Portofino private boat tours put your party alone on a boat with a skipper, for three hours to a full day. Most price the whole boat, so the fare falls per head as your group grows.
A captain and a Corvette or a wooden gozzo for four hours from Rapallo. You set the route and any time ashore with the captain. The fare rises with each person you add, so price your whole party.
From $405 for one traveller; more with each person added
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The lowest per-boat fare: up to five of you for three to four hours from Molo Maloncello or Rapallo's Andrea Doria pier. Focaccia, drinks for over-18s, a toilet, a shower and a changing cabin aboard.
From $557 per group (up to 5)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A full eight hours from Rapallo's Rotonda Marconi, with a walk ashore in Portofino, a snorkel at San Fruttuoso and Camogli's seafront. A bottle of prosecco, towels and a shower aboard. Priced by party size.
From $580 for one traveller; more with each person added
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Priced for the boat and up to five people, with a skipper for three to seven hours. Board in Portofino, Santa Margherita or Rapallo; the day docks in Portofino and Camogli. Snorkel gear, water, wine and soft drinks are aboard.
From $870 per group (up to 5)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Your own boat for up to seven from Genoa's old harbour, by day at 9am or on a sunset option at 5pm. Stops ashore at San Fruttuoso, Portofino and Camogli, two swims, and a tow board aboard.
From $1,276 per group (up to 7)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A traditional wooden boat for up to six, from pier F12 in Rapallo's Porto Carlo Riva, the Santa Margherita pier or Portofino. Three hours round the headland, with stops agreed with your skipper and snorkel gear aboard.
From $1,378 per group (up to 6)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A boat for up to eight for seven hours, with about an hour at each of six stops from Portofino to Bogliasco, and a four-hour option. Drinks, snacks and snorkel gear aboard. No refund if you cancel.
From $2,785 per group (up to 8)
The listing is non-refundable: no refund or change once booked.
The longest private run: seven hours to the Cinque Terre for up to seven, landing you in Monterosso and in Vernazza for lunch. It boards in Portofino, Santa Margherita or Rapallo. All fees and taxes are in the fare.
From $3,481 per group (up to 7)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Three to four hours with a skipper, a swim at San Fruttuoso, focaccia and drinks, and a toilet and shower aboard.
Check availabilityA private boat tour is a charter: you book the boat, and nobody outside your party comes aboard. A skipper takes you round the promontory, and the pace and the stops bend to your group and the sea. You are not buying a seat on somebody else's schedule.
Most charters here let you board in Portofino, Santa Margherita or Rapallo. One leaves Genoa's old harbour, and the boats priced by party size leave Rapallo. They run from three hours to a full day, and one sails all the way to the Cinque Terre.
Most price the whole boat for up to five to eight people. Two quote a figure that is the price for one traveller, and it rises with each person you add. Work out your own party's total before you compare.
A shared boat carries up to 12. On a charter, the boat holds only the people you bring, so you can talk, swim and stop for photos as you like. For a family, a proposal or a birthday, that is the point.
At $557 per group (up to 5), five of you pay about $111 each for three to four hours. A seat on a shared boat costs $98 to $103, plus €10 fuel on the harbour boat, so the gap narrows as your party grows.
Several charters dock in Portofino and Camogli, and the Genoa day gives you about an hour and a half ashore at San Fruttuoso. On others, you ask the skipper for a stop.
Stay in Santa Margherita or Rapallo and you board in your own town. From Genoa, the boat leaves Porto Antico at 9am, or at 5pm on the sunset option.
Here is what the whole boat gives you that a seat on a shared boat does not.
| A private boat | A shared boat | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is aboard | Your party only | Up to 12 people |
| Where it leaves | Portofino, Santa Margherita, Rapallo or Genoa | Portofino harbour or Rapallo |
| Length | 3 hours to a full day | 2.5 to 4 hours |
| The route | Set with the skipper, or by the option you pick | Fixed by the operator |
| Time ashore | Docks on some days; on request on others | An hour in Portofino on the Rapallo boat |
| Fuel charge in cash | None | €10 on the harbour boat |
| Price | $557 to $3,481 a boat | $98 to $103 a person, plus €10 fuel on the harbour boat |
See the boat for up to five from $557 a boat
For two people, a seat costs far less. For four or five, divide the fare by your party before you decide, because it covers the boat, not each seat. Our guide to what each fare buys sets every fare side by side.
The whole boat for up to five, from Portofino, Santa Margherita or Rapallo, with snorkel gear, drinks and Wi-Fi aboard.
Check availabilityComing from Genoa for the day? The tours from Genoa page covers the Porto Antico boat with the other ways in.
Rather share a boat, or walk the headland? Every way to see it is compared on Portofino Tours.