A Santorini boat tour with kids, described honestly
Fifteen guests on a shared cruise, on a deck with room to spare. Cabins below for naps. Tell us the ages when you book and the right life jackets are aboard.
€1,200 covers 8, then €100 each · 09:30 - 14:30 · The whole boat
A Santorini boat tour with kids works best on the 09:30 private catamaran: morning water is calmer, and you can turn for home early. The boat anchors offshore, so every swim goes from the stern platform into deep water. There is no lifeguard. Tell us their ages when you book.
Children are welcome on every cruise we run, and a boat day is often the easiest day of a Santorini family holiday. No cliff paths, no queue, shade and swimming in one place. What follows is the version we would give a friend, including the parts that catch people out.
Six things to know before you book
The trampolines forward are the best thing on the boat if you are eight years old. That is the headline. Here is the rest of it.
- The boat anchors offshore. No swimming stop on this coast has a jetty. Every swim starts on the stern platform and goes straight into deep water. There is no shallow end anywhere on the route.
- There is no lifeguard. Two or three crew are aboard and they are sailing the boat. Watching your children is your job, and it is the one thing we cannot take off you.
- There is shade, and the sun is still fierce. The bimini covers the cockpit and the lunch table. The trampolines, which is where children want to be, have none at all.
- Tell us their ages when you book. That is how the right life jackets are aboard on the day. Do not leave it until the morning of the cruise.
- Morning water is calmer. The meltemi builds through the afternoon from late May to mid-September. The 09:30 boat is flatter than the 14:30 one, most days.
- Five hours is a long time for a toddler. On a private boat you can cut it short and go home. On a shared seat you cannot.
What to expect, age by age
Ages are a rough guide, not a rule. You know your child better than a table does.
| Age | What the day is actually like | What to bring |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 | Naps are the problem, not the sea. There are cabins below, so there is somewhere dark and flat to lie down. Five hours sits at the outer edge of what most toddlers manage. Tell us the age and we will be honest about whether to book at all. | A carrier, more nappies than you think, a long-sleeved sun suit and a hat with a strap. Their own food: the galley cooks a Greek BBQ, not baby food. |
| 3–5 | Loves the trampolines, will not sit still, cannot judge an edge. This is the age where one adult is on watch for five hours. Swimming happens in a life jacket, from the stern platform, with a parent already in the water below. | A buoyancy aid you already trust, a rash vest, and something to do during the twenty-minute runs between stops. |
| 6–9 | The best age on this boat. Snorkelling gear fits, the trampolines are the whole point, and swimming into the warm ochre water at the hot springs reads as an adventure rather than a risk. | A dark swimsuit — the hot springs carry iron out of the seabed and stain pale fabric permanently. Goggles they already like the feel of. |
| 10–14 | Old enough to jump off the stern and swim towards a beach with an adult alongside. Also old enough to be bored between stops if nothing has been packed for them. | Sun cream they will actually reapply, headphones, and a dry bag for a phone that will otherwise go in the sea. |
| Teenagers | They want the swimming, the trampolines and to be left alone, roughly in that order. A private boat with their own music does more for a teenager than any itinerary we could write. | Nothing much. Towels are on board. A speaker is not needed — on a private charter the playlist is yours. |
Sea temperature runs about 22 °C in June, 24.5 °C in August and 24 °C in September. In April and May it is nearer 16.5 to 18.5 °C, which is cold for a small child however warm the air feels.
The catamaran anchors off the beach because none of these places has a jetty. A child goes from the swim platform into water well over their head, in a life jacket, with an adult already in it.
We would much rather write that here than say it to you for the first time at Red Beach.
A shared seat, or the whole boat
A shared seat is €100 a head, children included. There is no child rate published and we are not going to invent one.
The private day cruise is €1,200 for up to eight guests, then €100 each after that. At eight people that is €150 a head against €100 for a shared seat, so private always costs more.
For a family with a toddler, that difference usually buys the one thing that matters: the right to turn for home at 12:30 because somebody has had enough. It also buys a boat where a crying two-year-old is nobody else's afternoon.
Morning either way. The 10:00 shared cruise and the 09:30 private one both give you the calm half of the day.
What is on the boat that helps
- Cabins below, with a toilet, for naps, changing and getting out of the sun.
- A bimini over the cockpit, and a table everyone can eat at sitting down.
- Lunch cooked on board: BBQ chicken, shrimp, Greek salad, pasta in tomato sauce, vine leaf rolls and the dips. Plain pasta is the thing most small children will actually eat.
- Towels and snorkelling gear are aboard and in the price. Mask sizes for small faces are worth checking with us first.
- Fifteen guests maximum on a shared cruise, and the number is not negotiable. On a private one it is seventeen, and all of them are yours.
Send us their ages and we will tell you which boat
Ages, the date, and how many of you. That is enough for us to say morning or sunset, shared or private, and whether we would book it at all.
Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888
Common questions
Are children allowed?
Yes, on every cruise we run. The morning departures generally suit families better: calmer water, more swimming time and an earlier finish. Parents stay responsible for supervision on deck throughout. Tell us the ages when you book so the crew know what is coming aboard and the right life jackets are ready.
Is the cruise suitable for children?
Particularly the 10:00 semi-private morning cruise, which is flat water and three swim stops. Five hours is long for a very young child, so a private charter is often the better answer: you control the pace and can head back early if the day turns against you.
Can babies and children join?
Children of any age can come aboard, but we have not published a minimum age or an infant policy and we will not guess at one where a baby is involved. Message us with your children's ages and we will confirm what the captain will accept for your date.
Are life jackets available?
Life jackets are carried on licensed passenger vessels in Greece, and child sizes are normal on a boat like this. We have not published our own inventory of sizes, so if you are travelling with small children, send us their ages and weights on WhatsApp and we will confirm before you book.
Is there a lifeguard on board?
No. The two or three crew are sailing the boat, cooking and running the swim stops. Nobody is watching your children but you. Every swim is in deep water from the stern platform, so we ask that an adult is in the water with any child who is in it.
What if my child cannot swim?
Then nothing about the day requires them to get in. There is shade under the bimini, the trampolines forward, a cabin below and a view that changes every twenty minutes. If they do want to swim, a life jacket and an adult already in the water is the rule we ask for.
Santorini Boat Tour - Water Taxi is a catamaran cruise and water taxi operator based in Fira, Santorini.
Updated August 2026