Is a Boat Tour around Capri Worth It?
Capri is one of Italy's most touristy islands, and for good reason: it's a beautiful series of cliffs jutting out of the Mediterranean. It has amazing views, charming little beaches, and of course, the world-famous grottos. Plus, being right off the coast of Naples, it's super easy to get to. If you're willing to put up with the tourist crowds and prices, I think it's worth a visit.
Is the Blue Grotto worth the two-hour wait?
Once you're on Capri, you have to decide how you want to spend your time. One of the most popular things you can do is visit the Blue Grotto. This is the most famous of Capri's caves, although there are more than just this one. The reason the Blue Grotto is the most well-known is that the water seems to shine with phosphorescence, due to the sunlight reflecting off the white stone just beneath the shallow water. With a lot more natural sunlight, the other grottos don't have this same phenomenon, but they still do have gorgeous colored cliffs and crystal-clear water.
The thing you have to know about the Blue Grotto is that you will wait two-plus hours in line to get in. The entrance is only a few feet high, depending on the tide. Here it is below, just to the left of the bottom of the metal staircase. Because the entrance is so small, you'll take a larger boat to the area and then get into a smaller dinghy that can pass through the entrance and into the cave. And the cave is quite small: it can only fit a handful of boats at a time.
When the Blue Grotto is open, it is as busy as can be. And you will not get a moment in it alone, even if you do a private tour. And you also can't swim in the Blue Grotto due to the time restriction: with all the boats waiting two hours for a chance to enter, you will only be in the grotto for around five minutes before you have to move along for the next group.
Final note about the Blue Grotto: I say "when it's open" because the Blue Grotto is often closed due to weather and strong waves. Since the entrance is so small, if the waves are too high, it is just too dangerous to try to enter. The day we planned to visit, this was the case, as you might have guessed from my photo of the Blue Grotto entrance above. It being closed is the only reason I was able to get an unobstructed photo of the entrance. But, to be honest, I am kind of glad it happened that way because our boat tour around the island was a much better use of time!
Need an Alternative to the Blue Grotto? Boat Tour around the Island!
Our boat tour around Capri was one of my favorite days of my whole month in Italy. This was a very cool opportunity to see all of Capri's stunning cliffs, hidden caves, and picturesque little coastal neighborhoods. Plus, we got to jump off the boat and swim in the Mediterranean, and this was an awesome place to do it.
Although this boat didn't pop into any caves, we did get to see some awesome parts of the landscape of Capri. We saw the so-called White Grotto and the Green Grotto. We saw some of the island's famous cliffs. And we had absolutely gorgeous views of the Mediterranean the whole time. Here is a map of the boat tour around Capri that we did, so you can follow along with my photos below! (We went clockwise around the island.)
All 7 Sights You'll See on a Boat Tour around Capri
Sight 1/ The Statue of Gennarino Scugnizzo
This is a bronze statue of a young street urchin boy named Gennarino. The statue is also called the Statue of Welcome, as Gennarino can be seen waving, and the location of the statue means that every boat passes Gennarino on its way to the main port of Capri, Marina Grande, where we started.
Sight 2/ Tiberius' Leap
Just past Gennarino is the second highest peak of Capri, Monte Tiberio. You can see some of the amazing natural caves in the rock face, which is just over 1,000 feet (334 meters) in elevation. This sight is better to visit on foot so you can see what's there, but at the very top is Villa Jovis, the remains of an ancient Roman Palace built by Emperor Tiberius and completed in 27 AD. Emperor Tiberius ruled from the island of Capri for much of his life, and this palace includes the infamous Tiberius' Leap, a precipice over which the Emperor would throw any poor victim who had slighted him.
Sight 3/ The White Grotto (Grotto Bianco)
Just around the easternmost part of the island of Capri, you will come to the Grotto Bianco. This stunning cave formation was created by the sea's currents wearing away at the limestone. There used to be two chambers, an upper one and a lower one, but eventually the roof/floor between the two was too thin and collapsed under the weight of the water.
Sight 4/ Punta Tragara and the Faraglioni
These three stunning cliffs that jut out of the Mediterranean are jointly called the Faraglioni. The name doesn't exactly translate to anything but likely comes from the Greek for lighthouse, since historically, people would light fires at the top of them to protect ships in the night. Anyway, these are amazing to look at, both from the sea and from land.
Just off the coast of Punta Tragara (seen through the rocks in the rightmost photo), the southeasternmost part of Capri, these rocks are hundreds of feet tall. The tallest, called Stella, is 365 feet and technically connected to the mainland by a thin strip of land (on the left in the photo on the right). The second, with the arch, is called Faraglione di Mezzo (just means in the middle haha), and the third is 265 feet tall. Fun fact! These outer two cliffs are home to a super bright blue lizard that lives nowhere else on Earth!
Sight 5/ The Green Grotto (Grotto Verde)
After jumping off the boat and swimming next to the Faraglioni, which was one of the best parts of the whole trip, we continued on the second half of our journey around the island of Capri. We passed the charming Marina Piccola (photo on the left) and continued on to the Green Grotto. It is called this because of the color of the water when the sun hits it just right. You can see this a little bit because of the difference in the color of the water in both photos, but I'm sure deeper in the cave it looks more impressive. People are able to swim and snorkel here, as you can see in my photo, but this boat tour did not include that.
Sight 6/ Punta Carena Lighthouse
As the boat tour comes back around to the north side of the island, you will have ample views of the Punta Carena Lighthouse. This lighthouse is super important, since it sits on the spot furthest out from the Amalfi Coast. So boats coming into Naples from elsewhere in the Mediterranean need to stay left of this point of Capri in order to continue on safely to port. The lighthouse is a beautiful brick tower, completed in 1867, and it happens to be the second tallest lighthouse in all of Italy. (The tallest is Genoa's La Lanterna, which I've also visited!)
Sight 7/ The Entrance to the Blue Grotto
As you head back to Marina Grande, you'll pass the entrance to the Blue Grotto. Because I already included that picture above, I am now doing a photo dump of the rest of my favorite photos from this boat tour. If you look closely at the bottom two, you can see an amazing natural rock arch! I just had such a great time looking at these stunning cliffs and rock formations. Capri is a beautiful island, and I really enjoyed experiencing it from both the sea and the land.
How much does a boat tour around Capri cost?
If you want to tour around Capri on a private boat, it will cost more than $100 per person. To be honest, I didn't think this was necessary. We instead paid around $40 per person and had a great time with our group. The boat wasn't overly crowded, and everyone was in good spirits. Seeing as the boat tour around Capri takes just about an hour, including time to swim, it was totally fine being on a shared tour.
I know the private tour takes the same amount of time, so I honestly can't envision that it would have been worth the price, at least for me. But at $40, the shared boat tour was definitely worth it. This was one of my favorite days of my whole trip and definitely gave me a greater appreciation for the stunning beauty of the island.
What to bring on a boat tour around Capri, Italy
This hour-long boat tour did not come with any amenities. There's a seat on the boat, and that's about it. For starters, you'll definitely need water. If you get boat sick like I do, a big meal beforehand, a granola bar or something for emergencies, and anti-nausea medication will hopefully tide you over. For what it's worth, the boat wasn't too bumpy despite being in the open waters, and the opportunity to hop off and swim halfway through gave my stomach a good break.
After that, you'll definitely want a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen. The boat did have a little sun shade, but depending on where you're sitting, you may or may not benefit from it much. After all, the boat is changing direction and orientation as you circle the island of Capri, so you'll definitely spend some time in the sun. Finally, you will want swimwear and a towel to dry off. If you are nervous about swimming in the sea, our boat did provide pool noodles to help people float. There isn't a ton of time for swimming, but some of our fellow passengers did bring snorkel masks and had about ten minutes to see what they could see. And don't forget a camera! You will surely take a hundred pictures like I did on this gorgeous tour!
