From the galley

What the crew actually cook on a Santorini boat tour

6 min read

Santorini boat tour food on our catamaran is a hot meal cooked at anchor: BBQ chicken and shrimp off the grill at the stern, Greek salad, pasta in tomato sauce, vine leaf rolls and the Greek dips. Santorini wine, beer, soft drinks and water come with it. All of it is inside the €100 fare.

Almost every Santorini listing says "BBQ cooked on board" and stops there. Nobody explains how a hot meal for a full deck comes out of a boat with no oven worth the name, while half of those people are in the sea.

It is mostly a story about constraints. Here is the whole of it.

The numbers

The second column is the interesting one. Very little of this meal is cooked at sea, and that is deliberate.

What comes out	Where and when it is made	What it actually is
BBQ chicken	Trimmed and marinated ashore before the boat sails. Grilled at anchor, first on the grill.	Chicken fillet off the grill at the stern. It is the dish the whole timing is built around, because it takes the longest.
BBQ shrimp	Cleaned ashore. Grilled last, minutes before the plates go round.	A few minutes a side and they are done. Put them on early and they turn to rubber, which is why they wait.
Greek salad	Cut on board, under way, and dressed at the last possible minute.	Tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and the feta on top, built from what the market had that morning. A salad cut at 07:00 is soup by 13:30 in August.
Pasta in tomato sauce	Sauce made ashore. Pasta boiled on the hob during the passage north.	The dish that quietly feeds children, vegetarians and anyone who does not want grilled meat in the middle of the afternoon.
Vine leaf rolls and the dips	Prepared ashore, kept cold, plated on board.	Dolmades, tzatziki, taramosalata, hummus and olive paste, with bread to carry them. It is what people eat standing up, still wet, before the hot food lands.
Bread	Bought ashore the same morning.	Bought, never baked. There is no oven on this boat capable of it and nobody pretends otherwise.
Santorini wine, beer, soft drinks, water	Loaded and chilled before you step aboard.	Included, and not rationed. What we do not publish is a spirits list or a cocktail bar, because we do not run one.

This is a normal day. We do not publish a fixed menu with dates against it, because the crew shop in the morning and the market has a vote. If one dish matters to you, ask before you book rather than at the ladder.

The galley is about the size of a wardrobe

A Lagoon has a proper galley by sailing standards and a hopeless one by restaurant standards.

There is a hob, a fridge and a sink. There is no oven worth the name, no second burner to spare, and no dishwasher. Fresh water is finite, so every pan washed is water that does not get used later.

The counter is about a metre of it. On a boat moving at 12 knots that metre is also moving, so anything that needs precision gets done ashore, on a surface that stays where you put it.

That single constraint sets the whole menu. Prep happens on land, in quantity, early. What happens at sea is heat, assembly and timing.

It also sets what leaves. Waste comes home with us — every wrapper, every shell, every bottle. Nothing goes over the side, which is another reason the meal is designed to generate as little of it as possible.

Why the grill only ever runs at anchor

The grill sits aft, at the stern, over the water. It is never lit while the boat is under way.

The reasons are boring and they are not negotiable. Open flame and fuel on a moving deck, apparent wind over the cockpit, and people walking past with wet feet. A boat doing 12 knots makes its own breeze whatever the day is doing.

So it waits. Anchor down, engines off, and only then does the grill go on. It is out again before the anchor comes up.

That is why lunch on our day cruise arrives at the volcano and not at Red Beach. The crater anchorage is the longest of the day, 50 to 60 minutes, and it is the only window long enough to light a grill, cook properly and put it out again.

It is also why the food lands within minutes of the last swimmer. The cooking happened while you were out in the crater's deep water, which is the most useful half hour on the boat.

On board

What the food sits inside

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

What we can and cannot promise you

Tell us at booking, not at the dock. The crew shop ashore in the morning and then leave. There is no second galley and no shop at Palea Kameni. A request that arrives at 09:55 arrives too late to be met properly.

Vegetarian is straightforward. Pasta, salad, bread and the cold plates already carry a meal without touching the grill, and we can put vegetables on the grill instead of chicken.

Vegan and gluten-free work with notice. Tell us when you book and the crew shop for it that morning — vegetables for the grill, the dips checked plate by plate. What we will not promise is a certified-free kitchen, because one galley cannot honestly claim that.

Serious allergies deserve the plainest answer we have. One galley, one grill, one set of tongs. We can avoid an ingredient. We cannot promise you a separate cooking environment at sea, and we would rather say that now than at 13:40. There is more detail in vegetarian, vegan and allergies on board.

Nobody goes ashore to eat

The meal is cooked and served on the boat. We do not put guests ashore at a taverna during a cruise, which is the same reason the swimming stops are offshore: none of them has a jetty.

Ready when you are

Tell us who is eating

Send the date, the number of guests and anything anyone cannot eat. We reply the same day, and we will say plainly if something is beyond what one galley can do.

Check availability & book

Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888

Common questions

Is food included?

Yes, on every catamaran cruise. A meal is cooked on board by the crew and served at anchor, and it is inside the fare rather than an extra. On the semi-private day cruise that means the €100 covers lunch, Santorini wine, beer and water alongside the sailing itself.

What is the menu?

BBQ chicken and shrimp off the grill, Greek salad, pasta in tomato sauce, vine leaf rolls, and the dips with bread — tzatziki, taramosalata, hummus, olive paste. What is inside the salad and the cold plates moves with the season, because the crew shop that morning. We do not publish a fixed dated menu we might not honour.

Are drinks included?

Santorini white wine, beer, soft drinks and water are included, with the meal and around it. We do not publish a spirits list or an open-bar package, because we do not run one. If drinks matter to your plans for the day, ask us before booking rather than assuming an island standard.

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

Vegetarian, yes, and easily: pasta, salad, the dolmades, most of the dips, and vegetables on the grill in place of chicken. Vegan works too, with notice — the crew shop for it that morning. Tell us when you book, not on the day, since the shopping happens ashore before the boat sails.

Can I bring my own drinks or food on board?

We have not published a policy on this, and it may differ between a shared boat and a private charter. Before you buy a bottle for a birthday, message us. It takes a minute and it means nobody is caught out at the ladder with a bag that has to stay in the car.

Is there an option for lunch or dinner at a restaurant during the cruise?

No. The meal is cooked on board and served at anchor. The boat does not land guests at a taverna during a cruise, which is also why the swimming stops are offshore rather than at a beach with restaurants behind it. Nothing on this route has a jetty.

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

Updated August 2026