What a day on the water at Positano costs
Why the ferry fare goes at the top of a page that earns from tours
Because you were going to find it anyway, and because I would rather lose a booking than have somebody discover on the pier that the thing they wanted cost a fraction of what this site sold them. I grew up in Montepertuso, above the town, and I spent six summers working deck on my uncle’s charter out of the Spiaggia Grande. Half the people who stopped me on that jetty to ask about boat tours wanted the ferry timetable and did not know it. That has not changed. It is the whole reason this site exists in the shape it does.
I give the gap between ferry and tour as a multiple rather than a difference on purpose. The tour prices are “from” prices in dollars that the widgets re-price by date and party size; the fare is in euro and varies by operator and season; the exchange rate moves under both. A precise figure would be wrong within a month. The shape of it — crossing cheapest, tours at several times that — has held for as long as I have been watching and will still be right when you read this.
The fees that are not on any sticker
Three charges live on Capri and none of them appear in the price you compared at home unless the operator has bought them in for you. They are cash, on an island where the queue is not the place to discover you have none.
| On-site charge | Roughly | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Grotto entrance | €18 | Paid on the day, from the rowing boat, unless your tour includes it. Never guaranteed — the cave closes whenever the swell is up |
| Capri landing tax | €10 | The municipal charge for stepping ashore at Marina Grande. Inside the price on the Blue Grotto boat and on the day trip with hotel pickup |
| Disembarkation fee | €5 | The full-day budget boat excludes this and collects it in cash on the island |
Normalising two stickers before you compare them
Here is the comparison the whole page exists for. The Capri Full-Day Boat Tour from Positano, Praiano or Amalfi is from $172 for eight hours, and it excludes the disembarkation fee, the grotto entrance, lunch and hotel pickup. The Capri & Blue Grotto Shared Boat Tour with Drinks is from $238 for eight hours, with the grotto entrance and the landing tax already inside the price. Compared as stickers, the second looks like roughly a third more money. Compared as days — once the grotto ticket and the disembarkation fee have been handed over in cash on a jetty — the two sit far closer together than that, and the remaining gap buys you a higher rating and the certainty of not queuing with your wallet out.
I will not print you a to-the-cent difference, because the fees are in euro, the stickers are in dollars, and both move. What I will say plainly is that the cheaper boat is only the cheaper day if the grotto is something you were going to skip. If you were always going in, the gap between those two listings is much smaller than it looks, and it is not obvious that the lower sticker wins — the three Capri boats, itemised.
What each of the six costs, and what the price covers
| Tour | From | What the price covers |
|---|---|---|
| Shared sunset boat along the coast — 2 h | $79 | Limoncello, prosecco, beer, dry snacks, restroom aboard. English and Italian. 4.8 from 32 reviews — a young listing |
| Amalfi Coast & Positano tour with snorkelling and drinks — 4–8 h | $95 | Snorkel gear, floats, prosecco, limoncello, beer, soft drinks, fruit, toilet, shower and shade. Lunch excluded. 4.9 from 2,261 reviews |
| Capri full-day boat tour — 8 h | $172 | Skipper, drinks, prosecco, homemade limoncello, snacks, towels, masks, noodles, shower and toilet. Grotto entrance, disembarkation fee, lunch and hotel pickup all excluded |
| Capri day trip with grotto stops — 6–8 h | $206 | Skipper, drinks, towels, life jackets, swim stop, Marina Grande landing tax, a Capri guide, and hotel pickup and drop-off in Positano. Grotto optional at extra cost |
| Capri & Blue Grotto shared boat tour — 8 h | $238 | Grotto entrance and Capri landing tax both in the price, swim stop, free time ashore, limoncello tasting. Not suitable for wheelchair users |
| Private sunset boat — 1.5 h | $520 per group, up to 12 | Under $45 a head at capacity. Minibar, prosecco, champagne, snacks, snorkel set, WiFi, music. Dinner, chef and photographer excluded. 5.0 from 28 reviews |
Read the two evening rows against each other rather than down the column. Per person, the shared boat is the cheapest thing on this page; per group of eight or more, the private boat undercuts it. That single division is the most common mistake I see people make with this catalogue — the whole-boat arithmetic.
What works
- A tour gives you the Faraglioni, the grottoes from the water and a swim stop, which no ferry ticket buys at any price
- Drinks, gear, shade and a toilet are aboard, and on most listings so is free cancellation
- Two of the Capri boats settle the landing tax before you leave home
- The shared evening boat costs a fraction of a full day and answers whether you want one
- Priced per group, the private boat undercuts a shared seat from about eight people up
Worth knowing
- Every tour on this site costs several times the scheduled crossing
- Two of the Capri boats want euro in cash on the day, at a jetty with no machine
- Lunch is excluded on the full-day boats; you buy it ashore during free time
- No operator can promise the Blue Grotto, whether or not the ticket is in your price
- The two evening listings have 32 and 28 reviews, which is promising rather than proven
Do the cheap check first. Look at the ferry timetable for your date, and be honest about what you want from Capri. If the answer is the Piazzetta, a walk and lunch, the crossing does it and you can come back here for a two-hour evening boat with the money you saved. If the answer involves swimming off the back of a boat, no timetable is going to help you.
The honest summary
The cheapest way to be on the water at Positano is the two-hour evening boat. The cheapest way to be on Capri is the scheduled ferry, and it is not close. The best-value full day, if you count the cash that arrives on the island rather than the number on the listing, is closer to a coin toss between the two Capri boats than their stickers suggest. And the best-rated thing on this site by a distance is the coast tour, which does not go to Capri at all. Whether any of it is worth the money is a different argument, and I make both sides of it at is a boat tour worth it. If you decide the crossing is all you need, the ferry page will get you there without selling you anything.
Can’t make these dates?
Browse more available Positano boat tours and find one that fits your schedule — all with instant confirmation and free cancellation.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Positano boat tour cost?
From $79 for a two-hour shared evening boat, $95 for the coast tour with a swim stop, and $172 to $238 for a full day to Capri. The private boat is $520 for the whole boat of up to twelve, which is under $45 a head at capacity. Two of the Capri boats also collect fees in cash on the island, itemised in the table above, so add those before you compare stickers — all six compared.
Is a boat tour cheaper than the ferry to Capri?
No, and it never will be. The scheduled hydrofoil is the cheapest way to reach the island by a wide margin, and a tour costs several times it. They are not the same purchase: the ferry is transport that drops you at the port, while a tour circles the island, stops to swim and comes back. If you want to stand on Capri, take the ferry — how the crossing works.
What extra costs should I expect on the day?
Cash for the fees listed in the table above, which apply on Capri and vary by which boat you book; lunch on the full-day tours, since none of them include it; and anything you buy during free time ashore. Bring euro notes in small denominations. The landing tax is pre-paid on two of the three Capri boats, so check which one you are looking at — the Capri boats, itemised.
Are boat tours cheaper if I book in advance?
Booking ahead does not usually cut the price, but it decides whether you go at all. In July and August the evening slots and the afternoon ferry returns are what disappear first, and free cancellation on most listings means an early booking costs you nothing to change your mind about. The months where all this is easiest are May, June and September — how far ahead to book.