Ferry or boat tour from Sorrento to Capri?
| The ferry | A boat tour | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Public transport | A day on the water |
| Cost | Roughly €20–€30 one-way | From $126 per person |
| Time | 20–25 min each way | 5–8 hours |
| The coastline | Port to port only | The full island circuit |
| Swim stops | None | Two or three |
| Time ashore | As long as you like | Three to four hours |
| Landing tax | Inside the fare | Inside the price, or no docking |
| Blue Grotto | About €20, your own queue | About €20, your own queue |
Take the ferry if
- You want to reach Capri. Twenty-five minutes and a standard ferry fare. There is no cleverer answer than that one.
- You want a long day ashore. First sailing around 07:15, last back around 19:45 in high season: that is a great deal more than the three or four hours a tour leaves you.
- You are staying over. Obvious, and yet people still ask me whether a tour can drop them at a hotel.
- Money is the constraint. A return crossing costs a fraction of the cheapest seat on any boat here.
Take a boat tour if
- You want the coast, not the port. Tiberius’ Leap, the White Grotto, the Natural Arch, Villa Malaparte, the Faraglioni arch, Marina Piccola on the south side, Punta Carena and the Baths of Tiberius are all invisible from a ferry seat.
- You want to swim. Two or three stops in water you cannot reach from a road, with the gear on board.
- You would rather not organise anything. Four of the six tours collect you from your hotel and hand you back at the door.
- The day is the point. Jordan, on the value pick, called it great value for money and the perfect length of time, which is about the highest praise a day out gets.
What works
- A tour shows you the whole island from the water in one sitting
- Swim stops, snorkelling gear and drinks on deck are included on most boats
- Hotel pickup on four of six removes the pier from your morning
- Someone on board knows where the sea caves are and when they are workable
Worth knowing
- It costs several times a return ferry ticket
- Three to four hours ashore is less than an independent day gives you
- The Blue Grotto is about €20 extra on either option and never guaranteed
- Rough weather shortens the route, and reviewers have had days cut back
The thing neither option guarantees
The Blue Grotto. It costs about €20 by ferry and the same by tour, you queue for it either way, and it closes in rough seas on a call the operators make each morning at 09:00. Julie, on the most-reviewed boat here, wrote that her guide made good suggestions for other caves but the wait was two hours. Rebecca, on the same product on a day the tides cooperated, waited fifteen minutes and called it the highlight. Same boat, two mornings. The full picture is on the Blue Grotto page.
The hybrid nobody mentions
You can take the ferry across and buy an island tour on Capri itself. The shortest of those runs two hours, with three, four and seven-hour versions on offer. It is a real option and it is why our Sorrento boats run five to eight hours: theirs is the circuit alone, ours includes the crossing both ways and the time ashore. If you want the circuit and a full day on the island, the ferry plus a short island tour is the shape to consider. If you want one boat, one skipper and no logistics, the six tours from Sorrento do that, and what each one costs is set out separately.
Decide what you are buying before you compare prices. Against a crossing, every boat on this site looks absurd. Against a chartered day with swim stops and a skipper, the same boats look ordinary. The number only means something once you know which question you are answering.
The value pick, if the day won
The cheapest of the high-volume boats is also the best rated of them, and it includes the transfer from your hotel.
Frequently asked questions
Is a boat tour better than the ferry to Capri?
Only if you want a day on the water. For transport the ferry wins outright at roughly €20 to €30 and 20 to 25 minutes. A tour costs several times that and gives you the island circuit, swim stops and three to four hours ashore.
Can I see the Faraglioni from the ferry?
Not properly. The ferry runs port to port; the arch through the middle stack, the grottoes, Villa Malaparte and Punta Carena are all off that line. Whether the difference earns the money is argued out on is it worth it.
How much time do I get on Capri with a boat tour?
Three to four hours on most of them, with the snorkelling boat closer to three. Whether that is enough depends on what you want to do, which I work through on is four hours enough.
Do I still pay the landing tax on a boat tour?
If the boat docks, the landing fee is owed — a few euro a head — and is usually inside the tour price. Some itineraries never land at all, which is why a few listings advertise no landing fees.