Santorini RIB tours: a fast, private boat for eight
Eight guests, two crew, about 20 knots. That is two thirds quicker than the catamaran's 12, and the difference is measured in places you reach before lunch rather than after it.
A Santorini RIB tour is a private speedboat charter for up to eight guests with two crew, cruising at about 20 knots. It is priced by quote, not per seat. The speed buys reach: the far rim, Thirassia for a taverna lunch, and coves a slower boat cannot fit into one afternoon.
The RIB is the small, fast boat in our fleet. It is the same hull we run as a water taxi. It has no cabins, no galley and almost no shade, and it goes nearly twice as far in an hour as the catamaran does. That is the whole product.
It is hired whole. You choose the hour, we tell you what fits inside the time you have.
The RIB, in one table
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Boat | Rigid inflatable. No cabins, no galley, no saloon, no toilet. |
| Guests | Eight maximum. Private hire only — we never sell single seats on it. |
| Crew | Two, working in Greek and English. |
| Speed | About 20 knots cruising. The catamaran does about 12. |
| Start time | Flexible. Around 10:30 is the usual ask, but the boat is yours for the day you book. |
| Price | By quote. It moves with the route, the hours and the season. |
| Transfer | Car from your hotel to the boat and back, included. |
| On board | Snacks, cold drinks, beer and snorkelling gear. Lunch is eaten ashore and is not in the price. |
| Shade | A bimini over the console, and that is all. Plan for sun, wind and spray. |
| Swimming | Straight off the tubes. We anchor offshore — no stop on this coast has a jetty. |
| Cancellation | Free seven days or more before departure. A weather cancellation is refunded in full. |
| Meeting point | Your exact meeting point is confirmed with your booking. |
The captain may reroute or cancel on the morning if the sea says so. That call belongs to him, and it is made about the water, not about the schedule.
RIB or catamaran?
Both boats work the same caldera. They answer different questions, and the honest answer for most visitors is the catamaran.
| The RIB | The catamaran | |
|---|---|---|
| Cruising speed | About 20 knots | About 12 knots |
| Guests | 8, private only | 15 shared, 17 private |
| Shade | A bimini over the console. Almost none. | Shaded cockpit, saloon inside, a wide, level deck |
| Ride in a chop | Hard. You brace, you hold on, you get wet. | Two hulls, a level deck, far less roll |
| Food | Snacks and cold drinks. Lunch is ashore. | Cooked on board: BBQ chicken, shrimp, salad, pasta |
| Toilet | None | Marine heads and cabins in the hulls |
| Best use | Three to five hours, more coastline, a tight clock | Five or ten hours of swimming, eating and sitting still |
| Price | By quote, for the whole boat | €100 per person shared, €1,200 for a private half-day boat |
If you want a long lunch, shade and a nap on a trampoline, take the catamaran. If you want to see more water in less time, take this. We wrote a longer comparison of the three boat types if you are still deciding.
What four and a half hours looks like
One way a charter runs, starting at 10:30. It is a private boat, so the order and the hours are yours to move.
Lines off
Life jackets on, phones and bags into a dry locker, two minutes on where to hold. Then the throttles go forward.
Red Beach
Twenty minutes down the south coast. The red cliffs come up fast, and the boat is small enough to sit close under them.
White Beach and Mesa Pigadia
Two coves ten minutes apart, neither with a road to it. First swim of the day, in from the tubes.
Round the Akrotiri light
The lighthouse was built in 1892 and the Hellenic Navy still runs it. From the corner the caldera opens up ahead of you.
The hot springs
Anchored off Agios Nikolaos bay at Palea Kameni. You swim into the ochre water, which published figures put at roughly 30 to 35 °C. It stains a pale swimsuit permanently.
Korfos, on Thirassia
A taverna table on the waterfront of the far rim. This is what the speed actually buys: a real lunch, sitting down, on Thirassia, an island 249 people live on.
Under Oia
Out of Korfos, along the Thirassia shore, then back across and under Oia and Ammoudi with the cliffs above you.
Ashore
Most of the caldera in an afternoon, and the car is waiting where it dropped you.
The catamaran covers the same water in ten hours rather than four and a half. Neither is wrong. They are different days.
What is in a RIB charter
In the price
- Return road transfer between your hotel and the boat
- Greek and English speaking crew
- Snacks on board
- Cold drinks and beer
- Snorkelling gear
- Captain, crew, fuel and insurance
Not included
- Lunch ashore
- Nea Kameni national park entrance fee
- Gratuities
There is no gentle way to put this. At 20 knots into a Santorini chop the hull slams. You brace with your legs, you hold a grab handle, and you are wet from the shoulders down within the first ten minutes.
The engines are loud enough that conversation mostly stops. There is no toilet, no cabin to go below into, nowhere to lie flat, and no real shade at midday.
If you have a bad back or neck, if you are pregnant, or if a five-hour lunch cruise is what you actually want, book the catamaran instead. We would rather tell you now than watch you endure the afternoon.
Who the RIB does suit
People with a clock. A ship's all-aboard time, a late flight, a wedding at seven. The RIB fits a caldera loop into the hours you have rather than the hours a schedule has. If you are in port for the day, the shore excursion by boat is the same idea built backwards from your all-aboard time.
- Four to eight people who want the far rim and lunch ashore in one afternoon, not in ten hours.
- Anyone who has already done a catamaran day and wants the same coast at a different speed.
- Photographers, who need the boat repositioned three times in the same cove and cannot ask that of a shared cruise.
- Small groups heading somewhere specific — a beach club, a villa with sea access, a taverna on the far side. That is a private boat transfer rather than a tour, and we price it the same way.
What other operators charge for a RIB
We do not publish a RIB price, because ours changes with the route and the hours. These are the market figures we can point to, so you can at least see the shape of it.
| Market listing | Where it starts | Length | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santorini View, private RIB cruise | Fira Old Port | 3–5 hours | from €600 per group, max 9 |
| GetYourGuide, "Half day exclusive speedboat cruise" | Fira | 4 hours | from $234 |
| GetYourGuide, "Luxury private speedboat with food and drinks" | Perissa | 3–5 hours | from $420 |
| GetYourGuide, "5-Hour Santorini Sunset Speedboat Experience" | Perissa | 5 hours | from $496 |
Market figures from santorini-view.com and GetYourGuide listings, all seen on 25 August 2026. They are other operators' numbers, not ours. Send us your date, your hours and how many of you there are, and we will send a price for the whole boat.
Getting a price out of us
- Tell us the date and the hoursThe day, roughly when you want to leave, and how long you can be out. Four hours and seven hours are different charters.
- Tell us how many of you there areEight is the ceiling, children included. Ages matter too, because the life jackets have to fit.
- Say what you want out of itSwimming, the volcano side, lunch on Thirassia, photographs, or simply speed. We build the route backwards from that.
- We answer with a number and a planOne price for the boat, what is in it, and what the sea is likely to be doing that week. Your meeting point comes with the confirmation.
Tell us the day and the hours you have
No payment is taken on this site. Send the date, the head count and the time you need to be back, and we will price the boat.
Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888
Common questions
RIB vs catamaran — which is better in the caldera?
A RIB is fast, wet and low to the water. It covers more coast in less time and gets close in to places a big hull keeps clear of. A catamaran is stable, shaded and comfortable for a long day with food cooked on board. Short charter or a tight clock: RIB. Full day: catamaran.
Is a RIB boat bumpy?
Yes, when there is any sea running. The hull is rigid and it lands hard between waves, so you feel every one through your legs and lower back. In flat morning water it is smooth and quick. By mid-afternoon in July the same route can be genuinely punishing.
How much is a Santorini RIB tour?
Ours is priced by quote, for the whole boat rather than per seat, because the route and the hours change the number. For context, market listings we checked in August 2026 ran from about €600 per group for three to five hours. Send us your date and we will price yours.
What should I wear on a RIB boat?
A swimsuit under something you do not mind soaking, a windproof layer even in August, and sunglasses with a strap. Shoes that stay on your feet. A dark swimsuit for the hot springs, because the iron in that water stains pale fabric and does not come out.
How many people fit on the RIB?
Eight guests, plus two crew. It is sold as a private boat only, so those eight are people you arrived with. If there are more of you than that, the catamaran carries 17 privately, or we run two boats and you tell us which is less trouble.
Can we stop at Thirassia for lunch?
Yes, and it is the main reason to take the RIB. Korfos has a waterfront strip of tavernas and the boat can be alongside for an hour or two. Lunch ashore is not included in the charter, so you pay the taverna yourself, which most people prefer.
Do you land on the volcano?
No. We anchor off Nea Kameni and swim at the hot springs on neighbouring Palea Kameni. Walking up the crater needs the national park landing fee and roughly an hour and a half ashore, which is not part of any boat we run. Neither is the fee.
Santorini Boat Tour - Water Taxi is a catamaran cruise and water taxi operator based in Fira, Santorini.
Updated August 2026