Explorer1-Yachting Santorini - Ia

A must-do!! Amazing job!

We made a full Caldera Tour it was pretty awesome!!

Best experience of our stay in Santorini

We had a nice expérience with this private boat tour.

Frustrating and deeply disappointing. If you want to avoid wasting precious time on your holiday I'd avoid Explorer1 I'm afraid. We often hire self drive boats when on holiday and were looking forward to getting out in a boat in Santorini. Having booked a boat for Monday, we called before we set off only to be told they weren't able to launch the boats due to work at the small port he uses to launch the boats. Frustrating given we'd planned for a day on the water but we figured we'd just been unlucky and went to the beach instead. On consideration, it seems odd that the boats weren't in the water but we were assured by Dan (of Explorer1) that the work to the port would "100% be finished Monday" so agreed to move the booking to Tuesday. A little concerned given the wasted day, we called Monday evening to be told all was well and just to call an hour before we'd be arriving in the morning to make sure the weather was OK. We called at 8:30 and Dan told us "ready to go, it looks like a perfect day". Happy that the trip was on, we set off, stopping on the way at the shops in Oia to buy supplies for the day. However, just 2mins from the port we had a call from Dan to say "bad news. They are doing work at the port, you cannot take the boat". We asked if we could just wait but were told that was it for the whole day. By the time the call was over we were at the port so drove in to see what was happening. Whilst there was a digger there moving piles of seaweed there were boats on the water and nothing obvious preventing a boat from being launched. At the very least, the lack of communication between Dan and the port that his business relies on is unfathomable and cost us a morning of our holiday driving to and from the port. Dan seemed pretty philosophical about the whole thing - we were told "these things happen" - but the port is all the way up on the north coast of the island so we got stuck in all the morning coach traffic coming back. Moreover, had we known hiring a boat was not an option we could have gone on a skippered tour - not ideal but those trips were now fully booked. We were really very disapointed with Explorer1 and I wouldn't want anyone wasting their time and money as we did. Regrettably we could find no alternative companies and Dan wasn't willing/able to help beyond telling us that he "thinks there might be one on the other side of the island". If someone finds a reputable and reliable self drive motor boat hire company on Santorini please share as we'd love to find one for a return visit. A low point on what has otherwise been a lovely relaxing holiday.

Best experience from Santorini. We had a private boat tour to Ios island. Amazing gold beaches and chrystal clear water!!

I wish I could put more stars but I can only do 5. This was one of the best experiences of my life and the best way to finish our trip in Santorini, the staff was amazing Dimitri and Makis cooked amazing food for us, I don’t eat sea food so they had chicken for me. They took us through the islands, the caldera (where we stepped in the volcano beach), they took us snorkeling and finally we saw the sunset with wine and fruit. Service was more than amazing I felt so we’ll taken care of. Thank you so much!

Mikas was a fabulous captain. Our boat was impeccably maintained and he was very happy to share his knowledge of the area and ask us about our interests. It was fun to chat with him about Santorini. Manus his assistant, was incredibly attentive and thoughtful. Our lunch was delicious and he offered us beverages are needed. They both helped to make our day on the water enjoyable and a real treat!