Handpicked experience · Santorini
Santorini, Greece
A crater four hundred metres deep that no anchor can reach, wind that is either a gale or nothing, and islets still being built by eruptions.
A catamaran sail of the caldera with no more than eighteen guests
Swimming and snorkelling stops chosen for the day's conditions
The warm volcanic springs beside the island's active ground
A sunset departure with the light running along the cliffs
Food off the grill between swims, not a service at the end
Hotel transfer when the option is selected at booking
Five hours on a catamaran inside the Santorini caldera, capped at eighteen guests, with swimming stops, the warm springs, a barbecue cooked on board and Greek wine and beer. Hotel transfer is included when you select it at booking.
You board in the afternoon and sail the inner rim, stopping to swim where the conditions allow. Lunch or dinner is grilled at the stern while the boat is at anchor, and the return runs into the sunset. The crew choose the stops on the day, since the wind decides what is comfortable and what is not.
Two hulls mean almost no heel, so the deck stays flat while you eat and nobody is braced against a slope. They also draw very little water, which lets the boat sit closer to the shore than a keeled yacht can, and they carry their eighteen people across a wide deck instead of stacking them in a cockpit. For a day that is half swimming and half sitting, the shape is the whole point.
The water inside the crater drops to around four hundred metres, which is far beyond the reach of a normal anchor. That is why every boat here works the shallow shelves at the edges rather than stopping in the middle, and why cruise ships hold position on their engines instead of dropping anchor. The stops are dictated by the underwater shape of a collapsed volcano.
The wind in this part of the Aegean tends to be either absent or too much. When the meltemi blows in summer it can reach gale force through the caldera gap, and when it drops there is nothing at all. Sails go up when the day allows it and stay down when it does not, which is honest seamanship rather than a shortfall.
The black islets in the middle of the caldera are the newest land in the eastern Mediterranean, built by eruptions that continued into living memory — the last was in 1950. The whole system is monitored continuously, and in 2011 the island measurably inflated for several months before settling again. You are swimming in an active crater, which is the point of the water being warm at all.
The grill sits at the stern and works while the boat lies still, so you smell it long before anything reaches a plate. Nobody is counting glasses either.
Bring a towel, sun protection and something warm for the run home after sunset, when the deck cools quickly. Snorkel gear can be hired aboard if you need it. Cancellation is free up to a day ahead.
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What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
Eighteen at most, spread across a wide deck rather than packed into a cockpit, which is a large part of why the boat is a catamaran.
Because the water there drops to around four hundred metres, far beyond an anchor's reach. Every boat works the shallow shelves at the edges instead, and cruise ships hold position on their engines.
When the wind allows. This part of the Aegean gives either a gale through the caldera gap in summer or nothing at all, so the sails go up on the days that suit and stay down on the days that do not.
Yes. The black islets in the middle are the newest land in the eastern Mediterranean, the last eruption was in 1950, and the island measurably inflated for several months in 2011 before settling.
It is grilled at the stern while the boat lies at anchor, arriving in stages between swims rather than all at once at the end. Drinks stay open from the moment you board.
The crew choose them on the day according to the wind, so the specific beaches can change while the swimming itself remains part of the cruise.
It can be hired on board if you need it, and plenty of people bring their own mask instead.