Where to Get Back on the Water: the 15 Best Boat Trip Shore Excursions

1.Full Day Boat Cruise to 3 Islands

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 5,137 reviews · 7h 30m · from $35Our pick

Review the Kos three-island cruise to Kalymnos, Plati, and Pserimos, with swimming stops, lunch, dolphins, practical tips, and value advice.

“We had a wonderful day with the Odyssey crew! Island were beautiful, saw dolphins by the fish farms, and to top it off the swimming spots were stunning with crystal clear water! Cocktails were great on board (€6 with a good selection). Food was simple but good - Kebab, coleslaw, and bread. We had around 30 minutes at the first island due to dolphin detour which was worth it and an hour at the other stops. TIP - Last island doesn't accept card at any restaurants so take some cash with you”

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2.Full Day 3-Island Boat Cruise from Port of Kos

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 1,133 reviews · 7 hours 15 minutes (approx.) · from $36Top rated

Review of Kos’s 3-island boat cruise, with Kalymnos, Plati, Pserimos, dolphin sightings, lunch, swimming, costs, and practical tips.

“Excellent day out would definitely recommend this boat for the more relaxed crowd. Avoid the party boats if you can.”

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3.Tour to Arch in the only Clear Boat in Cabo Cruise Hotel PICKUP!

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 335 reviews · 1 hour (approx.) · from $15Best value

Cabo’s clear boat tour brings you to El Arco, Pelican Rock, sea lions, and tropical fish for about $15.53, with optional hotel pickup.

“This activity was fine. A couple cool things. But about 1/3 of the time was spent taking pictures of everyone so they can sell a package for over $100 at the end. Also, we were with Spanish speaking people as well, so the operator had to switch back and forth. It would be nice if you could reserve a tour in either English or Spanish so we could hear a more full narration. Impressed by his command of both languages, of course. Just didn’t quite live up the hype. The captain did a great job controlling the boat. Learned a few cool things. Affordable relative to other excursions. Seeing fish…”

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4.Benagil Cave Boat Tour – Catamarans or Rib – 2 H From Portimão

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 288 reviews · 2 hours (approx.) · from $21

Cruise from Portimão to Benagil Cave, swim off the Algarve coast, and see beaches, cliffs, and sea caves for a low price.

“Staff was accommodating! They brought the boat back when I was 10min late &were able to store my luggage.”

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5.St Thomas Shore Excursion: Mangrove Lagoon Kayak and Snorkel Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 195 reviews · from $119

Review of St Thomas Mangrove Lagoon kayak and snorkel tour, with pricing, wildlife, transport tips, itinerary details, and booking advice.

“Our tour guide (Slim) was amazing. He’s a marine biologist and herbalist, so he gave us cool facts from animals to plants. FYI : told the best joke! We kayak through the mangroves then snorkeled by the reef. Pice was fair and service outstanding.”

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6.Speed Boat & Snorkeling Tour Pinel & Tintamarre Islands for CRUISE SHIP GUESTS

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 133 reviews · from $139

Review of St Maarten’s six-hour speedboat tour to Tintamarre, Pinel, Creole Rock, and Maho Beach, with snorkeling, lunch, and drinks.

“Miguel was great! So knowledgeable about the island and the history. We went to several snorkel spots. Water and sand was beautiful.”

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7.Best Corfu Tour with Boat Trip & Old Town for Cruise Passengers

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 107 reviews · 4 hours (approx.) · from $72

Review of Corfu’s cruise shore tour to Paleokastritsa and Old Town, with practical advice on timing, boat costs, guides, value, and sights.

“Our tour guide was lovely however, the tour was very rushed and we did not get enough time in every area to experience it properly. The blue cave tour was really great but again there was not enough time allocated to this area. All in all I feel that to get a good experience of Corfu, this is probably not the tour.”

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8.Snorkeling and Speed Boat Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 99 reviews · from $129

Review of St Maarten’s six-hour speedboat and snorkeling tour, with Creole Rock, Tintamarre, Pinel, lunch, drinks, and Maho Beach.

“We had the best time with Captain Nick and Luca. They were able to get our group of 16 family members all together on 1 boat. They were friendly, attentive and very nice. Always keep us informed on what was next and if we wanted to do mRead more”

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9.Skip Gondola Shore Excursion: No Cable Car, Water Taxi Provided!

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 87 reviews · 6 hours (approx.) · from $54

Review of Santorini’s six-hour island tour with water transport, Oia, Pyrgos, beaches, photo stops, WiFi, and practical cruise-port advice.

“Nikos was the best!! Definitely book this!! This was the perfect highlights tour of the best spots to see on the island. We were travelling with 3 kids. Nikos highlighted the best stops, took a ton of pictures for us…took kids for ice cream…..had the best time in the red beach!! Thank you Nikos for an unforgettable tour!”

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10.Boat Tour for Mein Schiff and Aida Cruise Passengers

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 73 reviews · 5 - 6 hours · from $41

Cruise passengers can swim in four Bodrum bays, enjoy lunch and Turkish tea, and return to Halikarnas Harbor for $41.

“Super nette Crew, mehrere Badestops, genügend Platz für alle, drinnen und draußen - je nach Wunsch. Weil alle schon zeitig da waren, ging es überpünktlich los, aber die gebuchten 5 Stunden wurden „voll“ gemacht. Sehr frisches und schmackhaftes Essen (Hühnchenschnitzel, frischer Salat, Joghurt mit Gemüse („Tzaziki“) und Nudelsalat. Wirklich lecker und wer mochte, bekam auch Nachschlag (wobei die Portion schon ordentlich war). Humane Getränke-Preise (Bier ca. 4€). Ein rundum gelungener Ausflug mit mehr als fairem Preis-Leistungsverhältnis.”

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11.Corfu for Cruise Ships: 6 Hour Tour with Boat Ride or Beach Visit

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 67 reviews · 5 to 6 hours (approx.) · from $47

Review of Corfu’s 6-hour cruise excursion, including Paleokastritsa, sea caves, monastery views, Corfu Town, transport, value, and practical tips.

“We loved this tour the most of all our Greek islands adventures. It was a great combination of sightseeing, free time and the boat tour to the caves was a highlight, although they were right to warn about the “roughness” of the fishermen who run them - they seemed quite grumpy! That just added to the authenticity of the experience though! You don’t quite go in all the way into the caves, but the views are stunning. We also had a great meal in town. Altogether a solid 10/10, highly recommend!”

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12.FOR CRUISERS: Ephesus Tour from Kusadasi Port /GUARANTEED ON-TIME RETURN TO BOAT

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 64 reviews · 4 to 6 hours (approx.) · from $35

Review of a private Ephesus shore excursion from Kusadasi, with a guide, private van, Terrace Houses, St. John’s Basilica, and on-time return.

“Dicle and Ihan were the best team to tour us around Ephesus and the surrounding area. We learned so much from Dicle about the ancient ruins of Ephesus as well as the Turkish culture. We are so inspired by her that we are planning a trip back to explore other parts of Turkey. She really opened our eyes of the beauty and the culture we can experience in Turkey! Ihan was a great driver and made us comfortable in his van. All in all a very memorable experience for us!”

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13.Private Luxury 6.5m 140hp Speedboat cruise Shipwreck & Blue Caves

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 58 reviews · 5 hours (approx.)

Review of Zakynthos’ private 5-hour speedboat cruise to Navagio Beach and Skinari Blue Caves, with pricing, itinerary, value, and booking tips.

“What an experience!!! Our captain Peter was awesome! He was kind and considerate of what we wanted to do. There are no words for his expertise of the area . He explained everything to us in detail. If you do this activity, ask for Peter to be your captain!!! He is awesome!!! This is a great activity to do. I highly recommend it!!!”

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14.Private Luxury Santorini Catamaran Cruise with Port Pickup

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 56 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $1,025

Review of Santorini’s private luxury catamaran cruise, with Red Beach, hot springs, Greek food, drinks, port pickup, and practical booking advice.

“One of the very best parts of our trip through Italy and then the Greek islands. The lunch was prepared on the boat and was fresh and out of this world delicious. We were able to anchor at a few islands, jump off and swim for a bit, all while getting a little bit of history on each of the islands. Spectacular day and the crew was so helpful and hospitable!”

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15.Skip Gondola Private Tour : Cruise Port pick up included

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 54 reviews · 6 to 7 hours (approx.) · from $199

Review of a private Santorini shore tour with Oia, Pyrgos, black sand beaches, Wi-Fi transport, and water taxi options.

“Other than a little confusion about the meeting place, which was also partially our own fault, this was an excellent tour of this beautiful island. Nikos, our guide, was friendly and very knowledgeable. He let us decide how much walking we could do, and gave us a very thorough tour, with a lot of information.”

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