Private catamaran cruise in Santorini: the whole boat
€1,200 covers eight guests, then €100 a head for each guest after that. That is €150 each at eight, falling as the group grows: more per person than a shared seat, and that is the point of it.
€1,200 covers 8, then €100 each · 09:30 - 14:30 · The whole boat
A private catamaran cruise in Santorini is €1,200 for up to eight guests and €100 for each guest after that. It runs 09:30 to 14:30, five hours, on a Lagoon catamaran. Transfers, lunch cooked on board, wine, beer and snorkelling gear are included.
€1,200 buys five hours on the whole catamaran for your group. That is €150 each, against €100 for a seat on the shared boat. A private cruise costs more per head at every group size, and it stays more expensive all the way up to seventeen.
So the question is not whether it is cheaper. It is whether a route you set, a clock you set and a deck with nobody else's plans on it are worth between €24 and €50 a head.
The facts, in one table
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Times | 09:30 – 14:30. Five hours. Ask for a different start and we will tell you whether the day still works. |
| Price | €1,200 for up to 8 guests, then €100 for each guest after that. |
| Guests | Up to 17, and nobody outside your group is aboard. |
| Boat | Lagoon sailing catamaran, two or three crew. Wide and level, with shade and room to move. |
| Departure | Vlychada Marina, on the south coast. The included car collects you from your hotel and brings you back, so you never have to find it. |
| Swim stops | Yours to reorder and to lengthen, sea state permitting. |
| Lunch | Cooked on board: BBQ chicken and shrimp off the coals, Greek salad, pasta in tomato sauce, vine leaf rolls, and the dips with bread. |
| Drinks | Santorini white wine, cold beer, soft drinks and water, included. |
| Transfer | Car from your hotel to the boat and back, included, for the whole group. |
| Music | The playlist is yours rather than the crew's. |
| Cancellation | Agreed with your booking, because the whole boat is held for you. A weather cancellation by the captain is refunded in full. |
Your exact meeting point is confirmed with your booking. If your group is larger than 17, message us before you plan the rest of the day — that becomes a conversation about boats rather than about seats.
What your group size does to the price
Drag the guests; both figures follow. The €100 shared seat stays in view for comparison.
- Whole boat
- €1,200
- Per person, that group
- €150
For comparison, a seat on the shared cruise is €100 per person. A private boat buys the route and the timing, never a lower price per head.
What it works out at per person
The boat price is fixed to eight guests, then each extra head adds €100. So the more of you there are, the closer the private boat gets to a shared seat without ever reaching it.
| Guests on board | Boat total (€) | Per person (€) | Extra per head against a €100 shared seat (€) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1,200 | 150 | 50 |
| 10 | 1,400 | 140 | 40 |
| 12 | 1,600 | 133 | 33 |
| 14 | 1,800 | 129 | 29 |
| 17 | 2,100 | 124 | 24 |
Seventeen is the maximum we sell on a private charter. At every size on this table the private boat costs more per head than a shared seat, and any operator telling you otherwise is doing different arithmetic. What the difference buys is set out below.
What is yours to decide
A private charter is not a better boat. It is the same catamaran with your name against the whole of it.
Tell us the shape you want a day or two ahead rather than on the morning, so the crew can plan around it.
- The order of the stops, and which ones you drop.
- How long you stay at each. Forty minutes at the volcano swim instead of twenty-five, if that is what the group wants.
- When you eat. Lunch can come before the last swim or after it.
- When you leave. 09:30 is the standard start; tell us what suits you and we will tell you whether the day still fits.
- The music, and how loud it is.
- Who is on deck. Your group, and two or three crew. That is the whole list.
What stays with the captain
None of those four changes because you have taken the whole boat. Everything else on the day is negotiable.
- The weather call. He decides on the morning whether the sea is safe, and he may reroute or stand the boat down. A weather cancellation is refunded in full.
- Where the boat can go. No swimming stop here has a jetty. The boat anchors off and you swim in. That is the rule for boats approaching a beach without docking infrastructure, not a preference.
- The volcano. We anchor off Nea Kameni for the crater swim and never land. The walk up it, with its national park fee, is a separate trip on a different boat.
- Seventeen guests. We do not sell past 17 on a private charter.
The default five hours
This is the day if you leave it alone. Most groups move one or two things and let the rest run. Times are June times; they shift a little through the season.
The car
Pickup from your hotel, everyone together. Tell us if the group is split across two hotels.
Lines off
Half an hour before the shared boat leaves, which is why the first stop is emptier than it will be at eleven.
Red Beach
Anchored under the rust-red cliff. The colour is oxidised iron in the volcanic rock, not the light.
White Beach
A pale pumice wall standing over 20 m above a dark pebble shore. No road, no path, no other way in.
Mesa Pigadia
A grey-pebble cove under the Akrotiri headland. The last stretch of track down to it is loose dirt, so almost nobody drives it.
The Akrotiri light
Built in 1892 by a French company and run today by the Hellenic Navy. It is sold everywhere as the Venetian lighthouse. It is not Venetian.
The volcano swim
Anchored off Nea Kameni's black lava, swimming inside the flooded crater. When the sea allows, the ochre springs at Agios Nikolaos bay join the way home — they stain pale swimwear.
Lunch
Off the grill, at anchor. Chicken, shrimp, Greek salad, pasta, dolmades and the dips, and the wine comes out. Stay longer here if you want to.
The Fira panorama
The crater open all round the boat, with Fira, Firostefani and Imerovigli stacked some 300 m above the Old Port.
The run home
Bows south past the lighthouse and back along the coast to Vlychada. Linger anywhere earlier and this is the leg that absorbs it.
Ashore
The car is where it left you. Most groups are back at the hotel inside half an hour.
Send us the version of this you actually want. Moving two stops around costs nothing and is the reason you booked the whole boat.
The whole deck, nobody else on it
What is in the charter price
The same list applies whether you take a seat or the whole boat. Nothing is added at the dock.
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 a private catamaran costs elsewhere
Private half-day charters in Santorini start below our price and climb a long way above it. Reading operators' own published price lists on 25 August 2026: Renieris listed a five-hour private caldera cruise from €750, Santorini Sailing listed its Blue Lagoon boats from €1,340 and Triton from €1,650, and Sunset Oia listed a Lagoon 620 at €5,000.
Read those headline figures carefully. Santorini Sailing quotes its from-prices for four guests, and several of the cheaper boats in the market carry fewer people than ours does. Ours is €1,200 for five hours covering eight. The market comparison, with every source and date, is in what a boat tour costs in 2026.
We have not published what our sound system takes. If the playlist is a real part of the plan, ask us before you build a three-hour set.
We have also not published a policy on guests bringing their own drinks aboard. Message us before you buy a bottle for a birthday, so nobody is caught out at the boat.
Tell us the date and the number of people
Send both, plus anything you want the day built around. We reply the same day with the price for your group and what is still free that week.
Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888
Common questions
How much is a private catamaran cruise in Santorini?
With us, €1,200 for a five-hour charter covering up to eight guests, then €100 for each guest after that. That works out at €150 a head at eight and €124 at seventeen. Transfers, lunch, wine and beer are inside the price.
Is a private catamaran worth it?
Only if you want something a shared seat cannot give you. It costs more per person at every group size: €150 each at eight, against €100 for a shared seat. What you are buying is the route, the timing, the music and a deck with nobody else's plans on it.
What is the difference between a Private and a Shared Cruise?
A shared cruise sells seats: up to 15 guests at €100 each, on a route and a clock the captain sets. A private cruise sells the boat: €1,200 for eight, aboard, and the route and the clock are yours inside what the sea allows.
What is the capacity limit of the vessels?
We sell 15 guests on a shared cruise and 17 on a private charter, with two or three crew on top, so there is always more deck than there are people. If your group is bigger than 17, message us before you book anything else on the island; sometimes two boats is the answer.
Is there music on board?
Yes, and on a private charter the playlist is yours rather than the crew's. We have not published the details of our sound system, or whether you can connect your own phone to it, so ask us first if the music is a real part of the plan.
Can we change the route and the times?
Most of it, yes. The order of the stops, how long you stay at each, when lunch comes out and when you leave are all yours. Tell us a day or two ahead rather than on the morning. The captain still has the last word on where the boat can safely sit.
Can we walk on the volcano if we book the whole boat?
No. Walking on Nea Kameni is not part of any cruise we run, private or shared, and taking the whole boat does not change it. We anchor off the volcano for the crater swim, with the warm springs at Palea Kameni when the sea allows. The park landing is a separate trip ashore.
Santorini Boat Tour - Water Taxi is a catamaran cruise and water taxi operator based in Fira, Santorini.
Updated August 2026