What a private boat from Positano actually gets you
There are three ways to see this coast from the water, and they are not variations of the same thing.
The ferry is transport. It takes you from Positano to Amalfi or Capri on a timetable, full, and it does not stop anywhere you would want to swim.
A shared tour puts you on a large boat with twenty or thirty other people. You get the coastline and a couple of stops, on a route decided in advance, at a fixed pace, with a fixed lunch break.
A private boat is the same coast without any of that. One skipper, one group, one day that gets built in the morning and edited as it goes. You stop where the water looks right, you stay as long as you want, you eat when you are hungry. That is what you are paying the difference for, and it is also why the price is quoted per boat: four friends and a family of eight pay the same number, which makes the private option far better value than people assume once the group gets past five or six.
What we will not do is promise you a date on a web page. Availability gets confirmed with the skipper, and only after that does a booking exist.
Where you leave from: the ferry jetty on Spiaggia Grande
Departures are from the ferry jetty on Spiaggia Grande, the main beach of Positano, right where the fast ferries come in. It is the only practical embarkation point in town and everybody knows it, so a taxi or a hotel shuttle will drop you there without discussion.
The one thing worth planning is the descent. Positano is vertical, and if you are staying high up in the village the walk down to the beach is long flights of steps, ten to twenty minutes at a decent pace, in the sun, carrying your beach bag. Coming back up at six in the evening after a day at sea is harder than it sounds. The internal bus and the taxis both work and are worth the money on the way home.
You will get the exact meeting point and a map with your confirmation, and the skipper's number, so nobody spends the morning looking for a boat among the ferries.
If you happen to be staying on the Naples or Pompeii side rather than in Positano itself, ask to leave from Castellammare di Stabia instead. It is the same fleet and the same skippers, and it saves you the coast road twice in one day.
The four itineraries
Capri for the day
The classic, and the most requested. You cross to the island, run the Faraglioni and go through the arch if the sea allows it, work along the sea caves on the south side, swim at Marina Piccola or off the Grotta Bianca, and come back along the north shore.
The Blue Grotto is optional and honest to describe: the boat stops at the entrance, you transfer onto the local rowboat and pay about 19 euro per person in cash, and whether it is open at all is decided by the swell that morning. Time ashore is also optional, two or three hours for the funicular, the Piazzetta and lunch, with a landing fee at Marina Grande of around 100 euro per boat.
Full day, 800 euro on the gozzo, 1300 euro on the Rio 35. The details are on the Capri tour page.
East along the Amalfi Coast
Out of Positano towards Praiano, then the fjord of Furore, Conca dei Marini and the Emerald Grotto, then Amalfi and Atrani from the water, which is the only angle that makes sense of how those towns are built.
This is the route where the boat matters. It is a long day of miles, and on a gozzo at eight knots you spend a real part of it moving. Groups who want Amalfi, a proper lunch and two swims usually end up on the faster hull.
Full day, 900 euro on the gozzo, 1500 euro on the Rio 35. See the Amalfi Coast tour.
Li Galli and Nerano
The shortest run and, for a lot of people, the best swimming day of the trip. Li Galli are the three islets off Positano that the sirens are supposed to have sung from, Nureyev owned the main one, and the water around them is deep and clear. From there it is a short hop to the coves of Nerano and the bay of Ieranto, which is protected and pale green and about as close to empty as this coast gets in August.
Less transfer time, more swimming: if your group is more interested in the water than in ticking off towns, ask for this one. Full day, 900 euro on the gozzo, 1500 euro on the Rio 35, on the Li Galli and Nerano page.
The two-hour sunset
Out at around six, a swim off Arienzo beach while the crowds are leaving, prosecco on board, and the sun going down behind Li Galli with Capri on the horizon. Back in time for dinner.
Cast-off is about ninety minutes before sunset, so anywhere between six and seven depending on the month, and we confirm the exact time the day before. 350 euro on the gozzo, 400 euro on the Rio 35, for the sunset cruise.
How much it costs
Prices are for the whole boat, for the whole day, whatever the size of your group.
| Route | Mimi 850 gozzo, up to 8 | Rio 35, up to 12 |
|---|---|---|
| Capri, full day | 800 euro | 1300 euro |
| Amalfi Coast, full day | 900 euro | 1500 euro |
| Li Galli and Nerano, full day | 900 euro | 1500 euro |
| Sunset cruise, 2 hours | 350 euro | 400 euro |
Included: skipper, fuel, water, soft drinks, beer and prosecco, snacks and fruit, snorkel masks, towels, a shade awning and a bathing ladder.
There are exactly three extras, and they are all optional:
- Lunch, wherever you decide to stop
- The Capri landing fee, around 100 euro per boat, only if you go ashore
- The Blue Grotto rowboat, around 19 euro per person, paid on the spot
Nothing else appears at the end of the day. No fuel surcharge, no per-person supplement, no service charge.
Which boat for which route
Two numbers explain most of the choice. The gozzo cruises at about eight knots, the Rio 35 at about twenty.
The Mimi 850 is the traditional Sorrentine gozzo: wooden lines, a shade awning, a marine toilet, up to eight guests. It is slow in the honest sense, and on the short days that is a feature, because you spend the time on the water rather than crossing it. For Li Galli, Nerano and the sunset it is the right boat.
The Rio 35 takes up to twelve and covers the ground. For Capri with time ashore, or Amalfi with a long lunch, or any day where the group is bigger than eight, this is the hull that makes the itinerary fit between 9:30 and 17:30.
Three more boats are quoted on request when the dates are full or the group is an awkward size: the Jeranto 7.50 S, a 7.5 metre gozzo with cabin and toilet for up to seven; the Raffaelli 37, an 11.4 metre open cruiser for twelve; and the Itama 38, a fast 11.7 metre motorboat for ten. The two main boats have their own pages, the Mimi 850 and the Rio 35.
When to go: time of day and season
Mornings are calmer than afternoons here, almost without exception. The sea is usually glass until late morning, and a westerly breeze gets up after lunch in summer. That is why the full days start at 9:30 and not at eleven, and why the skippers plan the long crossing early and the sheltered swims later.
The Blue Grotto is worst in the middle of the day, when the tour boats from three ports arrive at once. First thing or late afternoon is a different experience entirely, and the skipper will time it around the queue rather than pretend the queue is not there.
For photographs, Li Galli in the late afternoon is the one. The light comes in low from the west and the islets go from grey to gold in about twenty minutes.
By season: June and September are the sweet spot, warm water and workable crowds. July and August are hot, busy and bookable a long way ahead. May and October are quieter and often beautiful, but the water is cooler and the wind is less predictable, so bring something with sleeves for the ride home. Outside those months we go out when the sea says yes.
How booking works
It is deliberately simple and there is nothing to pay on this page.
- Tell us the date, the number of guests and roughly what you want to see, on WhatsApp or through the form.
- We check the date with the skipper and send you a written quote with the boat, the route and the total.
- When it all fits, a 100 euro deposit holds the booking. The balance is paid on the day, on board.
If the weather turns, the skipper decides the evening before or early that morning, and you either move to another date or get the deposit back in full. Nobody goes out in a sea that will ruin the day.
Two things we do not do: promise a boat before checking, and discount the price to close a booking. The number in the quote is the number you pay, and if a date is gone we will tell you it is gone.
If you are still choosing between the routes, send us the dates you have and the ages of the people on board. That usually decides the itinerary faster than another hour of reading.
Frequently asked questions
Per boat. A full day to Capri is 800 euro on the Mimi 850 gozzo, up to 8 guests, or 1300 euro on the Rio 35, up to 12. Two people or twelve, the number on the quote is the same.
Yes. The itineraries on this page are the usual days, but the boat is yours for those hours. Stay longer at a swim stop, skip one, ask for somewhere you read about: tell the skipper in the morning and he rebuilds the day around it.
Yes, and it is the most requested day of the season. Roughly an hour and a quarter each way on the gozzo, about half that on the Rio 35, which leaves five or six hours for the Faraglioni, the caves, a swim and time ashore if you want it.
The Mimi 850, the Jeranto, the Raffaelli and the Itama have a marine toilet. The Rio 35 is the one to ask about when you book, because it depends on which hull is free that day.
July and August go first, often a month or more out, and the sunset slots go before the full days. May, June, September and October are usually workable inside a week. Nothing is held until we confirm the date with the skipper, so ask early and we will tell you straight away what is actually free.