Access on board

Wheelchair access on a Santorini boat tour: what our boat is and is not

7 min read

Our catamaran is not wheelchair accessible. You board over the transom onto a moving deck, the cockpit is a step up from the stern, and the heads are down a companionway inside a hull. There is no lift and no accessible toilet. Some guests with limited mobility manage a private cruise with the crew's help.

This is the page we would rather lose a booking over than get wrong. If you use a wheelchair full time, the short answer is that our boat does not work, and the rest of this page explains exactly where it stops working.

If you walk but walk badly, or you tire, or one knee will not take a step down, the answer is different and it is worth reading on.

Why we say it this plainly

Access questions get answered with hope in this industry. Someone says it should be fine, the family flies to Santorini, and the problem turns up on a quay at 09:20 with fifteen other guests watching.

So here is the boat, barrier by barrier, with nothing dressed up. Then the part that is genuinely good, because there is one. Then the alternatives, including one we do not sell.

The numbers

Each part of the day, against the access reality

Part of the day	What it involves	The access reality
Getting to the boat	A car collects you from your hotel and returns you to it. That is included in the price.	The easiest part of the day. Tell us the hotel and we will find out where the car can actually stop.
The walk to the quay	Cliffside hotels in Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia are often reachable only on foot, down pedestrian paths.	If your hotel is one of those, the walk to the road can be harder than the boat. Say so early.
The quay itself	Your exact meeting point is confirmed with your booking.	Working quays here are uneven concrete with bollards, lines and a drop to the water. We cannot promise a smooth surface.
Boarding	Over the transom at the stern, onto a deck that moves with the water.	Not step-free. No ramp, no lift, no hoist. Crew can take an arm and take your bag. We do not lift wheelchairs aboard.
The stern platform	The swim platform at the back, level with the sea, where you step from.	Wet underfoot and the part of the boat that moves most. This is where a step goes wrong if it goes wrong.
Into the cockpit	One step up from the stern into the shaded seating area.	That single step decides most of these conversations. There is no way around it and no ramp over it.
Once you are in the cockpit	Level deck, shade under the bimini, fixed seating with backs, a table, and the whole caldera in front of you.	The good news. If you can get here, five hours here is comfortable and you miss nothing worth seeing.
Moving forward	A narrow side deck with a coaming to step over, then netting between the hulls rather than solid deck.	Not manageable with most mobility limits. Also not necessary — the view from the cockpit is the same view.
The toilet	Marine heads down a companionway inside a hull: steep steps, a narrow door, a small compartment.	There is no accessible toilet on this boat. This is the barrier we cannot solve, and we will not suggest we can.
Swimming	From the stern platform into open water, at anchor, offshore. No stop has a jetty.	No shallow entry, and getting back aboard means a ladder. Assisted for some guests, impossible for others.
The length of the day	Five hours, or ten on the full-day charter.	A shared cruise cannot come back early. A private one can, and can also go slower and drop a stop.
Sun and shade	The bimini shades the cockpit. Nothing else on deck is shaded.	Choose your seat as you board and tell the crew you are staying in it. They will work around you.
Briefings	Spoken on deck, before we leave, with engines running.	If you are deaf or hard of hearing, tell us before you book and we will agree how the crew get the information to you.

We have not measured this boat for publication. See the note below on what we do not yet know.

What is actually possible

Everything above is the problem. This is the part that is true as well.

The cockpit is level and shaded. Once you are in it, you can stay in it for the whole cruise. Nothing about the day requires you to move, swim, or go forward. Lunch comes to the table you are sitting at.

The crew can help. Two or three of them are aboard. They can steady you across the transom, carry everything you are holding, and take the boat's motion into account when they choose the moment.

A private boat can go slower. It can pick the calmest hour of the morning, cut the route short, skip the stop that involves the most motion, and turn for home when you have had enough. A shared cruise, carrying up to 15 people, can do none of that.

We will talk it through before you book. Send us what you can and cannot do — a step, a distance, how long you can stand, whether you can take a hand. We will tell you what we think, and we will say no if no is the answer.

The alternatives, ranked honestly

Option	For a guest with limited mobility
Private catamaran cruise with crew assistance	The best boat option we have. Calm slot, slower pace, an early return, and two or three crew who know you are coming.
Semi-private catamaran seat	Same boat, same barriers, none of the flexibility. Fifteen guests to one schedule and no early finish.
The water taxi	The shortest time on the water of anything we run. Still requires boarding over the transom onto a moving deck.
A large volcano boat	More deck, but the point of it is walking up Nea Kameni, which is a rough uphill path over loose volcanic rock.
The RIB	Not suitable. Eight seats, about 20 knots, no cabin, and it slams through chop.
An accessible land tour by ramped van	The honest recommendation for a full-time wheelchair user. We do not run one. santorinidave.com states that most Santorini catamaran tours are not wheelchair accessible because of the island's morphology, and lists operators running accessible tours by ramped van (seen 25 August 2026).

What we do not know yet

We have not published the width of the transom step, the height of the step into the cockpit, or the door width of the heads, because we have not measured them. Until we have, we will not quote numbers, and you should not trust anyone in Santorini who quotes them without having measured either.

If those measurements would decide your booking, message us on WhatsApp. Someone will go down to the boat with a tape and send you the actual figures.

Ready when you are

Tell us before you book, not after

Describe what you can and cannot do. We will answer with what the boat can and cannot do, including no.

Check availability & book

Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888

Common questions

Can a wheelchair user board a catamaran in Santorini?

Not on our boat. You board over the transom onto a deck that is moving, and the cockpit is a step up from there. There is no ramp, no lift and no hoist, and we do not lift wheelchairs aboard. A ramped-van land tour is the honest alternative.

Is the on-board toilet accessible?

No. The heads are small marine toilets reached down a companionway inside one of the hulls, with steep steps and a narrow door. There is no accessible toilet on the boat and no way to make one. On a five-hour cruise that matters, so plan around it.

Can we board without steps?

No. Boarding is over the transom at the stern, and the cockpit is one step up from there. A crew member can take your hand, steady you and carry your things, and the captain can pick a calm moment. What nobody can do is remove the steps.

What are the alternatives to a catamaran?

A private charter with crew assistance is the best boat option. A water taxi is the shortest crossing but still needs boarding. For a full-time wheelchair user, an accessible land tour by ramped van is the sensible answer — santorinidave.com lists Santorini operators running them (seen 25 August 2026).

Which tour is best for older travelers?

A catamaran, and preferably a private one. The cockpit is level and shaded, there is fixed seating with backs, swimming is entirely optional, and nothing in the day involves a cliff path or a queue. Boarding still means a step down onto a moving deck, so tell us about any limits first.

Can the crew help someone who walks slowly?

Yes, and this is the case where a boat day often works well. Two or three crew are aboard. They can steady you across the transom, take everything you are carrying and pick the calmest moment to move. A private cruise then lets us go at your pace.

Santorini Boat Tour - Water Taxi is a catamaran cruise and water taxi operator based in Fira, Santorini.

Updated August 2026