Before you book

Pregnant on a catamaran in Santorini

7 min read

Whether to sail while pregnant is a question for your midwife or doctor, not for us. The answer depends on the stage of the pregnancy and on you. What we can tell you is the boat: a catamaran does not lean, boarding is a step down onto a moving deck, and a private cruise can turn back.

We get this question most weeks, and the wrong answer to it is a confident one. So this page describes the boat and the day in detail, and stops there.

Take the detail to the person who knows your pregnancy. They can weigh it. We cannot.

This is not medical advice

We run boats. We are not doctors, midwives or pharmacists, and nothing on this page is clinical guidance. Whether a five-hour cruise is sensible for you depends on the stage of your pregnancy and on your own circumstances, and only your midwife or doctor can weigh those. What follows is a description of the boat, so you have something concrete to take to them.

What a catamaran is and is not

The main thing people have heard about catamarans is true, and it is often oversold.

Our boat is a Lagoon, with the hulls held wide apart. That width is why it does not heel. A monohull under sail leans onto one side and stays there; this does not. You can put a glass down.

What the width removes is the leaning. It does not remove the motion. In a swell the boat still pitches fore and aft and still rolls, and a wide boat can snap back quicker than a narrow one. Calm is a property of the day, not of the hull.

Morning water in Santorini is flatter than afternoon water. The meltemi usually builds after midday in July and August, so a 10:00 start is the smoothest ride the summer offers.

The numbers

What the day involves, against what to consider

The middle column is the boat. The right-hand column is the part to take to your midwife or doctor, or to us if it is about the vessel.

Part of the day	What actually happens	What to consider
Getting aboard	A step down from the quay onto a deck that is moving, however slightly. A crew member takes your hand and your bag.	There is no ramp and no lift. If the step worries you, tell us before you book rather than on the morning.
Under way	Two hulls held wide apart, cruising at about 12 knots. The boat does not lean over.	The width removes the leaning, not the motion. Ask a pharmacist about anything you would normally take for it.
Where you sit	The cockpit is shaded by the bimini and has fixed seating with backs and a table.	Stay aft. The trampolines forward are the most exposed part of the boat and the part that moves most.
Heat	Five hours outdoors. A morning cruise runs 10:00 to 15:00, which is the hottest stretch of a Santorini day.	Overheating and dehydration are the ordinary summer risks. Water is unlimited and included; the wine and beer are not for you.
The heads	Small marine toilets, reached down a companionway into a hull. Steep steps, a narrow door.	If you are at the stage of needing a toilet often, that companionway is the part worth thinking hardest about.
Swimming	From the stern platform into open water. The boat anchors offshore at every stop; nothing has a jetty.	There is no shallow entry and no lifeguard. Getting back aboard is up a ladder.
The hot springs	You swim from the boat into Agios Nikolaos bay at Palea Kameni. The water runs ochre from iron oxide, roughly 30–35 °C where the springs rise — a tourism figure, not an instrument reading.	Warm, sulphurous mineral water reached by an open-water swim. A doctor question, and the answer may well be no.
Distance from shore	The caldera is about 11 km across and roughly 390 m deep. The south-coast beaches are further round from any port.	Ask us for the route on your date if you want to know how far from a harbour you will be at the furthest point.
Turning back	A private boat can shorten the route or head home. A shared cruise carries up to 15 guests to one schedule.	If there is any chance you will want the day to end early, book the boat rather than a seat.

Departure times shift through the season because the sun does. The time on your confirmation is the time that applies.

Which format, if you do sail

Format	What it means for you
Private day cruise, 09:30–14:30	The most flexible thing we run. Your departure time, your stops, and a captain who turns for home when you ask. €1,200 for up to eight guests.
Semi-private day cruise, 10:00–15:00	€100 per person, morning water, up to 15 guests. Usually workable. You cannot leave early.
Sunset cruises	Afternoon wind is stronger than morning wind through the summer. Better light, less comfortable sea.
Full-day private, 10:30–20:30	Ten hours on the water. Long by any measure. A conversation for your midwife or doctor, not a default.
The RIB	About 20 knots, no cabin, little shade, and it slams through chop. We would not put a pregnant guest on it, and we will say so if you ask.
The water taxi	A short point-to-point crossing rather than a day out. The least time on the water of anything we run.

A private boat is never cheaper per head than a shared seat. €1,200 for eight is €150 each against €100. What it buys is control, not value.

What we will ask, and what we will not

Tell us when you book. Not because we will refuse you, and not because we want paperwork, but because the captain would rather know than find out at 11:00 off Red Beach.

We have no published gestational cut-off and no policy that says a particular week is too late. We will not ask for a doctor's note, and we will not tell you that you need one.

What we will do is answer questions about the boat as precisely as we can, and tell you when we do not know something. If you ask us whether it is safe for you, the honest answer is that we are not qualified to say.

If the sea is the worry rather than the pregnancy

Motion sickness on this coast is a real thing and it is mostly about timing. We wrote a separate guide to seasickness and sea conditions that goes through the meltemi, the time of day and where on the boat to sit. Read it before you decide which departure to book.

Ready when you are

Ask us about the boat. Ask your midwife about you.

Send us the date and whatever you need to know about the vessel. We answer the same day, and we say when we do not know.

Check availability & book

Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888

Common questions

Catamaran safe for pregnant women?

That is a question for your midwife or doctor, and it depends on the stage of the pregnancy and on you. What we can say is that a catamaran does not heel the way a monohull does, and that morning water in the caldera is flatter than afternoon water.

Can I go on a catamaran if I am pregnant?

We do not refuse pregnant guests and we publish no gestational limit. Speak to your doctor first, then tell us when you book so the captain knows. If you want the day shortened or the route changed, that needs a private boat rather than a shared seat.

Do I need a doctor's note?

We do not ask for one. That is our position, not advice — your airline, your insurer or your own doctor may take a different view, and their rules are not ours to interpret. What we do ask is that you tell us at booking rather than on the morning.

Can I swim in the hot springs while pregnant?

Ask your doctor. Two things are worth putting in front of them: the springs are reached by an open-water swim from the anchored boat, not by wading in, and the water is warm sulphurous mineral water carrying iron oxide out of the seabed. Nothing about the day requires you to get in.

Is a RIB tour safe during pregnancy?

We would not recommend it. The RIB runs at about 20 knots with no cabin and very little shade, and it slams rather than glides when there is any chop. The catamaran is a far gentler ride, and the water taxi is a short crossing rather than a long one.

Will you refuse to take me if I am pregnant?

No. We have no policy that declines a booking on those grounds and no week of pregnancy at which we stop. We do want to know, so the crew can put you in the shaded cockpit seating and keep an eye on how the day is going. Tell us at booking.

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

Updated August 2026