Mykonos Greece Boat Tours Compared: Every Cruise, and Who Each One Suits

Eight boats leave Mykonos for the same stretch of water and their photographs are interchangeable. Four things separate them, and this guide sets all eight against all four.

What actually differs between these boats

They all leave Mykonos, they all end up in the same stretch of water, and their photographs are interchangeable. Four things separate them, and price is the least useful of the four.

1. Does it land on Delos, or pass it? Three do, three do not, and two do not go near it.
2. How long is the swim stop? From ninety minutes to four hours, which is the single biggest difference in how a day feels.
3. What is in the fare? Meal, drinks and transfer, in any combination, and the combinations are not consistent.
4. How many people? Twelve to twenty-five on the cruises, and 137 on the party boat.

Does it land on Delos or pass it?

This is the question that most often goes unasked. Half of the cruises out of Mykonos put Delos in their title or their photographs and then sail past it. That is not a trick — two of them write "pass-by Delos (without a stop)" straight into their own inclusions, and one excludes a drop-off there in as many words — but it is not the sentence anybody reads.

Landing costs you ninety minutes of the day and a €20 ticket that no fare here includes. Passing gives that time back as swimming. Both are good days; they are different days. The Delos page has the ticket, the hours and the timetable.

Catamaran, sailing yacht or party boat?

Three hull types, three quite different afternoons.

How much of the day is actually swimming?

The number in the table is the one to read. Four hours at Rhenia on the Brand-New Catamaran is more than twice what the shortest Delos cruise allows, and if the water is why you came, that difference is the whole booking. Conversely, a ninety-minute swim on a six-hour sail means the other four and a half hours are sailing, eating and walking a ruin — which some people want and some do not.

What is really in the fare?

The inclusions lists on these products are not consistent and the gaps are not where you would guess. Read them for three things.

• The meal. Six of the eight include one. What varies is whether it is a buffet cooked aboard, a plated Greek meal, or snacks.
• The drinks. Most pour house wine, beer and soft drinks. Cocktails and spirits are extra on at least one, and one traveller's complaint about a watered rose is on the record.
• The transfer. Three include it. One includes it only if you send your pickup details 24 hours ahead. Two sell it separately at €20 per person return.

And on all of them, check the towel line. Two exclude towels in writing, one rents them aboard, and one supplies them along with sunscreen.

Where do they board, and does it matter?

More than you would think, because several load by tender from a beach jetty rather than from a quay. Boarding points here run from the New Port at Tourlos to Ornos Bay, Platis Gialos, Paraga and Agios Ioannis Diakoftis, and the transfer question above decides whether that is your problem or the operator's. The map and ports page lists all seven meeting points.

What happens when the meltemi blows?

From June to September the north wind runs force five to seven, hardest in July and August, and stronger by day than by night. Three of these operators carry a written clause letting the captain re-route, usually to the sheltered south coast of Mykonos. That is the sane response to a real wind, and travellers who were told in advance rated those days five stars anyway.

Two practical consequences. Book the morning sailing when the wind matters to you, because it builds through the day. And take the free-cancellation window seriously: every boat here refunds in full at 24 hours, and several add that an operator cancellation for weather means another date or your money back. The weather page has the month-by-month picture.

Which are capped, and which are not?

The caps in the table are the operators' own stated group sizes, and they are worth reading before the price. Twelve on the Rhenia sailing tour, fifteen and sixteen on two of the catamarans, twenty-five on three, and 137 on the party boat. A boat is not "small group" because the word appears in the listing title; it is small group because a number is written into the listing.

Is the sunset sailing worth the premium?

Two of these run an afternoon or sunset departure as an alternative to the morning, at the same fare. There is no premium to pay, so the real question is what you trade: the sunset costs you the calmest water of the day, because the meltemi eases overnight and is at its strongest in the afternoon. If you are a poor sailor, take the morning and watch the sunset from Little Venice with a drink instead.

Who should skip the boat entirely?

Anyone prone to seasickness on a windy week, anyone who needs a guaranteed fixed schedule in July and August, and anyone whose only real interest is the archaeology — because for them the scheduled boat from the Old Port gives three and a half hours on Delos instead of ninety minutes, at a fraction of the fare. There is also a good day to be had entirely on land: the things to do page has nine of them.

How to choose in thirty seconds

The best boat tours Mykonos differ on four things, and price is the least of them.

Every trip named in this guide is compared on price, hours and what the fare covers at Mykonos Greece Tours.

Frequently asked questions

The boats this guide compares

Mykonos Greece Catamaran Cruise: Day or Sunset, with Meals and Transfers

Transfer, meal and wine in the fare, two hours at Rhenia, and a choice of morning or sunset.

From $130 per person

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Mykonos Greece Sail Cruise to Delos and Rhenia

The one that lands: ninety minutes ashore on Delos plus two and a half hours swimming.

From $147 per person

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Mykonos: Brand-New Catamaran Cruise with Meal, Drinks and Transport

Four hours at Rhenia, the longest swim stop here, with a kayak and a paddleboard aboard.

From $140 per person

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Mykonos Sunset Boat Party to Little Venice

The cheapest way onto the water, and honest about being a party boat rather than a cruise.

From $44 per person

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Read the inclusions before the photographs and this decision makes itself. Every boat here refunds in full up to 24 hours before it sails.