A Santorini photoshoot boat: the catamaran as a location
€1,200 for the whole boat and up to eight guests, five hours. The captain can hold a position and stop the engine so nothing shakes.
€1,200 covers 8, then €100 each · 09:30 - 14:30 · The whole boat
A Santorini photoshoot boat is a private catamaran hired as a location: €1,200 for up to eight guests, five hours, morning or afternoon. The deck gives you four distinct backgrounds — the trampolines, the bow against the caldera wall, the stern platform over open water, and the cockpit shade. Drone rules change; check before you fly.
A catamaran is not a studio. It is a location that moves, which is both the appeal and the problem. This page is the practical version: where to stand, at what hour, and what is behind you when you do.
What you are actually hiring
A private charter is €1,200 for five hours and up to eight guests. For a shoot, what that buys is a deck with nobody else on it and a captain who will put the boat where you point.
He can hold a position, turn the boat to move the light, and cut the engine so nothing vibrates. What he cannot do is stop in the middle of the caldera: it runs roughly 390 m deep, which is far too deep to anchor. Every position is along the edges.
Shoes come off on deck. Hard soles mark it and heels go through the trampoline netting, so plan the footwear you shoot separately from the footwear you arrive in.
Where to stand, when, and what is behind you
| Where on the boat | Best time | What is behind you | What catches people out |
|---|---|---|---|
| The trampolines, forward | The last hour of an afternoon charter; the first hour of a morning one | Open water and sky, or the caldera wall if the bow is pointed at it | No shade at all. The white netting bounces light up under the chin, which is flattering and also very bright. |
| The bow | 09:30 to 11:00, or the hour before the sun goes | The caldera wall — about 300 m of cliff coming straight out of the water | It is the windiest metre on the boat. Hair, loose fabric and hats all leave. |
| The stern platform | Any hour the boat is stopped | Nothing but water, the ladder and the wake | It is wet, and it is where everyone gets in and out. Shoot it before the first swim stop, not after. |
| The cockpit, under the bimini | Midday, when the open deck is unshootable | The rail, the sea, and the table set for lunch | Hard shade against a very bright sea. Bring something to fill in with, or shoot it as a silhouette. |
| Alongside a stop | Whenever the captain can hold position | Red Beach's rust-red haematite cliffs, White Beach's pumice wall, the 1892 Akrotiri lighthouse, or Oia from directly below | We anchor offshore at all of them. The background is close, but you are not stepping onto it. |
Five hours covers roughly two of shooting and three of moving, swimming and eating. If the shot list is long, take the ten-hour charter instead.
What the light does through the day
In the morning the sun is behind the caldera rim. The cliffs sit in their own shadow and the water is clear and flat. That suits swimming, underwater work and anything where the sea is the subject rather than the island.
By the middle of the day the light comes straight down and the deck looks the worst it will look all day. That is the hour for the bimini shade, or for lunch.
Late afternoon, the wall lights from the west. Fira and Oia turn warm and the boat runs north with the cliff on the right. This is the hour most people booked the charter for.
Sunset itself moves a great deal: about 20:40 on 1 July, 20:10 by mid-August, 19:27 by mid-September. A call sheet copied from an August blog will be forty minutes out in September. How long the usable light lasts after the sun drops is not something we can put a number on, so build in margin.
We are not going to print Greek drone rules on this page as though they were settled. They change, and the restrictions that matter over the caldera are not something we can verify for your date.
Check the current rules yourself before you fly, and message us on WhatsApp with what you intend so the captain knows. A drone launched off a moving deck is his problem as much as yours. What we do know is written up in drones and photography on board.
Five things that ruin a shoot on a boat
- Salt. Spray reaches the bow and the stern platform. Bring a blower, more lens cloths than you think you need, and keep a spare body bagged between setups.
- Wind. The meltemi builds through the afternoon from late May to mid-September and peaks between mid-July and mid-August. If the shot depends on fabric hanging still, take the morning boat.
- Changing. There are cabins below and a toilet. That is your wardrobe department, and it is not a large one.
- Power. We have not published what power is available on board, so charge everything on land and bring spare batteries.
- Movement. Even at anchor the deck moves. Shutter speeds that are fine on a cliff are not fine here, and a tripod is close to useless.
Send us the shot list and the date
Tell us what you need in frame and roughly when, and we will tell you which departure gets you there and whether five hours is enough.
Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888
Common questions
Do you help with photos?
On an ordinary cruise the crew will take photographs on your phone at the moment that matters. For a proper shoot you bring your own photographer and charter the whole boat. Whether we can arrange a professional as an add-on is not published, so ask us on WhatsApp if you want that organised.
Can I fly a drone from the boat?
Check the current rules before you fly. We will not state Greek airspace regulations here as fact, because they change and the caldera carries its own restrictions. Tell us on WhatsApp what you plan to do and the captain will say whether he is willing to have it launched from his deck that day.
Can we bring our own photographer and crew?
Yes. They count towards the guest total, of which eight sit inside the €1,200 base. A photographer, an assistant and two subjects is four of your eight. Tell us the full number of bodies aboard, including anyone who is only there to work.
Morning or afternoon for photographs?
Morning if the sea is the subject: flatter water, clearer light, cliffs in shadow. Afternoon if the island is the subject: the caldera wall lights from the west and Oia turns warm in the last hour. Wind is the tiebreaker, and it usually favours the morning.
Can the captain stop the boat for a particular shot?
Yes, along the edges of the caldera where there is somewhere to hold. He can cut the engine, turn the boat to move the light, and wait. He cannot anchor in open caldera water, which is roughly 390 m deep, and he cannot hold a position in a rising wind.
Is five hours long enough for a shoot?
For a couple and one location on deck, usually. For a wardrobe change, several positions and a specific hour of light, it is tight — you lose three of the five hours to moving between places. The ten-hour full-day charter is the honest answer for anything with a call sheet.
Santorini Boat Tour - Water Taxi is a catamaran cruise and water taxi operator based in Fira, Santorini.
Updated August 2026