Semi-private catamaran cruise, Santorini
A shared seat on a Lagoon catamaran that we cap at 15. Red Beach, White Beach and the volcano swim, lunch off the grill, and a car both ways.
€100 per person · 10:00 - 15:00 · Shared seats
The semi-private catamaran cruise runs 10:00 to 15:00 and costs €100 per person. It is a shared boat, kept deliberately uncrowded, on a Lagoon catamaran. The price covers hotel transfers both ways, swims at Red Beach, White Beach and the volcano, lunch cooked on board, wine, beer, water, snorkelling gear and towels.
It is the cruise most people mean when they say "the Santorini boat tour": the south coast, the volcano, the hot springs, and the caldera cliffs on the way home. Five hours, in daylight, with a cook on board.
The facts, in one table
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Times | 10:00 – 15:00. Five hours. Times shift a little through the season. |
| Price | €100 per person. No supplements, no port fee at the boat. |
| Guests | Maximum 15, so everyone has a seat in the shade. |
| 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 | Three, sea state permitting: Red Beach, White Beach and the volcano. The warm springs at Palea Kameni join in when the sea lets a boat hold there. |
| Food | Cooked on board while you swim: 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, unlimited, in the price. |
| Transfer | Car from your hotel to the boat and back, included. |
| Languages | The crew work in Greek and English. |
| Children | Welcome. Tell us their ages when you book so we have the right life jackets. |
| Cancellation | Free seven days or more before departure. Weather cancellations are refunded in full. |
Your exact meeting point is confirmed with your booking. The transfer is included, so you do not have to find the port yourself.
The day, hour by hour
A normal 10:00 departure in June. The captain reorders the stops if the wind asks him to, which happens perhaps one day in five.
The car arrives
Pickup from your hotel. Bring a towel if you like your own, though there are towels on board.
Lines off
Shoes come off on deck. A two-minute briefing: life jackets, the heads, where not to put a wet towel.
Red Beach
Anchored off the red cliffs, with the morning's clearest water for the snorkels. The land approach has had rockfall closures for years; from the water it is simply there in front of you.
White Beach
Ten minutes west. White pumice, no road, no path. The only way in is the way you are arriving.
Mesa Pigadia and the quiet coast
The high, empty end of the south coast under Akrotiri: tall cliffs, deep water, and no road in sight. Snorkelling gear is in the locker by the steps.
The Akrotiri lighthouse
Round the southern corner, past the 1892 light. From here the caldera opens and Nea Kameni is dead ahead.
The volcano swim
The anchor goes down off Nea Kameni's black lava and you swim inside the flooded crater, in some of the deepest swimming water in the Aegean. The grill goes on while you are in.
Lunch and the Fira panorama
Chicken, shrimp, Greek salad, pasta, dolmades and the dips on deck, while Fira, Firostefani and Imerovigli stack up above the Old Port.
The springs, on the way home
The boat wraps round the volcano and threads the channel between the two Kameni islands. The cove at Agios Nikolaos is ochre and iron-warm — and it takes wind badly, so treat it as the day's bonus rather than its promise.
The run home
Bows south out of the caldera and back past the lighthouse, wind usually behind you.
Ashore
The car is waiting where it dropped you.
From the deck, mid-loop
What is in the €100
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
Who this cruise suits
Couples and small groups who want the day, not the boat. You are sharing with up to 14 other people. That is a lot fewer than the 40 to 80 on a big volcano boat, on a deck sized for more than we sell.
People who want to swim. Three anchored swims in five hours, plus the springs when the sea plays along. Morning water is calmer and clearer than afternoon water, and it has not yet been stirred by the day's wind.
Anyone who gets seasick. The meltemi builds through the afternoon in July and August. A 10:00 start is the flattest water you will get in a Santorini summer.
Families. The trampolines forward are the best thing on the boat if you are eight years old. Tell us the ages so the right life jackets are aboard.
Who it does not suit
If you want to decide where to stop and how long to stay, take the private cruise instead. On a shared boat the route belongs to the captain.
If sunset is the point of the exercise, take the semi-private sunset cruise. This one is back on land before the light does anything.
If you are in port on a cruise ship, five hours plus two transfers rarely fits an all-aboard time. Look at the shore excursion by boat, which is built backwards from your ship's clock.
The hot springs at Palea Kameni carry iron and sulphur out of the seabed. The water is a rusty ochre and it will mark pale fabric permanently. Wear something dark, and do not wear the swimsuit you like most.
The springs cove is shallow and open, so the captain calls in only when the wind lets a boat hold there. The volcano swim happens either way.
Which day are you thinking of?
Send the date and the number of guests. We reply the same day with what is free.
Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888
Common questions
What does semi-private mean on a Santorini catamaran?
Semi-private means you buy seats on the catamaran rather than the whole boat. You share the five-hour caldera cruise with a handful of other guests — never more than fifteen — and the route, the timings and the stops are fixed by the captain. A private cruise is the same boat with nobody else on it.
Is €100 the whole price?
Yes — €100 is the whole price of a seat on the semi-private catamaran cruise. Hotel transfer both ways, the swim stops, lunch cooked on board, wine, beer, soft drinks, water, snorkelling gear, towels, port fees, fuel, insurance and the crew are all inside it. What is not included is walking on the volcano, the Nea Kameni park fee, and tips.
How many people are on the boat?
The semi-private cruise sells fifteen seats and no more, with two or three crew on top of that, on a deck sized for more than fifteen. Holding places back is the difference between a seat in the shade for everyone and somewhere to stand.
Do you stop at the volcano itself?
We anchor beside Nea Kameni's lava shore and you swim there, inside the flooded crater. When the sea allows, the warm springs on neighbouring Palea Kameni follow. Walking up the volcano is a separate landing tour with its own park fee, and it is not part of this cruise.
Can I swim at Red Beach and White Beach?
Yes, sea state permitting — Red Beach and White Beach are both anchored swim stops on this cruise. The catamaran anchors offshore at each, because neither beach has a jetty and no boat may come alongside without one. You go in from the swim platform at the stern.
What if I do not swim?
Nothing about the day requires swimming. There is shade under the bimini, seating in the cockpit, trampolines forward and a view that changes every twenty minutes — and lunch off the grill and the drinks are exactly the same from a dry seat. Several guests on any given semi-private cruise never get in.
Is the morning cruise better than the sunset one?
For swimming and for calm water, yes. Morning sea in Santorini is flatter and clearer, and the wind usually builds after midday. For the light and for dinner on deck, the sunset cruise wins. We wrote a comparison if you want the detail.
What happens if the wind gets up?
The captain decides on the morning whether it is safe to sail. If he cancels you move to another date or take a full refund. He may also swap the order of the stops or drop one, which is a judgement about the sea, not about the schedule.
Santorini Boat Tour - Water Taxi is a catamaran cruise and water taxi operator based in Fira, Santorini.
Updated August 2026