Food on board

Vegetarian, vegan and allergies on a Santorini boat tour

7 min read

Vegetarian is straightforward. The lunch cooked on board is BBQ chicken and shrimp, Greek salad, pasta in tomato sauce, vine leaf rolls and the dips, so most of that is already meat-free. Vegan works with notice at booking. A severe allergy needs a conversation before you book, because one small galley cannot promise a separate one.

Lunch is cooked on the boat, at anchor, while you are in the water. That single fact explains everything below: what the crew can change easily, what they need warning about, and the one thing no boat this size can honestly promise.

The published menu is short and it does not change much, because it is cooked on a grill on a moving boat rather than in a restaurant.

BBQ chicken and shrimp off the grill. A Greek salad. Pasta in tomato sauce. Vine leaf rolls and the dips alongside them. Santorini wine, beer, soft drinks and water, unlimited, in the price.

Read that list as a vegetarian and you will notice that the salad and the pasta are already meat-free, and the plates cover a good deal more. Read it with a shellfish allergy and you will notice the shrimp, which shares a grill with the chicken on every single cruise.

That is the honest starting point. Everything else is a question of how much notice the crew get, because the shopping is done before the boat leaves.

The numbers

Diets on board, and the notice we need

Tell us at booking, in writing, and we will confirm what the crew can do before you pay. The rule of thumb is that removing something is easy and replacing it needs warning.

Diet or allergy	How much notice we need	What you can expect
Vegetarian	At booking	Straightforward. The Greek salad, the pasta, the dolmades and most of the dips are already meat-free, and the grill takes vegetables in place of chicken. Tell us and the crew provisions for it properly rather than leaving you the side dishes.
Vegan	At booking, and the earlier the better	Possible, but it needs warning. Shopping happens before the cruise, so a request made on the morning may not be workable. Tell us when you book and we will confirm in writing what the crew can do before you pay for anything.
Gluten-free	At booking	The pasta and the bread are the problem. The grill and the salad are not. We can keep the gluten off your plate. We cannot promise a gluten-free galley, and if you are coeliac that distinction matters.
Dairy-free	At booking	Simple on the grill and the salad. The cheese and the yoghurt-based dips stay off your plate.
No pork	At booking	Nothing on the menu is pork. The grill is chicken and shrimp.
Shellfish allergy	Before you book	Shrimp is cooked on the same grill as the chicken, every cruise. A mild intolerance is manageable — we simply do not serve it to you. A severe reaction is a different conversation, and it needs to happen before you pay.
Nut allergy	Before you book, not on the day	We cannot guarantee a nut-free galley. Tell us how severe it is and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right boat for you. Sometimes the answer will be no.
Any anaphylactic allergy	A conversation before you book	Bring your own auto-injector and tell the crew where it is when you board. A boat at anchor in the caldera is not the place to discover that a plate was wrong.
Halal or kosher certified	—	No. We cannot certify either, and we would rather say so on this page than at the table.
A child who eats almost nothing	At booking	Plain grilled chicken, bread and pasta, served without the sauce if that is what works. Tell us the ages when you book anyway, for the life jackets.

A booking needs 24 hours' notice at the very least, and a dietary request needs more than that if it is unusual. What is also published is the cancellation window: on a shared cruise, free seven days or more before departure.

The galley, honestly

Our catamaran has one galley, one grill and two or three crew who are also sailing the boat.

Lunch goes on while you are swimming, at anchor, usually somewhere between the hot springs and the run home. There is one work surface. Chicken and shrimp come off the same grill. Salad is made in the same small space as everything else.

So cross-contamination cannot be guaranteed against. No boat this size can promise you a separate preparation area, and any operator who tells you otherwise is describing a kitchen they do not have. We will keep an allergen off your plate. We will not tell you the galley is free of it.

That is why a severe allergy belongs in a message before you book, not in the notes field on the day. Given the conversation in advance, we can usually make it work, or say clearly that we cannot. Given it at 12:45 with the grill already going, we can do neither.

On board

What is in the price, food and drink included

In the price

Return road transfer between your hotel and the boat
Greek and English speaking crew
A meal cooked on board: BBQ chicken and shrimp off the coals, Greek salad, pasta in tomato sauce, vine leaf rolls, and Greek dips with bread
Santorini white wine, cold beer, soft drinks and water
Snorkelling gear
Towels
Captain, crew, fuel, insurance and port fees

Not included

Walking on the volcano (the boats anchor offshore)
Nea Kameni national park entrance fee
Gratuities

Two questions we cannot answer from a web page

Can I bring my own food or drink? We have not published a policy on this, and it may well differ between a shared seat and a private charter. Message us before you buy a cake for somebody's birthday, so nobody is caught out at the dock.

What exactly is in the cold plates and dips on my date? It depends on what the crew found that morning. Santorini is a small island with a short supply chain, and the menu bends to it. If a specific ingredient is a problem for you, name the ingredient rather than the dish and we will check.

Everything else about the food — who cooks it, when, and what it looks like coming off the grill at anchor — is in what the crew cooks on board.

The rule in one line

Removing something is easy and can be done on the day. Replacing something needs the crew to have bought it before the boat left. That is the whole difference between a vegetarian request and a vegan one.

Ready when you are

Tell us the requirement before you pay

Send the date, the number of guests and the diet or allergy in plain words. We will come back the same day with what the crew can actually do — including, sometimes, that we are not the right boat. You can also put it in the booking form.

Check availability & book

Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888

Common questions

Are there any vegetarian or vegan options for the onboard meal?

Yes for vegetarian, and the salad and the pasta with tomato sauce are meat-free before anyone adapts anything. Vegan is possible with notice, because the crew shop before the cruise and cook at anchor. Tell us your requirement when you book rather than on the day, and we will confirm it in writing.

Do you have options for vegetarians or special diets?

We do, and the timing rule is the same for all of them: flag it at booking. Allergies in particular need advance notice, because the meal is cooked in one small galley by crew who are also sailing the boat. Send us the specifics and we will confirm what the crew can do before you pay.

How much notice do you need for a vegan meal?

As early as you can, and at the latest when you book. There is no published minimum-notice figure on this site, because provisioning depends on the date, the boat and what the island has that week. A vegan request made on the morning of the cruise may simply not be workable.

Can you cater for a nut allergy on board?

We can keep nuts off your plate. We cannot promise a nut-free galley, because there is one work surface and one grill. If your reaction is severe, message us before you book and tell us how severe. Sometimes the honest answer is that we are not the right boat for you.

Is food included?

Yes. Lunch is cooked on board by the crew during the cruise and is included on every departure — semi-private, private, sunset and full-day. It is served at anchor, not at a restaurant ashore. Santorini wine, beer and water are included with it. Gratuities are not.

Can I bring my own drinks or food on board?

We have not published a policy on guests bringing their own food or alcohol, and it may differ between a shared seat and a private charter. Message us before you buy a bottle or a cake for a celebration, so nobody is caught out at the dock on the morning.

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

Updated August 2026