Siracusa Boat Excursion Island Of Ortigia And Sea Caves

The boat ride itself was very nice and enjoyable. However, the tour was advertised as one hour, but we left about 10 minutes late and returned about 8 minutes early, making the actual ride considerably shorter than promised. Also, although the guide spoke English, he was extremely difficult to understand, and we unfortunately missed most of the information about what we were seeing. Beautiful and pleasant boat ride, but the company should provide the full advertised tour time and clearer English commentary.

We had a great time on this excursion, our boat guide was informative in pointing out landmarks on land and in the rock and cave formations.

We chose the 'Boat Tour Island and Sea Caves' excursion because it appeared to offer a little more than many of the other one-hour Ortigia boat tours at a very similar price point (€20 per person). In particular, the English-language tour and 10-minute swim stop were major factors in our decision. The positives first: the scenery is beautiful. Seeing Ortigia from the water provides a completely different perspective of the island, its historic waterfront, fortifications, and churches. The sea caves were impressive, the water was stunningly clear, and there were plenty of opportunities for photographs. The captain was friendly, focused on safety, and ensured everyone had a pleasant trip. The boat was comfortably occupied rather than crowded, and the canopy provided welcome shade from the strong Sicilian sun. Unfortunately, several of the advertised inclusions were not provided. There was no fresh fruit, no juice (we 'survived' 🙃), and no swim stop. The swim stop was particularly disappointing because it was one of the experiences we were most looking forward to and one of the key reasons we selected this operator over others. The tour was also advertised as being conducted in English. While the captain was lovely, he did not speak English, so other passengers kindly translated portions of the commentary for us. The website also mentions being able to request photos after the tour. If that's a drawcard for you, it would be worth checking in advance, as this wasn’t discussed or offered during our experience. Overall, we still enjoyed the boat ride because the coastline, caves, and views of Ortigia are genuinely beautiful. However, if the swim stop, English commentary, or advertised inclusions are important to you, I would recommend confirming in advance that they will be provided on your specific departure.

Stephen is a good Boatdriver and great Tourguide.

Steven as a guide was very good. We had a smooth sailing woth gaston. The tome is not season buit still they accommodated us. Such a beautiful experience.

We went on a lovely tour with friendly Captian Stephen. Nice and clean boat, great view over the city of Siracusa and Ortigia Island. Cool to go under the very low bridge! Perfekt lenght of about 50-55 mins.

Great afternoon out stopped twice for a swim,fruit and Prosecco provided what’s not to love about this trip captain very friendly Simon & Gilly

The trip was amazing. We saw caves and the entire island, Etna and ended with an amazing sunset. Onboard food and prosecco was very good. Highly recommend.

We had a great time with Gaetano on our boat trip around Ortigia, loved the music too! Highly recommended, knowledgeable about the area and very entertaining 👏

We had a wonderful tour with Enzo on Sunday. He was very friendly and shared his passion for sailing with us. The booking was easy too and we made it all through whatsapp. There are SO many tour operators and we are glad we chose this one as everything was so smooth.

We so enjoyed our boat cruise with Salvo around Ortigia! It gave us a whole new perspective on the island. We booked first thing in the morning and loved how peaceful the harbor and the caves were at that time. It was absolutely one of the highlights of our visit to Ortigia! Highly recommend!!

we got to experience the beauty of syracusa from the water. it was really an experience for such a great price. office was a but hard to find but just a bit of asking around and we got it figured out.

The boat tour was excellent and Gaetano who was piloting the boat and giving us the tour was excellent, friendly and fun to be with. We truly enjoyed the trip and the way he made it a truly enjoyable experience. A highly recommended boat-trip to the caves and around Ortigia. Look nowhere else.

Very nice and professional communication with stuff, a lot of positive emotions during the all trip.

Excellent trip. Steven the guide was great - spoke just enough - and the views of the city and caves really interesting. Wear your swimsuit!

One hour relaxing cruise around Siracusa. Captain Steven showed us the local caves and forts. Better than the Hop on and off bus.

Captain Stevan was a legend! We loved him. He handled that boat like a champion and was so much fun! He even forgot to tell the kids just how cold to the water would be when they were jumping in as it was his little surprise. Thankyou Stevan you are the best

This was a bargain at 25 euro. Lovely trip to see the caves then around the entire Isola de Ortigia and back under the 2 bridges to our harbour starting point. Excellent

Really enjoyed the excursion with our guide Steven! His english was very good and he gave us many information of the things we saw. At the end of the tour we had the opportunity to swim and take pictures on the boat. It was an very nice experience!

Me and my partner went on the 10am boat tour of 2 hrs. It was great! Marco, from who we bought the tickets was very friendly and told us all about the trip. Our captain Gaetano was amazing! He new everything about the region and was a great photographer too! Had an amazing time! Thank you guys!

Very happy with this small boat excursion. Seeing the city from the sea was wonderful. Saw the sea caves and the cave entrance that was eroded to be in the shape of a heart and some beautiful red coral in the water. Thoroughly enjoyed the end where we had to kneel down in the boat to go under the low arch bridge connecting the island with Siracusa. The boat operator was friendly and engaging. Ended the trip with a proseco toast with all aboard.

We had a great time with our captain Stefano who took us to some lovely caves and around the beautiful Ortigia island. Everything was perfect and we can definitely recommend this tour.

This was a nice hour plus boat trip to see the local sea caves and around the island of Ortigia. I booked through Trip Advisor and then quickly received an email from the Captain and an accurate point to meet the following day. We communicated through WhatsApp. The Captain had his sweet son and wife on board, the young lad served us grapes and later we all enjoyed some prosecco (the adults!). It was a beautiful day and just nice to be viewing the coast from another angle, We did go in a couple of caves in the boat which was impressive. The Captain was talking Italian to some passengers and so there was little commentary but we were happy to soak in the sun. There was a canopy on the boat but hat, sunglasses and sunscreen is a must. On the return the Captain let our two youngsters drive the boat which they loved! Overall a very nice, friendly boat trip and would highly recommend. Like a lot of places here we were not charged for the kids which is great. We booked two adult places and just text them we were bringing kids too.

This is a must do when visiting Ortigia - Francesco & Capitano Gaetano are great hosts & provided a wonderful party boat excursion- a fun filled ride hosted by 2 molto simpatico gentleman - my daughter booked this excursion for our party of 8,included 2 children, 8 & 5, a wonderful time exploring the area & getting a chance to go swimming - music provided by Gaetano made for a truly enjoyable time - great fun - not to be missed- Don Popillo

We took the boat trip around the island before exploring it on foot and it gave us great insight to where we wanted to explore. We were also shown all the caves & rock formations further up the coast

Under a beautiful clear blue sky we enjoyed an hour spent taking in the sights as part of this bour tour. Unfortunately the water was too choppy for us to visit the caves, however, we did get extra time enjoying the views of Ortigia and Syracuse from a great vantage point followed by a brief swim in the warm water. An excellent way to take in the beauty of this part of Sicily.

This tour was recommended by our AirBnB host and it didn’t disappoint. Francesco (one of the brothers) met us at a prearranged spot. He was easy to communicate with and quite flexible with booking a time slot that worked for us. His brother, Steven was the captain and has a very clean boat and large boat, though we were the only ones on it :) He greeted us with some home grown fruit and offered us some Prosecco during our trip. Very nice. Tour was great and fun and we would recommend it.

I didn't have much of an expectation, other than to come back alive😀 Just wanted to get out on the sea and view beautiful Ortigia from another perspective. Caves, yes, sunshine yes thank you, relaxing and very pleasant...yes thank you.

Wonderful private boat trip with our super captain : Gaetano ! He is very helpful, knowledgeable on Syracuse and made sure that we were having a fantastic time. The swimming in crystal blue waters is awesome and make the boat trip a unique experience. Thank you Gaetano and team ! Francesco

Had a great time. Only about an hour - you cruise around the island. Our captain Stephen, was very good with our kids. Our trip had a fun surprise ending.

We got to see some nice sea caves and we got a nice swim. The guide was really cool, and he took some nice photos of my girlfriend and me. He contributed to a really nice trip. The boat is of good quality and the boat was not overbooked so we easily move around in the boat to get some good pictures.

The trip was excellent and the only drawback was that it was a bit of a walk (10 minutes) from the meeting place to the actual boat. The guide/skipper, Stephen, was also excellent and good fun.

I read the reviews of all Ortigia Cruises and I found that "Ortigia Island Escursion" was the best option so I paid in advanced on-line through Paypal. I made the best choice! The owner, Francesco was always in comunication with me through Whatsapp, informing me about the current weather conditions and recommending me to take a private transfer (from Taormina to Syracuse) instead of the train (because trains in Sicily are frecuently late, and I only had 5 hours to tour Ortigia. He was outstanding, his customer service was great and he is also a very funny guy making our cruise enjoyable! I went in March, the weather was nice but the waves a bit choppy however he managed to take us exploring in areas where the waters were less active and we loved the whole experience! I loved his boat too, seems brand new and he take care and pride of his boat and his business. I highly recommend "Ortigia Island Excursions" for your visit to Ortigia. You can't go wrong with Francesco, he takes good care of his patrons!

I recomend this tour to all the tourists! Ortigia is connected to the mainland by the Umbertino Bridge. The tour began from here, cost 15 euros and it lasted over an hour. We had a very friendly, documented and funny captain-guide named Sebastiano. He let us to drive the boat, took us photos and told a lot of interesting stories. Don't miss! ATENTION! Imediatly the tour begins, the boat must pass under a bridge that is very low, so you have do get down in the boat to not hit your head!!!

We had a 3hrs boat tour with the best captain in the Island ;), Gaetano was super friendly and full of passion about his home town. Our girls age 7 and 9 loved it, Gaetano let them drive the boat together with him. We were welcome with a beautiful variety of snacks and the tour ended with a nice glass of Spritz overlooking the island. We had a few stops to swim and Gaetano always made sure we were having a good time, full of attention with the most friendly way, telling us a lot about the history of Ortigia. This company is very professional and every single person working there was super friendly. I recommend this tour 100% and trust me one hour is not enough ;), take the time to enjoy the ride around the island, swimming in the most beautiful clear water without any rush. Thank you Gaetano and team for a wonderful afternoon.

Tour pick-up point perfectly located by one of the bridges that lead onto the island. Really polite and friendly tour-guide and Captain. I would do the trip again it was such fun.

We booked this boat trip to see Ortigia from the sea as well. Our guide had already left before the start time and had to return when they saw that several more people were still arriving and still needed to board. The guide's commentary along the way was particularly sparse. The trip also took us to a few unremarkable sea caves. The only fun thing was the mandatory dive of the boat under the Ponte Umbertino.

Wonderful experience seasoned with the professionalism and friendliness of the great Gaetano...excellent value for money...I recommend it with my eyes closed...everything was perfect!

Very nice visit with a very friendly guide! Very comfortable boat, reasonable group (12 people), we recommend!

Great boat trip with a stop for a quick swim in the sea and a glass of prosecco included in the price.

Really very nice excursion! A boat all to ourselves and a very nice guide. I highly recommend it!!

Great ride, the captain is very professional.

The walk with Steven around the Ortigia Island has been great. He is a musician and he has shown us his work. We'll follow him...

Very nice time with Gaetan! Walk to do!

Excellent professionalism. The weather conditions were not optimal, as we were told at the start, but the captain managed the two hours in the best way even if a couple of caves we could not visit them. Prosecco and fruit very welcome. Bravo! Keep it up!

Beautiful and pleasant boat ride great price. Friendly staff who made us tour the island and excursion inside the caves

We spent 2 hours on the boat with Michelangelo, a really professional and nice guy, a beautiful experience in the middle of the caves, with a breathtaking bath and all accompanied by good music! Thank you Michelangelo for letting us spend a nice morning in the Sicilian waves💛

Beautiful experience, friendly and helpful staff. We made the one hour tour to the caves and the island of Ortigia. Very good the captain explained many things and was very nice. Super competitive prices. I highly recommend them

Gaetano was very good; tour of the island of ortigia and neighboring beach. Stra-Recommended 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 top absolutely worth trying