Eloping in Santorini, by boat, with nobody watching
The whole catamaran, sold to the two of you. Five hours, one car each way, and a crew of two or three who work the boat and stay aft.
from €1,600 · 10:30 or 15:30, five hours · The whole boat
An elopement cruise is a private Santorini catamaran charter sold to two people rather than to a wedding party. It runs five hours, at 10:30 or 15:30, and is priced by quote. We provide the boat, the crew, the food and quiet water. Greek legal paperwork is not ours to handle.
Some couples want a wedding. Some want the opposite of one: no guest list, no seating plan, no photographer walking backwards in front of them. If that is you, the useful thing about a boat is that it moves away from everybody.
What this is, and what it is not
There are two wedding pages on this site and they are not the same product.
The yacht wedding charter is for a group. A ceremony on deck, guests in the cockpit, a planner running the schedule, up to 17 people counting you. It is a small wedding held on a boat.
This page is the other thing. Two people. Sometimes two people plus a celebrant and a witness, which is still four. Nobody flies in. Nobody sits in rows. The boat leaves, the coast goes past, and at some point in the afternoon you say what you came to say.
The crew stay aft and work the boat. They have done this before and they are good at not being in the photographs.
Who arranges what
The honest split. We are a boat, not a wedding company, and the line between the two matters more for an elopement than for anything else we run.
| Arranged by | What that means | |
|---|---|---|
| The boat | Us | The whole catamaran for five hours, at 10:30 or 15:30. Nobody else aboard. |
| Getting to it | Us | A car from your hotel to the boat and back again, inside the quote. |
| Food and drink | Us | Lunch or dinner cooked on board, Santorini wine, beer and water. |
| The route and the timing | Us and you | Tell us where you want to be at the moment that matters. The captain works backwards from it, wind permitting. |
| A symbolic ceremony on deck | You, with our help | You bring the words. We put the boat somewhere quiet, cut the engines and let it drift. |
| An authorised celebrant or registrar | You | We do not supply one and we are not in a position to recommend one. |
| Legal documents | You | Greek marriage paperwork is handled by the municipality and by your own planner. It never runs through the boat. |
| Witnesses | You | If your ceremony needs them, bring them. They take up places on the charter. |
| Photographer or videographer | You | Book your own and count them as a guest. If you would rather not, the crew will use your phone at the right minute. |
| Dress, rings, flowers, hair | You | All of it comes aboard with you. It is barefoot on deck and windier than a hotel garden. |
| The price | By quote | Send the date and the shape of the day. You get a number back, not a package brochure. |
Your exact meeting point is confirmed with your booking, and the transfer is included, so you are not looking for a quay on your wedding morning.
The legal part, said plainly
We cannot marry you. A legal ceremony in Greece needs an authorised celebrant and a specific set of documents, and both belong to the municipality and to a wedding planner rather than to a boat.
Whether a marriage conducted at sea would be recognised where you live is a question for a lawyer in your own country, not for us. We are not going to guess at it, and you should be careful of any operator who does.
What we can host is the ceremony itself, in the sense that matters on the day: the boat, the water, the two of you, and someone to read the words. Many couples sign the register on land in the morning and do the part they actually care about on the water in the afternoon. That works well.
If your ceremony has to be legal and it has to be on the boat, tell us early. We will say what we can and cannot do, and if the answer is no, you will hear it before you book a flight.
How it gets arranged
- Send the dateThe date, the time of day you want, and how many people will actually be aboard. Two is normal here. Four is common. Tell us if a celebrant is coming.
- We answer with a quoteA number for the day, and an honest note about what the weather usually does at that hour in that month. Same day, from a person who runs the boats.
- You handle the paperwork, or decide not toLegal on land and symbolic at sea is the simplest version. If you want it legal on the water, your planner talks to the municipality, not to us.
- The day itselfA car collects you. Five hours later it puts you back. In between there is a coastline, a swim if you want one, food off the grill and nobody watching.
What is aboard either way
The same list applies to every catamaran charter we run, elopement or otherwise.
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
A private charter is priced for the boat, not for the heads on it. Split between two, it is the most costly way to be on this water by a wide margin. A shared seat on the semi-private sunset cruise is €100 each and follows much the same coast.
What the charter buys is that no one else is there. If the privacy is the point, it is worth it. If it is not, say so and we will point you at the semi-private sunset cruise instead and lose the booking cheerfully.
When it does not suit
If you need it to rain-check. The captain decides on the morning whether the sea is safe. He is deciding about the boat, not about your wedding, and he will cancel a wedding day as readily as any other. You are refunded in full, but a fixed date with flights around it carries that risk.
If seasickness worries you. A morning charter is flatter than an afternoon one in July and August, when the meltemi builds through the day. Standing up to say vows in a swell is not the memory anyone is after.
If the guest list has grown. Past six or seven people it is not an elopement any more, and the yacht wedding charter is the better-shaped product.
If you want the ceremony ashore. Some couples want the Oia cliff. We cannot give you that from a boat, and the boat will not pretend otherwise.
Tell us the date and who is coming
Two of you, or two plus a celebrant. Send the date and the time of day and we will quote it the same day.
Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888
Common questions
Can I get married on a boat in Greece?
A legal ceremony at sea needs an authorised celebrant and the correct documents, and that is handled by a wedding planner and the municipality rather than by us. A symbolic ceremony on board is far simpler and is what most eloping couples do. Message us and we will tell you what we can host.
Can we book a catamaran cruise for a wedding in Santorini?
Yes, as a private charter. For two people that is an elopement, priced by quote. For a group with a ceremony and guests it is the yacht wedding charter, on the same boat people including you. Both run five hours, at 10:30 or 15:30.
What is the difference between an elopement cruise and a yacht wedding charter?
Numbers, mostly. The wedding charter assumes a ceremony with guests, a planner and a schedule. The elopement assumes two people who want the boat empty. Same catamaran, same five hours, same crew. The elopement is quieter, and we plan far less of your day.
Do you help with photos?
The crew will take photos and video on your phone at the moment that matters, and they know when to point it. 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 rather than improvised.
Should we have a special dress code?
Plan the outfit around a barefoot deck and wind. Anything long and loose will move constantly, and there is no mirror and no shelter to change in. Bring a second layer for after sunset, when it drops several degrees on the water even in August.
Is there different pricing between working days and weekends?
Our published private-charter prices are flat and do not vary by day of the week. An elopement is quoted individually because the day is shaped around you rather than sold as a fixed package, so send your date and we will price it.
Can I fly a drone from the boat?
Assume not. The Santorini caldera sits in controlled airspace and is treated as a no-fly zone, and launching from a vessel is not a way around that. Flights from a boat need prior authorisation from the Greek civil aviation authority, with weeks of notice.
Santorini Boat Tour - Water Taxi is a catamaran cruise and water taxi operator based in Fira, Santorini.
Updated August 2026