel to enquire about making the change. Strel ignored my emails, phone calls and social media messages for 3 weeks. They finally replied saying that I had used my one date change and it was now too close to the start of the trip to reclaim any of their costs. Customer service was poor. I'm sure the trips are good if you actually get to go.

Strel Swimming is a stellar company to swim with. And Loreto/Baja is an absolutely stunning place to swim -- cactus covered hills that plunge into a blue sea, a charming town and beautiful weather. Great group of swimmers, guides and boat captains/crews. Super fun.

I had truly an amazing experience swimming in Turquoise waters everyday. I came with the intention of improving my open water swimming as a beginner triathlete and I achieved this goal with the coaching I got from the swim guide Diane. The captain, Ozzy and Diane saw that we were safe in the water at all times. The cuisine on the boat was excellent and super healthy prepared by the captain's wife. I would recommend Strel Swim holidays because it's well organised. Diane and Ozzy have a wealth of experience and knowledge integrating coordinating the group of swimmers safely in the water and the coaching each swimmer got was so motivating for us all. I am happy to say I'm in the process of planning my next holiday with Strel in the Autumn with the same group of swimmers who were very inclusive and sociable. Roll on October, Gulet cruise on the Lycian coast.

Turkey Kas/Lycian coast trip in October 2021

Honestly: the best week I had in 2021. It was my first experience with Strel Trips and my first swimming trip at all. So, to meet new people, to swim the first time in open water and many other things (pandemic, alone among new people, organization - normally I'm used to organize everything myself..., first time in southern Turkey and so on) was somehow quite "risky".
Final result: a fantastic week.
Perfectly organized (not too strict like in a "holiday-jail" but just every important thing was "there" and working; you always felt as a part of a team). Borut and his team are simply great.

So, yes, I loved the place, the sea, the food. But the best was the relaxed and inspiring atmosphere, the people, the professional and relaxed behavior.

As soon as possible: AGAIN.

What a fantastic week in Symi. Aoife has done an incredible job of looking after us all. What a great sense of humour! She managed to deal with a huge range of abilities and wishes. Toby has been great. Beautiful swims and fantastic bays and tavernas. Captain Pablos has also done a great job and I felt very looked after. The group of 15 got on so well together and ate together every night which is pretty unusual.
Would definitely do this trip again.

Magical Lake Powell

Swimming in between canyons in Lake Powell is an out of this world experience. Borut and Martin care about safety as well as making this experience amazing for all of the swimmers. Turquoise water against the red rock make this experience a picturesque memory of a lifetime.

amazing how near it is from los angeles (nonstop flight, shorter than people spend sitting in traffic in LA during rush hour) and yet, loreto is still tranquil springboard to wonderful islands for swimming with strel. when i read about loreto marine park i prayed that we also get lucky and see dolphins but to my surprise the dolphins were jumping up and down not just once but literally almost every day during our trip. so special. we also got to visit seals and even blue-footed boobies that i thought i would only see once in my life (when i visited galapagos) but surprisingly here they were too: in loreto marine park! great way to swim and see marine life!