Cetina Canyon Zipline Adventure with Optional Transport Split

From Split to the Cetina canyon

The default option starts at a central meeting point in Split, which we confirm with your booking, where our air-conditioned vehicle collects the group at 10:30 or 14:30. The drive follows the coast south past the beaches of Podstrana and the small resorts of the Omis Riviera, with the Adriatic on one side and the slopes of the Mosor and Omiška Dinara mountains on the other, before turning up into the canyon at Omis. It takes under an hour.

Zipline near Split is one of the most searched adventure activities in Dalmatia, and the transfer removes the main obstacle, because the canyon has no public transport and parking at the base is limited. Guests with their own car can choose the option without transport and meet us at the base directly.

The zipline base and the Cetina gorge near Omis

The base sits on the edge of the Cetina canyon a few kilometres inland from Omis, where the river has cut a gorge several hundred metres deep through the limestone of the coastal mountains. The walls are sheer grey rock with pine and oak clinging to the ledges, and far below the Cetina winds green and clear towards the sea. This is the same canyon known for rafting; the zipline gives you the view from the top instead of the bottom.

On arrival the instructors fit each guest with a harness, helmet and gloves and run through the safety rules, then everyone tries a short practice line close to the ground to learn how to sit back, brake and land. The small group of up to 10 means every question gets answered before the first big wire.

The climb to the first platform

From the practice line a short walk leads uphill to the first platform, perched on the rim of the canyon. The path is easy but rocky, so closed shoes are essential, and the walk takes around 10 to 15 minutes with the instructors setting the pace. As the trees open up, the full depth of the gorge appears below, with the river threading between the cliffs.

The platforms are built into the rock and secured with steel cables, and an instructor is on every one of them to clip you in, check the trolley and send you off. A Cetina canyon zipline tour is run with two instructors per group so that one launches and one receives at every wire.

Six wires across the canyon

The course consists of six wires that zigzag back and forth across the gorge, with the longest at about 800 metres and the whole route adding up to about 2,500 metres. Each ride lasts from a few seconds to well over a minute, and the speed builds on the longer lines as you hang above the river with the wind in your face. Between wires there are short walks along the rim to the next platform.

What makes zipline in Omis special is the setting: on the long lines you see the whole canyon, the villages of the Dalmatian hinterland on the plateau behind and, on clear days, the Adriatic and the islands beyond the river mouth. The whole experience on site takes about 3 hours, with time for photos at each platform.

Omis and the return to Split

The course ends back near the base, where you hand in the gear and have a drink of water before the transfer. Omis itself lies at the mouth of the canyon, a small town with a stone old town, the Mirabela fortress on the cliff above it and a long sandy beach where the river meets the sea, and many guests ask the driver about it on the way back.

The vehicle returns you to the meeting point in Split after the session, so the adventure takes up a morning or an afternoon and leaves the rest of the day free. The afternoon departure is popular in summer, when the canyon is in shade later in the day and the light over the sea is at its best.