Private Capri boat tours from Sorrento: the maths first
What the number actually means
Every other product I list on this site prices a seat. This one prices a boat: about $1,200 for the whole thing over six hours, up to five people, private skipper, swim stops, Punta Carena and Marina Grande. People see four figures next to a day trip and close the tab, which is a reasonable reflex and the wrong one here. Here is the same price at every group size, so you can find your own line.
| How many of you | Approx. per head | My reading |
|---|---|---|
| Five people, the boat full | ~$250 | The only split where a charter reads as sensible |
| Four people | ~$300 | Still defensible if you want the boat to yourselves |
| Three people | ~$400 | You are paying a premium for privacy, knowingly |
| Two people | ~$600 | Book a shared boat unless the occasion demands otherwise |
| One person | The whole boat, ~$1,200 | No |
That column is my arithmetic, not a price list: one group price divided by however many of you climb aboard, rounded to the nearest fifty so it stays readable. The operator sells one boat at one price and re-prices it by date and party size, so treat the per-head figures as the shape of the decision rather than a quote — the live number is in the booking panel below.
The comparison that matters is against the shared boats, which run around $150 a head for five to eight hours. A full charter at about $240 a head is well over half as much again, for a shorter day — six hours against the eight the small-group tour runs. You are not buying more hours. You are buying who else is on the boat. Everything the shared boats offer, priced next to each other, is on the comparison page.
Private charterCapri Private Full-Day Boat Tour from Sorrento
Most bookedSorrento: Exclusive Capri Boat Tour and Optional Blue Grotto
Best valueFrom Sorrento: Capri Island Boat Day Trip With Transfer
What a private skipper does that a shared one cannot
Kerry’s review is the one I point people at, because it is specific rather than warm: her captain got the group into a hotel pool on Capri and made their lunch reservations. That is not on any inclusions list and no shared boat can do it, because a shared skipper has eleven other people’s afternoons to think about. Andy’s review covers the other anxiety. He was uneasy about booking a boat the day before in a foreign country, and wrote that it showed up and had been confirmed in advance. Charters feel riskier than they are, largely because the money is up front and in one lump.
The sea still gets a vote
A private boat is not a weatherproof boat, and the two reviews that say so are worth more than the ones that do not. Lindsey hit a hiccup early on: the water was too choppy for the small boat they had booked, and the operator sorted it out. Allison ran into a thunderstorm, pulled into a small port until it passed, and got only part of the route. Neither of them sounds bitter, and neither day went to plan. This is the Bay of Naples, the boats are day boats, and a swell that a hydrofoil shrugs off will change what a small hull can do. Ask about the sea state when you are confirming, not when you are boarding.
Five reviews short of a verdict, and I will say so
The charter shows 5.0, the best score on this site, from 16 reviews. Sixteen. The flagship shared boat carries 4,997. A perfect score across sixteen bookings tells you that nobody has yet had a bad enough day to write about it; it does not tell you what happens on a bad day, because there is not enough data for a bad day to show up. Read it as promising rather than proven. My longer write-up, with every reviewer I have, is the private charter review.
The charter against two shared boats
| From Sorrento: Capri Island Boat Day Trip With Transfer | PrivateCapri Private Full-Day Boat Tour from Sorrento | Capri: Full-Day Small Group Boat Tour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $126 / person | $1,178 / group | $153 / person |
| At five people | $630 total | $1,178 total | $765 total |
| Length | 5–7 h | 6 h | 8 h |
| Who else is aboard | A shared group | Nobody | Up to 12 |
| Rating | 4.9 (1,882) | 5.0 (16) | 4.6 (257) |
| Best for | Value, and it is rated for it | Families and groups of five | The longest day out |
| View → | Book this → | View → |
Who should not book this
Couples, unless the day is a wedding anniversary or something like it. Split two ways the charter lands around $600 each, and the shared boats give you five to eight hours with drinks, swim stops and the same coastline for a fifth of that. Solo travellers, obviously. And anyone booking a private boat because they think it guarantees the Blue Grotto, because it guarantees nothing of the kind — you still transfer into the same wooden rowing boat, still pay the same fee of about €20, still join the same queue, and the operators still make the weather call at nine in the morning. That is set out plainly on the grotto tours page. What a charter is genuinely for is a family with children who will not last eight hours on a stranger’s timetable, a group of five splitting one bill, or a day that has to happen a particular way.
Confirm the meeting point and the pickup arrangement in writing when you book, and tell the operator how many of you there are and how old the youngest is. The boat that suits two adults and the boat that suits a family with a toddler are not always the same hull, and that is a conversation better had before the morning of.
Before you commit the deposit
Work out your split first, then read the shared options honestly — plenty of people who arrive on this page leave and book a seat, which is a fine outcome. What a day costs once the cave and the landing tax are added is on the cost page.
Can’t make these dates?
Browse more available Capri boat tour from Sorrento and find one that fits your schedule — all with instant confirmation and free cancellation.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a private boat from Sorrento to Capri?
About $1,200 for the whole boat, not per person, for a six-hour day with your own skipper. It takes up to five people, which works out at about $240 a head with five aboard — more than a seat on a shared tour, but the same order of magnitude. Split between two it is around $600 each, and at that point I would book a shared boat.
Is a private Capri boat tour worth it?
For a group of four or five, or a family with young children, yes. Kerry’s skipper got her group into a hotel pool on Capri and booked their lunch, which no shared boat is going to do. For two people it is hard to justify against the cheapest of the high-volume options, a shared boat that rates 4.9 from 1,882 reviews. The full line-up is on all tours.
How many people fit on the private charter?
Up to five, and the price is the same whether one of you turns up or all five do, which is why the per-head figure swings so wildly. Six hours is the length of the day, so it is shorter than most of the shared boats even though it costs more — whether that is enough time on the island is worked through at is 4 hours enough.
Can a private boat guarantee the Blue Grotto?
No, and be suspicious of anyone who says otherwise. The grotto has its own fee of about €20, its own rowing boats, its own queue and its own weather call at 09:00, none of which a charter controls. High-season waits reach two hours. Where the boats leave from and how the morning runs is on where boats leave.