Five of the 12 listings read for Santorini small group boat cruises carry the small-group label, yet not one of the 12 puts a head count on the boat. The trips run 5 hours on seven listings and reach 12 hours on the big volcano boats.
If a smaller boat is only one option on your list, the Greece Tours homepage sorts every island by what it sells.
What group size do Santorini small group boat cruises allow?
None of the 12 listings behind Santorini small group boat cruises states a maximum number of guests. Five call the trip a small group, and three use the word semi. Only one gives a boat length, which is 45 feet.
The small-group wording sits in a different place on each of the five listings. One puts it in the title. One shows it as a tag beside the trip length. Two put it in the summary text. One puts it in a bullet point. A reader who scans only titles finds one of the five.
Three listings use the word semi. Two carry it in the title, and the third carries it only in its web address. They do not count guests alike. Two of them list a single guest category for everyone, and the third splits guests into adult and child. None of the three states a number of guests.
Across the 12 listings, seven count guests in three categories: adult, child and infant. The seven include three of the five small-group listings. Three listings count two categories, and two count one. A category sorts guests by age. No listing turns a category into a boat limit, so Santorini small group boat cruises show no head count.
The boat type is the other clue to size. All five listings with the small-group wording name a boat: four catamarans and one traditional wooden boat. Eleven of all 12 listings are catamarans. Wikipedia defines a catamaran as a watercraft with two parallel hulls of equal size. Only one listing gives a length.
The European Union’s directive on safety rules for passenger ships draws one line. A passenger ship carries more than 12 passengers. The directive counts every person as a passenger except the captain, the crew and a child under one year. No listing says which side its boat sits, so Santorini small group boat cruises stay unmeasured.
Read the label and the boat type together. Where a listing gives a length, as the 45-foot one does, compare it with the others. Where it gives only a label, the label is a claim with no number behind it. A traveller who needs a head count for Santorini small group boat cruises must find it outside these listings.
How do Santorini small group boat cruises differ from big-boat volcano trips?
The clearest difference is the length of the day. The four small-boat listings behind Santorini small group boat cruises each state 5 hours. The five big-boat volcano listings state 3 to 10, 4 to 6, 6 to 10, 7 and 12 hours.
Neither set states a group size. The five big-boat listings carry no group label at all and give no boat length. Three of the four small-boat listings carry a label. The fourth, a 45-foot sailing catamaran, carries none. So Santorini small group boat cruises stand apart by a label on three listings, not by a number.
All five big-boat listings name the hot springs, and so do two of the four small-boat listings. Three big-boat listings place the springs at Palea Kameni. The Santorini hot springs guide covers the swim itself. Four of the five big-boat listings add Thirassia, and two of them give free time there. None of the four small-boat listings names it.
Two big-boat listings state a hike to the crater, and one of them makes the climb optional. No small-boat listing states a walk. One sails to the volcano, and another snorkels at the base of a volcano. Silence about a walk does not rule one out on Santorini small group boat cruises.
Swimming appears in both sets. Two small-boat listings add snorkelling, and none of the five big-boat listings does. One big-boat listing adds a second swim near Thirassia on its morning cruise. The 12-hour listing names a swim in the hot springs. The small-boat listings also name Red Beach, White Beach and the Akrotiri lighthouse. No big-boat listing names them.
The listings file themselves under different labels. Two of the five big-boat listings carry the guided tour label, and the other three carry water activity. The three labelled small-boat listings all carry water activity. The fourth small-boat listing shows no category. Pickup does not split the two kinds. Three small-boat listings and all five big-boat listings list it.
Choose by the day you want. For Santorini small group boat cruises, a 5-hour trip fills half a day. The 12-hour big-boat listing fills a whole day. Three of the five big-boat listings name the sunset at Oia. The Santorini sunset cruise guide covers the evening sailings. A traveller who wants the crater walk reads the big-boat listings first.
Who crews Santorini small group boat cruises, and in which languages?
The 10 listings behind Santorini small group boat cruises name no skipper, host or swim-stop crew. Two say a guide is on board, and one offers an optional audio guide. Eight list English only, and two add Greek.
The only person the 10 listings place on board is a guide. Two listings promise one, in the same words: guests learn the volcano’s history from the guide on board. One of the two carries the small-group wording in its summary, and the other carries none. Neither listing gives a ratio of guide to guests.
A guide on board and an audio guide are different things. One listing offers an optional audio guide with its trip and names no guide on board. A big-boat listing also names audio commentary on board. That listing carries the guided tour label. A listing with a recording tells the story through a device, not through a person.
Eight of the 10 listings mention swimming or snorkelling. The two that do not are the wooden boat and a semi catamaran. None of the eight names a crew member at that stop. No listing says who helps guests in and out of the water. For Santorini small group boat cruises, the listings treat the swim as a route stop.
Two of the 10 listings add Greek to English. One is the wooden-boat listing that carries the small-group tag. The other is a catamaran listing that calls itself a small group. The eight English-only listings include the two semi listings, so a semi label adds no language. A Greek speaker choosing Santorini small group boat cruises has these two.
A listing shows its languages as a list of choices. The list gives no detail on whether a choice covers the guide, a briefing or the printed notes. All 10 listings mark English as the default, including the two that add Greek. A traveller who needs one language checks that line before choosing among Santorini small group boat cruises.
The longest language list among the 20 listings behind this page belongs to a big-boat trip. It offers English, Greek, Spanish, French and Italian. No small-boat listing offers more than two languages. Spanish, French and Italian each appear on that one listing only. A traveller who needs one of the three has a single choice.
How do guests reach Santorini small group boat cruises?
A pick-up label sits on 10 of the 12 listings for Santorini small group boat cruises that this page reads. Two listings carry no such label. None of the 12 gives a pick-up time, and none gives a meeting address.
The label reads Pickup available on 10 of the 12 listings. One of the ten words it as a hotel transfer. Another puts the word transfer in its headline. The other eight give the label and nothing more about the ride.
Two listings carry no pick-up label. One is placed at Vlychada and the other at Fira. Neither lists a transfer. Ask the operator how to reach the boat on either of these two Santorini small group boat cruises.
No listing of the 12 states a pick-up window. None names a meeting point, a minibus, a car, a pontoon, a tender or a quay. The vehicle and the boarding spot stay unstated on all 12. That holds for the whole run of these trips.
The listings of Santorini small group boat cruises carry three place labels. Eight sit under Santorini, three under Fira and one under Vlychada. The pick-up label sits on all eight Santorini listings and on two of the three Fira listings. It is not on the Vlychada listing.
Visit Greece, the site of the Greek National Tourism Organisation, names four boarding points for caldera cruises. They are the bay of Fira, the port of Athinios, Ammoudi in Oia and Vlychada.
The tourism site santorini.gr describes the island’s roads and buses. It calls Fira the island’s central hub for buses. In peak season the buses between Fira, Oia, Kamari and Perissa run roughly every 30 minutes to an hour. Taxis are limited in number, so waits can be long.
The same site says driving is straightforward. Roads can be narrow, and parking in Oia and Fira fills up quickly. For Santorini small group boat cruises with no pick-up label, weigh the taxi wait and the parking squeeze. Wikipedia gives the island an area of about 73 square kilometres.
Nine of the ten listings with the label state 5 hours, and one states 5 to 6 hours. None says whether the ride sits inside those hours. Three checks help a guest decide between these trips:
- Does the listing carry the Pickup available label?
- Does the listing give a pick-up time?
- Does the listing give a meeting point?
How long do Santorini small group boat cruises stay at each stop?
The 11 listings read for this section state no minutes for any stop. Seven give a flat 5 hours for Santorini small group boat cruises. Four volcano listings give 7 hours or ranges of 3 to 10, 4 to 6 and 6 to 10 hours.
The seven flat 5-hour listings are six catamarans and one traditional wooden boat. Their stops share those hours, and no listing says how. These Santorini small group boat cruises give a guest a total and a list of places, not a minute count.
Four listings use words for time instead of minutes. Two volcano listings promise free time on Thirasia. A third lists a second swimming break at Thirasia Bay on its morning cruise. A catamaran listing lists a stop to swim at the Red and White beaches.
The tourism site santorini.gr sets out the order for the Santorini volcano. The first lavas belong to Nea Kameni, and visitors disembark at the cove of Erinia. The visit goes on by boat to the hot springs of Agios Nikolaos on Palea Kameni.
All four volcano listings follow that order. One names Nea Kameni, the hot springs near Palea Kameni and then Thirasia. Two more list the crater hike, the springs and a Thirasia visit or a second swim. The fourth lists the craters, the springs and the villages.
Catamaran listings of Santorini small group boat cruises name places and give no order. One names Mesa Pigadia, White Beach, Red Beach and the hot springs. Another names three swim places: Mesa Pigadia Bay, Red Beach and the hot springs. Neither gives minutes for any of them.
Across the 11 listings of Santorini small group boat cruises, the places count as follows:
- Hot springs: named on 9 listings.
- Red Beach or White Beach: named on 4 listings.
- Thirasia: named on 3 listings.
- Nea Kameni: named on 2 listings.
Wikipedia says Nea Kameni is nearly round and about 2 kilometres across. Visitors climb a gravel path to the crater. Dozens of tourist boats visit the islet every day in summer. Palea Kameni has no good harbour, and tourists can swim to it from Nea Kameni.
Thirasia lies north-west of Nea Kameni and has a land area of 9.299 square kilometres, says Wikipedia. The guide to Thirassia covers the island. The tourism site santorini.gr says boats visiting it tie up at Riva, the port of Thirasia. Visit Greece says a stone path of 270 steps climbs from Korfos beach to Manolas.
What do travellers ask about Santorini small group boat cruises?
Do Santorini small group boat cruises state a minimum age for guests?
No listing states a minimum age as one number. All 12 listings read for pick-up show a ticket band that starts at age 0. The adult band starts at 11 on five listings and at 18 on two. It starts at 0, 5, 13 or 14 on the other five.
Which language do Santorini small group boat cruises use for the briefing?
No listing mentions a briefing in any language. Each states the language of the trip instead. English is listed on all 18 listings read for this page. Greek is added on three, and one of those three also lists Spanish, French and Italian.
Do Santorini small group boat cruises state a start time on the listing?
None of the 18 listings gives a clock time. Four mention a morning cruise in words. Three of those four offer it as a choice beside an afternoon or sunset trip. The fourth lists a second swimming break on its morning cruise.
Do Santorini small group boat cruises have a toilet on board?
None of the 18 listings read for this page names a toilet on board. None names a swim ladder, a shaded deck or a briefing either. Ask the operator about facilities before the day if they matter to your group.
Do Santorini small group boat cruises state wheelchair access or step-free boarding?
None of the 18 listings states wheelchair access, a ramp or a gangway. A guest who needs step-free boarding asks the operator before paying. The only help with the ride that any listing states is the pick-up label.
Is the group capped on Santorini small group boat cruises when the boat is bigger?
Only the ticket form states a number. On the 12 listings read for pick-up, four allow up to 12, 14, 20 or 25 guests. The other eight allow 80 or more. One of those eight carries small group in its headline.