Papagayo by sailing boat or private yacht: which trip is worth it for a group?
Updated October 12, 2026 · 6 min read
The short answer: for two or three people, book the shared catamaran — €89 per person, 4 hours, 4.7 out of 5 from 53 reviews, a maximum of 12 on board, lunch, drinks, kayaks and paddle boards included. For a group of six to nine, a private boat starts to make sense: the Papagayo and Lobos yacht is €600 for up to 9, the Quicksilver boat hire is €240 for up to 6, and the gourmet BBQ yacht is €950 for up to 8.
See availability and prices for the 4-hour shared catamaran to Papagayo
| Trip | Leaves from | Duration | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shared catamaran to Papagayo, 12 people maximum | Puerto Calero | 4 hours | €89 per person | 4.7 from 53 reviews |
| Private yacht with gourmet BBQ and sunset | Marina Rubicón | 4 hours | €950 per group up to 8 | 5.0 from 7 reviews |
| Papagayo and Lobos Island on a private luxury yacht | Puerto del Carmen | 2–4 hours | €600 per group up to 9 | too new to be rated |
| Papagayo on the Quicksilver 580 | Playa Blanca | 2 hours | €240 per group up to 6 | 5.0 from 2 reviews |
What “sailing boat or yacht” means in practice
It is a question of who is on board with you. On the shared catamaran you are part of a group of up to 12 with a crew; on the other three, the boat is yours alone. The price tag follows from that: one is sold per person, the other three per group, and the per-group boats get cheaper per head the fuller they are.
If the boat is full, the sums are: €950 for eight is about €119 each, €600 for nine is about €67 each, €240 for six is €40 each. The shared catamaran is €89 whatever the size of your party. A couple pays €178 on the catamaran, and there is no private option that comes in below that.
The shared catamaran: the all-inclusive default
Based at Puerto Calero. The booking page lists lunch, beer, wine, cava, soft drinks and water, two kinds of water toys (kayaks and paddle boards), snorkelling equipment, a deck shower, fuel and crew; you meet at Café del Puerto 20 minutes before departure. One reviewer said they were eight on board that day, and another mentions it was windy, so take the sea into account if you are prone to seasickness. The page lists wheelchair users as not suitable.
One guest wrote that they were not allowed to get close to the beach, so plan on swimming from the boat.
Book a date for the shared catamaran to Papagayo
The €950 yacht from Marina Rubicón: the dinner party
The page gives the plan: 30 minutes cruising out of the marina past the Coloradas coast, 3 hours 15 minutes at Playa del Papagayo, 15 minutes back. The price covers a private boat with a crew and fuel, two paddle boards, eight snorkel sets, a floating sundeck, a 360-degree camera on board, gourmet appetisers, Canarian pork tenderloin from the BBQ, roasted bananas for dessert and drinks including cava, wine, beer, coffee and tea. Premium spirits are an extra. The departure times are chosen to end with the sunset.
Two catches. There is no hotel pickup, so you must be at the marina. And the page lists wheelchair users, people with vertigo and people prone to seasickness as not suitable, which on a boat that spends over three hours at anchor is a fair warning.
The five-star score comes from seven reviews. Good, but not yet a record.
Check availability for the private yacht with gourmet BBQ
The €600 yacht: cheaper than the BBQ yacht, and you bring your own lunch
A 33-foot motor yacht with a maximum of nine people, setting off from Puerto del Carmen. Included are the captain, fuel, snorkelling gear, music you can connect your own phone to, a cooler, and water, soft drinks and beer. There is no food on board — the cooler is for the lunch you bring. Pickup from anywhere on the island is €5 extra per person.
Two things to know before booking. The trip to Isla de Lobos is only made if the sea allows; the skipper decides on the day, and otherwise you stay on the south coast with the same swim and snorkel stops. And the listing is inconsistent about length: the listing says 2 to 4 hours while its description speaks of a 5-hour cruise, so confirm with the operator before you plan the day around it. The page lists very young children, pregnant women, people with back problems, people with mobility impairments and people prone to seasickness as not suitable. It is new, with too few reviews to be rated.
See prices and dates for the Papagayo and Lobos private yacht
The €240 Quicksilver: a boat hire, not a cruise
This is the odd one out. Climar Boat Rentals hires out a Quicksilver 580 Open from Punta Limones in Playa Blanca for up to six people; the page includes fuel and snorkelling gear, and says it runs from 2 up to 6 hours. The title says “with sailing licence”, so read the page for exactly what is required of whoever is at the helm — our guide to self-drive boat hire at Papagayo goes through the licence question. The booking page also lists a string of age limits for small children; read them.
With two reviews, both five stars, this is a thin record. It is cheapest per boat, and the one where you are responsible for the day.
Check availability for the Quicksilver 580 at Papagayo
Our recommendation
Couples and small parties: the shared catamaran at €89. It is the best documented of the four and has everything on board.
Six to nine friends or a family who want the boat to themselves: the €600 yacht, if you will bring lunch and can live with a thin record — or the €950 yacht with BBQ and sunset if you want to be fed and be done with planning.
Not for you if anyone in the group gets seasick, uses a wheelchair or is a very young child: at least one of these pages lists each of them as not suitable. If you only want to lie on the sand at Papagayo, none of these puts you there; see how to reach the Papagayo beaches by road.
