A Zakynthos yacht charter is the hire of a catamaran, motor yacht or sailing yacht from Zakynthos, as a crewed private charter, a shared cruise or a self-skippered bareboat charter or boat rental, for a day cruise or a week in the Ionian. The bases are the Zante Town port, Agios Nikolaos and Porto Vromi. Plan the whole trip with Greece Tours.
This guide covers the Zakynthos yacht charter in full: what a charter includes and costs, the catamaran, motor yacht and rental boat options, the west-coast route to Navagio Shipwreck Bay and the Blue Caves, the south to the Keri caves and the turtle island, and how to book. Pair it with the Zakynthos boat tours and the cove of Navagio Beach.
What is a Zakynthos yacht charter and what does it include?
A Zakynthos yacht charter is the hire of a catamaran, motor yacht or sailing yacht from the island, booked as a crewed private charter, a shared per-seat cruise, or a self-skippered bareboat charter for a day cruise or a week in the Ionian Sea.
The sunset slot on a Zakynthos yacht charter fills first in high season. Every west-coast trip begins with a Zakynthos yacht charter from a southern marina. Booking a Zakynthos yacht charter ahead secures the boat and the sunset slot. The choice of Zakynthos yacht charter comes down to the vessel, the hours and the group size. A Zakynthos yacht charter carries the transfer from the hotel to the marina and back. A Zakynthos yacht charter runs half-day, full-day or as a five-hour sunset cruise. A Zakynthos yacht charter is booked before the trip for a fixed, agreed price for the whole boat. The charter departs from three bases. The Zakynthos Town (Zante) port on the east coast is the main marina, the fastest link to the town’s tavernas and the departure quay for full-day cruises. Agios Nikolaos in the north sits nearest the Blue Caves at Cape Skinari and the crossing to Kefalonia. Porto Vromi in the west is the closest launch point to Navagio (Shipwreck) Bay, a short run up the sheer west coast. Each base fixes the route, the fuel burn and the running time to the headline sights.
On a crewed charter the price folds in the skipper, the crew, the fuel, the food, the drinks, the snorkelling gear and the marina transfers. The skipper reads the wind and the swell on the exposed west coast and drops anchor inside the sheltered coves; the host serves a cooked meal and pours from an open bar. A private charter prices the whole boat for one group, from a couple to a party of twelve. A shared cruise sells single seats on a set departure, so a solo traveller or a pair pays per person. A bareboat charter hands the wheel to a licensed sailor by the week, with a refundable security deposit set against the vessel.
The result is a single door onto the two coastlines that make Zakynthos famous: the white cliffs and sea caves of the west, and the turtle waters of the south inside the National Marine Park. One booking covers the boat, the route and the swim stops in the clearest water in the Ionian.
How much does a Zakynthos yacht charter cost?
Cost turns on the booking type: a private charter is priced for the whole boat, a shared cruise per seat, and a bareboat by the week plus a refundable deposit. Trip length, vessel class and crew set the exact figure.
Families take a Zakynthos yacht charter for the swimming stops and the meal on board. A Zakynthos yacht charter is the cleanest way to reach Navagio and the Keri caves. A private Zakynthos yacht charter is exclusive to your group, with no other guests on board. A Zakynthos yacht charter includes the skipper, the crew, the meal and the snorkelling gear. The motor yacht is the fast, luxurious option for a private Zakynthos yacht charter. The west-coast route on a Zakynthos yacht charter passes Navagio Bay and the Blue Caves. For couples and groups, a Zakynthos yacht charter is the private way to see the west-coast. A private day charter buys the entire vessel for one group. The rate covers the boat, the skipper and the fuel for the day, and a group of eight to twelve splits that single figure between them, which drops the per-head cost far below a per-seat ticket. A shared cruise runs the opposite way: the operator fills a catamaran or a motor boat with individual bookings and each guest pays for one seat, meal and open bar included on the crewed catamarans. A couple after a low price picks the shared seat; a family or a group of friends after privacy picks the whole boat.
A bareboat charter is quoted by the week for the hull alone. On top of the weekly rate sits a refundable security deposit, held against the vessel and returned once the boat comes back undamaged with a full fuel tank. The bareboat sailor pays extra for fuel, marina fees along the route and any provisioning. A crewed week costs more than a bareboat week because the skipper, the host and the food are built into the price.
Trip length moves the number in a straight line. A half-day cruise of 3 to 4 hours costs less than a full-day cruise of 6 to 8 hours; a 3-hour sunset cruise sits between them. Fuel weighs heavier on a fast motor yacht than on a sailing yacht that runs on wind, and a west-coast run to Navagio burns more than a short hop along the calm south. Peak Navagio and Blue Caves weeks carry the highest rates, so an early booking locks the better price.
Which boats are available to charter in Zakynthos?
Four classes charter from Zakynthos: a stable twin-hull catamaran for up to 12 guests with a meal and open bar, a fast luxury motor yacht, a wind-driven sailing yacht, and a small self-drive rental boat that needs no licence for its low-power engine.
A Zakynthos yacht charter departs from the Zante Town port and Porto Vromi. The set fare on a Zakynthos yacht charter covers the food, the drinks and the fuel. The catamaran is the steady choice for a Zakynthos yacht charter with a meal and open bar. The sunset slot on a Zakynthos yacht charter fills first in high season. Every west-coast trip begins with a Zakynthos yacht charter from a southern marina. Booking a Zakynthos yacht charter ahead secures the boat and the sunset slot. The choice of Zakynthos yacht charter comes down to the vessel, the hours and the group size. The catamaran is the flagship of a Zakynthos day cruise. Its two hulls hold the deck flat through the swell off the west coast, so guests eat, sunbathe and swim without the roll of a monohull. It carries up to 12 guests across a wide sun deck and a shaded cockpit, and the crewed version serves a cooked meal from the galley and pours an open bar between swim stops. Families with children and groups that want stability pick the catamaran.
The motor yacht trades sail for speed. It reaches Navagio from the east-coast port in a fraction of the time a sailing yacht takes, which frees more of the day for anchoring, swimming and drifting into the Blue Caves before the fleet of day boats arrives. Its enclosed cabins, air conditioning and finished interior suit a group after a luxury private charter and a fast, direct route to the headline sights.
The sailing yacht runs on the Ionian breeze. It moves quieter and cleaner than a motor boat, heels through the afternoon wind, and rewards a group that wants the feel of true sailing over raw pace. The self-drive rental boat is the smallest option: a low-power engine rated for use without a licence, hired by the half-day or full-day for a couple or a family who steer their own course along the sheltered south coast and the Keri caves. A bareboat charter of a larger sailing yacht or catamaran demands a sailing licence; every crewed charter arrives with a skipper and a host, so no licence is needed to board.
Why charter a yacht from Zakynthos?
A Zakynthos yacht charter reaches Navagio Bay, the Blue Caves and the Keri caves by sea, the only way into coves and grottoes the road never touches, and swims in water the National Marine Park keeps clear for its loggerhead turtles.
The price of a Zakynthos yacht charter is set at booking, for the boat rather than per seat. Planning a Zakynthos yacht charter ahead beats the scramble for a summer sunset slot. A Zakynthos yacht charter drops anchor for swimming off Navagio and the Blue Caves. Families take a Zakynthos yacht charter for the swimming stops and the meal on board. A Zakynthos yacht charter is the cleanest way to reach Navagio and the Keri caves. A private Zakynthos yacht charter is exclusive to your group, with no other guests on board. A Zakynthos yacht charter includes the skipper, the crew, the meal and the snorkelling gear. Navagio (Shipwreck) Bay is the reason the island fills its marinas. The rusted freighter lies on a white-sand cove walled by cliffs that fall straight into turquoise water, and no road descends to the sand. The overlook on the cliff top shows the cove from above; the beach itself opens only from the water, so a boat is the single route onto the sand and into the shallows beside the wreck. A charter drops anchor in the bay and puts guests in the water where the day-tripper on the clifftop stands and looks down.
The Blue Caves at Cape Skinari work the same magic on the light. The sea caves and rock arches at the island’s northern tip turn the water an electric blue as the sun bounces off the white limestone floor, and a small boat noses inside the openings a large ferry never enters. Along the way the west coast unrolls its sea arches and hidden inlets, each one a swim stop with no crowd and no footpath.
South of the town the water changes character. Laganas Bay and the turtle island of Marathonisi sit inside the National Marine Park, home to loggerhead turtles that surface beside the boat in the warm shallows. A charter threads the protected zone under a skipper who knows the anchoring rules, so guests snorkel over seagrass beds without disturbing the nesting beaches. For a fuller map of the coastline and the swim stops between the marinas, the island’s dedicated Zakynthos boat tours collect the routes, the departure ports and the sights along each one.
What does the route to Navagio and the Blue Caves cover?
The west-coast route runs up the sheer cliffs from the town or Porto Vromi to Navagio (Shipwreck) Bay, past the sea arches, into the Blue Caves at Cape Skinari, then across the strait toward Kefalonia, with anchored swim stops at each headline stop.
A Zakynthos yacht charter runs half-day, full-day or as a five-hour sunset cruise. A Zakynthos yacht charter is booked before the trip for a fixed, agreed price for the whole boat. For the Blue Caves at Cape Skinari, a Zakynthos yacht charter is the finest seat on the island. A Zakynthos yacht charter departs from the Zante Town port and Porto Vromi. The set fare on a Zakynthos yacht charter covers the food, the drinks and the fuel. The catamaran is the steady choice for a Zakynthos yacht charter with a meal and open bar. The sunset slot on a Zakynthos yacht charter fills first in high season. The classic full-day cruise of 6 to 8 hours holds the whole west coast in one loop. It leaves the marina, tracks north under the white cliffs, and drops anchor inside Navagio Bay, where the wreck rests on the sand and the water shifts from deep blue to pale turquoise over the shallows. Guests swim to the wreck, wade the cove and look up at the clifftop overlook from the sand no road reaches. The stop at Navagio is the anchor of the day, and the beach earns its own page of detail at Navagio Beach.
From the wreck the route continues north past Porto Vromi and the sea arches — natural stone bridges the swell has cut through the cliff — to the Blue Caves at Cape Skinari. Here the boat slows and slips into the grottoes at the northern point, where sunlight refracts through the water and lights the caves from below. Snorkellers slide off the stern into the glowing blue, the clearest swim of the trip.
Past Cape Skinari the sea opens toward Kefalonia across the narrow strait, and the longer crossings reach the neighbouring island’s coast before turning back down the calmer eastern shore to the port. A half-day cruise of 3 to 4 hours trims the loop to Navagio and the Blue Caves alone, and a 3-hour sunset cruise runs the golden light along the west cliffs as the sun drops into the Ionian. The skipper times the Navagio anchor for the gap between the morning and afternoon fleets, so the cove opens with room to swim.
Sailing to the Keri caves and the turtle island?
The southern route sails from the town or Keri to the Keri caves under the Marathia cliffs, on to the turtle island of Marathonisi and the shallow water of Laganas Bay inside the National Marine Park, where loggerhead turtles surface beside the boat.
The west-coast route on a Zakynthos yacht charter passes Navagio Bay and the Blue Caves. For couples and groups, a Zakynthos yacht charter is the private way to see the west-coast. The crew of a Zakynthos yacht charter handle the sailing, the cooking and the anchoring. The price of a Zakynthos yacht charter is set at booking, for the boat rather than per seat. Planning a Zakynthos yacht charter ahead beats the scramble for a summer sunset slot. A Zakynthos yacht charter drops anchor for swimming off Navagio and the Blue Caves. Families take a Zakynthos yacht charter for the swimming stops and the meal on board. The Keri caves sit under the tall Marathia headland at the island’s south-western tip. Here the cliff drops into a run of sea caves, arches and blowholes carved out of pale rock, and the water below holds a deep clear blue that lights up under the midday sun. A small boat or a rental craft threads the openings, anchors under the arches, and puts snorkellers into cool, transparent water against the cliff wall. The Keri stop pairs the drama of the west-coast caves with the calm of the sheltered south.
East of Keri the route crosses into Laganas Bay and the National Marine Park, the protected nesting ground of the Mediterranean loggerhead turtle. At the heart of the bay lies Marathonisi, the turtle island, an uninhabited islet with a white-sand beach on one flank and a rock cove on the other, shaped from the water like a turtle’s shell. The boat anchors off the sand, and turtles glide through the seagrass shallows below the hull, rising to breathe within arm’s reach of the swimmers who hold still.
The whole southern loop stays inside the marine park, so the skipper follows the anchoring and speed rules that keep the nesting beaches and the turtles safe. The calm, warm water of the south suits families and the self-drive rental boats that keep to the sheltered coast, and it pairs with the west-coast run to build a full picture of the island by sea — the wild cliffs and caves of the west, the turtle waters and quiet coves of the south.
Private, crewed or bareboat — which Zakynthos charter is right for you?
Pick a private crewed charter for a group that wants the whole boat, a skipper and a served meal; a shared cruise for a couple after a low per-seat price; and a bareboat charter for a licensed sailor who wants the wheel for a week.
Booking a Zakynthos yacht charter ahead secures the boat and the sunset slot. The choice of Zakynthos yacht charter comes down to the vessel, the hours and the group size. A Zakynthos yacht charter carries the transfer from the hotel to the marina and back. A Zakynthos yacht charter runs half-day, full-day or as a five-hour sunset cruise. A Zakynthos yacht charter is booked before the trip for a fixed, agreed price for the whole boat. For the Blue Caves at Cape Skinari, a Zakynthos yacht charter is the finest seat on the island. A Zakynthos yacht charter departs from the Zante Town port and Porto Vromi. A private crewed charter hands one group the entire vessel with a skipper and a host aboard. Nobody in the party holds a licence; the skipper runs the boat, reads the west-coast swell and sets the anchor inside the coves, while the host serves the food and pours the open bar. This is the fit for a family, a group of friends, a couple marking an occasion, or anyone who wants a private day on the water with the route, the swimming and the meal handled. A group of eight to twelve splits the whole-boat price, which brings the per-head figure down.
A shared cruise sells single seats on a scheduled crewed catamaran or motor boat. A solo traveller or a pair pays per person, joins other guests aboard, and gets the same Navagio-and-Blue-Caves route with a meal and open bar at the lowest entry price. The trade is company on deck rather than a private boat, and a fixed departure rather than a schedule set by the group.
A bareboat charter is the choice for a sailor who holds a valid sailing licence and wants to captain the boat. The charter runs by the week — a 7-night hire of a sailing yacht or catamaran — with a refundable security deposit against the vessel. The bareboat crew plans the route across the Ionian, provisions the galley and pays for fuel and marina fees along the way. A crewed week suits a group after the same 7 nights with a professional skipper and host aboard, the sailing and the cooking taken care of. The half-day and full-day rental boats bridge the gap for a couple who want to steer a small licence-free engine along the calm south for a handful of hours.
How do you book a Zakynthos yacht charter?
Book direct with a Zakynthos base — Zakynthos Town port, Agios Nikolaos in the north or Porto Vromi in the west — choose the vessel, the trip length and the private or shared type, then confirm the date ahead for the peak Navagio and Blue Caves weeks.
A private Zakynthos yacht charter is exclusive to your group, with no other guests on board. A Zakynthos yacht charter includes the skipper, the crew, the meal and the snorkelling gear. The motor yacht is the fast, luxurious option for a private Zakynthos yacht charter. The west-coast route on a Zakynthos yacht charter passes Navagio Bay and the Blue Caves. For couples and groups, a Zakynthos yacht charter is the private way to see the west-coast. The crew of a Zakynthos yacht charter handle the sailing, the cooking and the anchoring. The price of a Zakynthos yacht charter is set at booking, for the boat rather than per seat. Booking runs in four steps. First, pick the base that matches the route: the Zakynthos Town (Zante) port for the town and the full west-coast loop, Agios Nikolaos for the Blue Caves and the Kefalonia crossing, and Porto Vromi for the shortest run to Navagio. Second, pick the vessel — a catamaran for a stable family day, a motor yacht for speed and luxury, a sailing yacht for the wind, or a self-drive rental boat for a licence-free south-coast hop. Third, pick the length: a 3-to-4-hour half-day, a 6-to-8-hour full day, a 3-hour sunset cruise, or a 7-night week.
Fourth, pick the booking type. A private charter reserves the whole boat for one group at a single price. A shared cruise books a seat per person on a set departure. A bareboat books the hull by the week and holds the refundable deposit; the licensed skipper confirms the sailing qualification at this stage. A crewed charter needs no licence — the skipper and host come with the boat.
The date is the part to lock early. The peak Navagio and Blue Caves weeks fill the marinas fastest, and the best catamarans and motor yachts sell out first for the high-summer sailings. An early booking at the chosen base secures the vessel, fixes the price before the peak rates climb, and holds the anchoring slot at Navagio for the day. Confirm the base ahead, name the trip length and the type, and the whole day on the water — the wreck, the caves, the turtles and the swimming — is set from a single reservation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is a Zakynthos yacht charter?
A private Zakynthos yacht charter is priced for the whole boat, agreed at booking. A crewed charter covers the skipper, crew, food, drinks and marina transfers; a shared cruise is priced per seat; a bareboat charter or rental boat is priced by the day or the week plus a deposit.
Can you sail to Navagio and the Blue Caves on a Zakynthos yacht charter?
Yes. The west-coast route reaches Navagio Shipwreck Bay with the rusted wreck on the white-sand cove and the Blue Caves at Cape Skinari, the marquee sail on the island, with stops for swimming under the sea arches.
Where do Zakynthos yacht charters depart from?
Zakynthos yacht charters depart from the Zante Town port, Agios Nikolaos in the north and Porto Vromi in the west. A booked charter includes the transfer from your hotel to the marina and back.