An anniversary cruise in Santorini, on a boat with nobody else on it
€1,200 for the whole catamaran and up to eight guests, five hours, morning or sunset. Two or three crew, and they stay aft.
€1,200 covers 8, then €100 each · 14:30 - 19:30 · The whole boat
An anniversary cruise in Santorini is a private catamaran for your group alone: €1,200 for up to eight guests, five hours, morning or sunset. First anniversaries usually take the 14:30 sunset boat. Round-number anniversaries with family aboard usually take the 09:30 morning one, for calmer water.
A first anniversary and a fortieth are not the same event, and they do not want the same boat. One is two people who came for the light. The other usually arrives with people attached, and it wants flat water and a table.
Two anniversaries, two different boats
The catamaran is the same either way. What changes is the departure time, and the departure time changes everything else about the day.
The private sunset cruise leaves at 14:30. The private day cruise leaves at 09:30. Both run five hours, both cost €1,200 for up to eight guests, and both include the transfers, the food and the wine.
Start times move through the season with the sun. The time on your confirmation is the one that applies.
The two options, side by side
| Private sunset · 14:30 – 19:30 | Private day · 09:30 – 14:30 | |
|---|---|---|
| Light | The caldera wall lights from the west, then the sun goes down off the north end. Low, warm, and different every ten minutes. | Flat and overhead by 11:00. Honest light. Good for seeing the water rather than the cliffs. |
| Wind | The meltemi usually builds through the afternoon from late May to mid-September. Some evenings it eases again. | The flattest water you will get in a Santorini summer. The wind has not started yet. |
| Water | Warmest of the day. The sea averages about 24.5 °C in August and about 24 °C in September. | A little cooler, and clearer, because nothing has stirred it since yesterday. |
| How the day ends | On deck, with dinner cooked on board and the cliffs going dark behind you. | Ashore in the afternoon, with the whole evening still free for a dinner someone has already booked. |
| Tends to suit | A first, a fifth, a tenth. Two of you, or four. | A twenty-fifth, a fortieth, a fiftieth. Parents, grown children, anyone unsure on a moving deck. |
| Price | €1,200 for up to 8 guests, then €100 each, to 17. | The same: €1,200 for up to 8 guests, then €100 each, to 17. |
Both are five hours on the same Lagoon catamaran, with a meal cooked on board, Santorini wine, beer, water, snorkelling gear, towels and a car from your hotel and back, all inside the price.
Why a fortieth usually wants the morning
Round-number anniversaries arrive with people. Children, grown children, somebody's mother who is eighty-one. That changes what matters on the day.
Morning water is calmer. If anyone aboard is uncertain on a deck that moves, the 09:30 boat is the kinder one. The meltemi peaks between mid-July and mid-August, and it builds through the afternoon rather than the morning.
The morning cruise also ends at 14:30, which leaves the evening intact for a table ashore.
And on a private boat you can stop early. If your father has had enough after three hours, we turn for home. That is not a decision you can make from a shared seat.
Why a first usually wants the sunset
Two people do not need flat water. They need the couple of hours when the cliffs go orange and the deck is empty.
There are two or three crew aboard. They work aft, they do not join you, and nobody is asked to pose for anything.
If a particular minute matters — a bottle opened as the sun touches, the boat held in one spot off the lighthouse — tell us the day before. The captain will put the boat there if the sea lets him.
The captain looks at the sea on the morning of your cruise and says yes or no. If he cancels, you move the date or take the whole payment back. He may also reverse the route or drop a stop. That is a judgement about the sea, not about your anniversary.
If your date is fixed and there is no room either side of it, tell us when you book. It changes what we advise.
What it costs, and what the money is actually buying
€1,200 covers the boat and up to eight guests for five hours. Every guest after the eighth is €100.
At eight guests that works out at €150 a head, and it falls as the group grows. A shared seat on the same boat is €100. A private charter has never been the cheaper way to do this, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
What the difference buys is the departure time, how long you stay at each stop, your own music, and a deck with nobody else's anniversary on it.
Tell us the date and which anniversary it is
Those two facts are usually enough for us to say morning or sunset, and to tell you what is still free that week.
Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888
Common questions
Should I take a morning or sunset cruise?
For an anniversary with just the two of you, sunset. The cliffs light from the west and dinner is cooked on deck. For a bigger anniversary with parents or children aboard, morning: the water is flatter, the boat is back at 14:30, and the evening stays free for a restaurant.
Will we be on the water when the sun goes down?
That is what the sunset cruise is for, and the captain positions the boat for it. Sunset in Santorini moves a great deal through the season — about 20:40 on 1 July, 20:10 by mid-August, 19:27 by mid-September — so departure times move with it. Your confirmation carries the time that applies.
Do you help with photos?
The crew will take photographs and video on your phone at the moment that matters, and they are used to being asked. Whether we can arrange a professional photographer as an add-on is not something we have published, so ask us on WhatsApp if you want that organised properly.
Can you decorate the boat or bring a cake?
We have not published what we can put aboard, and we would rather not promise a cake here and disappoint you on the day. Message us with what you have in mind and how far ahead your date is. We will tell you honestly what the crew can and cannot arrange.
It is just the two of us. Is a private boat worth it?
For two people it costs €1,200 against €200 for two shared seats, so it is a real decision, not a small one. It buys an empty deck, your own departure time and no strangers in the photographs. If the day matters more than the arithmetic, take it. If not, the shared cruise is a good day out.
What happens if the weather cancels our anniversary cruise?
You move to another date or take a full refund, your choice. The captain makes that call on the morning, looking at the actual sea rather than an app. Cancelling yourself is free seven days or more before departure; inside seven days, message us and we will tell you what we can do.
Santorini Boat Tour - Water Taxi is a catamaran cruise and water taxi operator based in Fira, Santorini.
Updated August 2026