The 15 Best Lake Kivu Tours & Boat Trips

1.Lake Kivu Boat Trips & Experiences

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 29 reviews · from $50Our pick

Set out on a private Lake Kivu boat ride with guides such as Josiane, Shema, or Patrick. Expect island views, local stories, and flexible stops. Add a coffee tour, Nyamyumba Hot Springs with a local massage, sunset hiking, the Congo night trail, or night fishing for an extra fee.

“The lake is beautiful with some islands and birds. The captain and the tour guide miss Giselle was wonderful, very friendly and experienced, her passionate commentary was so impressive”

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2.1 day Trip to Lake kivu beach

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 20 reviews · from $332

Leave Kigali at 7:00 am with a private guide for a full-day drive to Lake Kivu. Stop at a waterfall, meet the Gorilla Guardians community, enjoy lunch and a boat trip, and see Rubavu, BRALIRWA Brewery, and the DR Congo border area.

“Visiting Lake Kivu was amazing! Our tour guide was well informed and showed us the best photo spots!”

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3.One-day Kivu Lake Adventure

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 15 reviews · from $175

Leave Kigali early for Lake Kivu, then cruise to Napoleon, Monkey, and Peace islands. You will hike Napoleon Island, eat lunch beside the water, and return with a driver-guide such as Bachou, Jean Paul, or Jean-Bosco. The small group has room for six, with Kigali pickup and WiFi onboard.

“The day-trip to Lake Kivu was lovely, especially since we had nice weather. Our driver, Bachou, was excellent and was with us all the times. The only thing we did in the lake was the boat ride (and the lunch). The boat ride lasted almost four hours because we had an issuRead more”

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4.1 day Cultural Adventure Tour in Lake Kivu

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 13 reviews · from $480

Travel from Kigali by private 4x4 to Lake Kivu for a boat ride, island views, beach time, and natural hot springs. You’ll also visit Iby’iwacu Cultural Village near Musanze, with traditional dance, weddings, medicine, and volcano views. Guide Aves is named in the tour feedback.

“My husband and I had a great time! Our 1 day Curtual Adventure Tour in Lake Kivu began with a drive to Lake Kivu where we experienced wonderful scenery of Rwanda. Aves, our guide was friendly and he were very knowledgeable which he sRead more”

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5.5 Days Volcanoes National park and Lake Kivu

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 11 reviews · from $6,500

This private five-day Rwanda trip pairs Kigali, Volcanoes National Park, and Lake Kivu. Your driver-guide handles the road travel, with gorilla and golden monkey treks, Ibyiwacu village, the Ellen DeGeneres Campus, sunset boating, and midrange stays included. Pickup and airport drop-off are available.

“My friends and I had a wonderful trip indeed! It was fun and we had a good experience with Shalom safaris! Good car, smooth drive, and hiking bisoke was not easy but seeing the final step at crater lake you feel the victory!!! Thanks shalom Read more”

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6.Mount Kabuye Hiking

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 9 reviews · from $120

Set out from Gakenke with a local guide such as Theophile or Justin for a 7 to 8 hour Mount Kabuye hike. Walk through rural villages, stop at Mushubi primary school, and reach broad views over Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo. Water, snacks, tea, coffee, and park fees are included.

“That was a great hiking.... beautiful, very spectacular landscape, friendly people.”

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7.Boat cruise and adventures -Karongi

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 8 reviews

From Kibuye, Patrick and the Rwanda Travel Experts team take you by boat across Lake Kivu for island visits, bird watching, monkey encounters, swimming, and sunset views. Trips last about 1 to 12 hours, with pickup available and room to tailor the route to your interests.

“We had a great time with Patrick in lake Kivu. He picked us up on time and took a tour visiting 4 islands. He shared with us a lot of interesting things about the nature around the people living around. The lake and places we stopped where beautiful. An amazing peacefRead more”

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8.Three-day Nyungwe Canopy and Kivu Lake Adventure

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 5 reviews · from $1,165

Travel from Kigali to Nyungwe National Park and Lake Kivu in a group of up to six with a driver-guide. Walk the forest canopy, visit islands by boat, hike Napoleon Island, and join a three-hour night-fishing outing before returning to Kigali.

“I really enjoyed this nature vacation-adventure. I had been to Lake Kivu before so Olivier kindly helped me to customize this trip with an early-morning chimpanzee trek in Nyungwe Park. The ever-present views of Kivu and other lakes were soRead more”

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9.Gisenyi city tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 4 reviews · from $79

Spend about six hours with Honorio Tours exploring Gisenyi’s Rwandan and Congolese character. Visit Mount Rubavu, the busy border, a culture center, and the home of bats, with lunch included. Pickup is offered, though you should confirm whether private transport costs extra before booking.

“I had a great time visiting Gisenyi and learning more about the dailyb life of the local people and their culture .Honario has a great understanding of the history of this place, he has made me learn many things in a short time... I am thinking of going back to Gisenyi with my friends.”

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10.The Congo Nil Trail Hiking (Gisenyi-Kibuye)

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $179

Join guide Honoré of Honorio Tours for a four-day hike from Gisenyi to Kibuye along Rwanda’s Congo Nile Trail. Walk through rolling hills beside Lake Kivu, visit villages and coffee plantations, swim, eat local dishes, and stay in included accommodations. Groups are limited to 10 people.

“What a super experience with Honorio tours, Honoré was very amazing since we meet. He picked us from the airport after three weeks that we booked and from there our adventure started and by the way we were expecting to enjoy our Congo Nil Experience the next dayRead more”

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11.Tea and coffee tours

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $80

Start in Rubavu at 8:00 am for a three-hour tea or coffee visit with Beyond the Gorillas Experience. You may see local harvesting, processing, and packaging, with Kinunu Coffee Washing Station and Lake Kivu among the featured places. Pickup is offered, lunch and water are included, and groups are capped at eight.

“What an incredible experience the tea tour is!! I went with some friends and we had a great time, the knowledge of our guide was incredible! We got to meet some local, learn about the tea process from harvesting to the packaging and we gRead more”

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12.One day Kivu Lake & Gisenyi Adventures

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $243

Spend up to eight hours with a private Usalama Tours Rwanda guide exploring Nyamyumba Hot Springs, Lake Kivu, Napoleon Island, and Gisenyi. Darius has guided this route, which includes a Rwandan lunch, boat activities, views toward Nyiragongo, and pickup.

“Ever wondered meandering around a hilly terrain for 3 hours drive to the key sites of this package, then you would want to miss this one day tour.”

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13.The Amazing Congo Nile Hiking & Biking Trail

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $96

Start on Lake Kivu at 7:00 am for a private boat ride to a coffee washing station. An agronomist explains the journey from coffee plant to cup, then you grind, cook, and taste the beans before returning by boat. Guides named Caesar and Shema are associated with longer Ames outings.

“Great day with Shema and his team. Unforgettable boat trip and sunset with fishermen. We climbed napoleon Island and got to know everything about coffee”

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14.1-Day Lake Kivu Karongi Boat Cruise & Coffee farming with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 3 reviews · from $380

Leave Kigali at 6 a.m. for Ndaba Rock and Karongi, then cruise Lake Kivu to Amahoro and Napoleon islands. You’ll hike, eat lunch by the water, and choose an Environmental Museum visit or coffee-farming tour. Guide Augustine may lead the day, with hotel and airport transfers included.

“Beautiful Lodge on the edge of Lake Kivu, Stunning views, I was staying with my Daughter and family in Rubengera, so we went a for dinner at this venue three times. Food was good, although the menu is rather limited, but considering the remoteness, I’m not surprised, Pretty Rustic Hotel.”

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15.5 Day Rwanda gorilla and Lake Kivu Safari

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $3,430

Travel from Kigali to Volcanoes National Park for a guided mountain gorilla trek, then visit Lakes Burera and Ruhondo and cruise Lake Kivu. The private five-day trip includes accommodation, meals, park fees, bottled water, a driver-guide, and airport transfer. Ask about guide Ronald if available.

“We had an amazing trip to Rwanda that was organized by Fred through East African jungle safaris. We did a gorilla trek and golden monkey trek and a day at lake kivu. They were so flexible and made our whole trip to Rwanda seamless and so enjoyable! Thanks for planning our trip of a lifetime!”

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