A week on a catamaran or island hopping by ferry: which one you actually want

People who ask us about a private catamaran week have almost always already priced the other version of the same holiday: five nights across three islands, ferries between them, a hotel on each. The two trips visit the same sea and cost less far apart than most people expect, and they are completely different holidays. This is the comparison nobody puts in writing, so here it is.

What a crewed catamaran week actually is

You are not sailing the boat. A private charter of this kind comes with a skipper who runs it and, on most boats, a host who cooks and looks after the cabins. You wake up somewhere, swim off the back before breakfast, move when you feel like moving, and eat ashore or on board as the day goes. Three or four double cabins is the usual size, so it suits two couples, a family, or a group of friends who genuinely like each other. No sailing experience is needed or expected.

What is included, and what is not

Included is the boat, the crew, the linen and towels, and the use of everything on board. Not included, almost universally, is fuel, food and drink, mooring fees where they apply, and the crew tip. Provisioning is arranged before you board and you tell us how you want to eat. The reason this matters is that a headline charter price and a final charter price are not the same number, and comparing a headline against an all in hotel cost is how people end up feeling misled. Ask for the loaded figure. We quote it that way.

The comparison that matters

Take a week in the Cyclades for four adults. The ferry version buys you three hotels, six ferry tickets and four port transfers, and it hands back three mornings that vanish into crossings, checkouts and waiting. The charter version costs more per week in most seasons, but nothing is lost to logistics, there are no bags to move, and the boat reaches beaches and coves that no road and no ferry goes near. You are paying for the days you get back and for the places that are otherwise closed to you.

When the ferries are the better answer

If evenings are the point of the trip, ferries win. Towns are where the restaurants, bars and late nights are, and a boat pulls you away from them more nights than not. Ferries also win if you want more than about four islands in a week, if anyone in the group is uneasy on water, or if the trip is built around a specific hotel someone has had their heart set on for years. Neither answer is the better holiday. They are answers to different questions.

The wind decides more than the brochure does

One practical thing that surprises people. The route is not fixed in advance and should not be. The meltemi blows hardest through July and August and your skipper will choose each day around it, which is precisely why a crewed boat is worth having. In September and early October the wind eases and the Cyclades open up properly, which is why that stretch is the one experienced charterers book first.

Tell us the group, the dates and whether evenings ashore matter to you, and we will price both versions of the trip honestly, loaded rather than headline, and say which one we would book. Sometimes it is the ferries.