Boat trips with food and drinks on Gran Canaria: which one is worth the money?
Updated October 7, 2026 · 9 min read
The short answer: for most people the Fun Catamaran Cruise with Food and Drinks from Puerto Rico at €77 — four and a half hours, unlimited drinks, a meal served on board, and 4.6 stars from 1,101 reviews, more than any other boat trip of this kind on the island. If you want a small boat, take the Luxury Morning Catamaran Cruise at €84, which carries at most 20 guests and cooks lunch to order. If you want to actually sail, the sailboat from Puerto de Mogán at €85 takes eight people and lets you steer.
See availability and prices for the Fun Catamaran Cruise
These are the trips that are not about dolphins. They leave Puerto Rico, Puerto de Mogán or Pasito Blanco, run for about four hours, anchor in a bay and serve something to eat. The titles all promise roughly the same thing — food, drinks, snorkelling — which is exactly why the decision is hard. What separates them is the number of people on board, whether the meal is cooked or handed out cold, and how much of the fun costs extra once you are out there.
The five compared
| Trip | Duration | From | Rating | best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fun Catamaran Cruise with Food and Drinks | 4.5 hours | €77 | 4.6 (1,101) | groups and families who want plenty going on |
| Luxury Morning Catamaran Cruise | 4.5 hours | €84 | 4.8 (993) | a cooked lunch, two swim stops, at most 20 guests |
| Shared Sailing Excursion with Beverages, Lunch and Snorkeling | 4 hours | €72 | 4.7 (835) | at most 12 guests and a swim of up to two hours |
| Boat Tour with Tapas and Drinks | 4 hours | €67.50 | 4.7 (359) | tapas instead of a hot meal, private charter possible |
| Sailboat Trip with Tapas, Drinks, Snorkeling | 4 hours | €85 | 4.8 (329) | real sailing, eight people, not for under-6s |
The big one: Afrikat from Puerto Rico
The operator behind the most-reviewed trip is Afrikat Gran Canaria. The booking page sets out the day in blocks: an hour by bus, a ten-minute safety briefing, an hour under way to Mogán, two and a half hours anchored for lunch, swimming, snorkelling and parasailing, then an hour back and an hour by bus. The stated duration of four and a half hours is the part on the water — if you book the pickup, plan roughly two hours more for the coach. Pickup covers 47 points in the south, and the booking page says explicitly that it does not serve Las Palmas, Salobre, Puerto Rico or Mogán.
Included are unlimited beer, sangria, soft drinks, juice, coffee and water, the meal, snorkelling gear and a reusable glass to take home. The meal is a chicken wrap with pasta salad; special dietary requirements have to be arranged in advance. The live music that appears in some photographs runs on Friday mornings only.
What is not included matters more here than on any other boat in this comparison, because the prices are printed on the booking page: jet ski €35 per vehicle, parasailing €35 per person, the inflatable donut €10 per person, a speedboat ride with the captain €5 per person, plus cocktails, wine and spirits. A family of four who try two of those have added more than the price of a sixth ticket. Afrikat states that the activity is suitable for all ages and wheelchair accessible, and asks you to declare any mobility impairment at the time of booking — have that confirmed in writing before you travel.
The small boats, and what you pay for
Three trips sell the opposite of a big deck. The Luxury Morning Catamaran Cruise run by Exclusive Boat takes a maximum of 20 guests on a Bali catamaran, leaves Puerto Base in Puerto Rico harbour at 10:30 a.m. and is back at about 3:00 p.m.. It stops twice — El Perchel bay for swimming, Tasarte bay for lunch — and lunch is a choice of breaded chicken or fresh fish with Canarian potatoes, mojo, salad and bread. Stand-up paddleboards, kayaks and snorkelling gear are on board at no extra charge. At 4.8 stars from 993 reviews it is the best-rated boat of its size here.
See availability and prices for the Luxury Morning Catamaran Cruise
The Shared Sailing Excursion from Infinity Boat Tours goes further: a maximum of 12 passengers, a welcome glass of cava, an open bar of beer, sangria, soft drinks, sparkling water and juices, snacks prepared on board, snorkelling gear and two paddleboards. The useful number on its booking page is the swim time — between one and a half and two hours, in Cala del Perchel, a cove the operator points out can only be reached from the sea. Towels are not included, and a 20-minute van transfer brings you to the harbour.
The Sailboat Trip with Tapas, Drinks, Snorkeling is the only one of the five that is a sailing boat rather than a motor catamaran. New Karolka takes eight people, leaves Puerto de Mogán at 9:30 a.m., and the description invites you to join the crew and steer. The snorkelling stop is at one of Perchel, Veneguera, Playa Ámbar, Tasarte or Tasartico, depending on the day. Lunch, soft drinks, beer and wine are included. Two groups are ruled out by the operator: people with mobility impairments, and children under six.
Where the cheap ticket stops being cheap
The lowest starting price in this group is €32, for the coastal trip on the Princesa Ico run by Bahia Cat, and the booking page explains why. There are two packages: the Basic Pack is water and soft drinks, the Full Pack adds beer, salad, paella, Canarian potatoes and the banana boat. The title promises food and drink; the cheapest ticket on the page does not contain it. Three further items are priced separately — a glass for €1, a sunbed for €10, the visit to the freshwater caves for €10. At 3.9 stars from 372 reviews it is also the weakest rating here, and the operator’s own review summary notes that travellers found the boat crowded. None of that makes it a bad trip, but €32 is not what the day costs.
Two more are worth knowing about. The catamaran with paella from Stingray at €79 takes a maximum of 30, serves paella, salads and fresh fruit with unlimited soft drinks, beer and sangria, and includes snorkelling and paddle surfing — a middle way between the big deck and the twelve-seater. And the catamaran from Pasito Blanco at €59.50 is the one that does not leave from Puerto Rico at all: it sails from the harbour below Meloneras, carries up to 40 guests and anchors off Playa de Tiritaña for one and a half to two hours. If your hotel is in Meloneras or San Agustín, that is the shortest trip to the boat.
What to check before you book
Three things decide whether the day works, and only one of them is in any title.
How many people. Eight, twelve, twenty, thirty, forty — the span inside this group is a factor of five at a price difference of about €25. The number is on the booking page of every operator that considers it a selling point; where it is missing, assume the boat is large.
Whether the meal is a meal. Cooked to order on the Luxury Morning Cruise, paella on the Stingray catamaran, a chicken wrap on Afrikat, charcuterie and cheese on the Panda Boat tapas trip. All of them are correct descriptions of what the booking page promises. None of them is a restaurant.
What the sea is doing. Panda Boat states plainly that the activity is subject to sea and weather conditions, and every operator here can change the bay. If you are prone to seasickness, the swell is the same for all of them; what helps without medication is in Boat trips with kids: what’s the minimum age?, and whether a remedy is right for you is a question for a pharmacy or a doctor, ideally before the holiday. Every trip in this comparison can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours ahead.
Who these trips are not for
Anyone who wants to see dolphins should not book these at all. The animals are not the point here, and the operator who does mention them — Bahia Cat — says plainly that nothing is guaranteed. The dolphin and whale trips are a separate group with their own comparison in Catamaran with dolphins and snorkelling from Puerto Rico. Anyone who mainly wants to be underwater is better served by a snorkelling or diving trip, where the stop is the purpose rather than the interval. And anyone travelling with a child under six should check the age limits: only the sailboat states one, the others do not, which means asking the operator rather than assuming.
Our recommendation
For most people: the Fun Catamaran Cruise with Food and Drinks at €77. Four and a half hours on the water, a two-and-a-half-hour stop, unlimited drinks, a meal, and 4.6 stars from 1,101 reviews — the broadest evidence of any boat in this group. Budget for the extras or decide in advance to skip them.
If you want a small boat: the Luxury Morning Catamaran Cruise at €84. Twenty guests, two bays, lunch cooked to order, SUP and kayaks included, 4.8 stars from 993 reviews. Seven euros more than the big catamaran, and the only one that names its return time.
If you want to sail rather than motor: the sailboat from Puerto de Mogán at €85 — eight passengers, a 9:30 a.m. departure, and the chance to take the helm. Not suitable for children under six or for guests with mobility impairments, according to the operator.
On a smaller budget: the catamaran from Pasito Blanco at €59.50, with a swim stop of up to two hours. Below that price, read the package description twice before you book — at €32 the food is the upgrade, not the ticket.
