A speedboat tour on the Amalfi Coast solves one very specific problem: you have half a day rather than a whole one, and you still want to see the coast from the water. Two private hours from Positano or Praiano cost €360 per boat — a price checked on GetYourGuide — and cover Li Galli, the Praiano shoreline and the Furore fjord, with a swimming stop.
It is the fastest format on the coast and, in a group, one of the cheapest. It is also the least comfortable, and that is worth saying immediately: spray, noise, no shade and slamming through the afternoon chop. If you have small children on board, or anyone who gets seasick, read to the end before you book.
What it costs and what you get
| Speedboat 2 h | Private 4 h | Shared 4-8 h | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | €360 per boat | €680 per boat | €86-95 per person |
| For 2 people | €180 each | €340 each | €86-95 each |
| For 4 people | €90 each | €170 each | €86-95 each |
| For 6 people | €60 each | €113 each | €86-95 each |
| Departure | Positano / Praiano | Positano | Positano / Amalfi |
| Rating | 4.7 (95 reviews) | 4.8 (30) | 4.9 (2,429 / 1,154) |
The tipping point is five people: from there up, the speedboat tour costs less per head than a shared tour and hands you the whole boat. For two or three it does not win on price, but it does win on time: two hours instead of four or eight.
The same arithmetic applied to every private format on the coast, with the per-person cost at 2, 4, 6 and 8 passengers and the exact break-even point, is set out on the page about private boat tours.
What you actually see in two hours
Leaving from the Spiaggia Grande jetty at Positano:
- 0-15 minutes — the houses of Positano from the water. The shot is taken about three hundred metres offshore, just after you clear the jetty.
- 15-30 minutes — Li Galli. The three islands (Gallo Lungo, La Rotonda, Dei Briganti) are a few minutes to the west. They lie in zone B of the Punta Campanella marine protected area: you may pass through, you may not anchor.
- 30-55 minutes — the Praiano shoreline and Marina di Praia. The eighty-metre cove beneath the Torre a Mare watchtower, with the dive centre and the restaurants on the quay.
- 55-75 minutes — the Furore fjord. At km 23 of the SS163, with the bridge some thirty metres above the inlet. From the water you see the whole thing; pulling in to the beach is not allowed, because powered craft must stay 200 metres off beaches.
- 75-95 minutes — swimming stop, in whichever cove is sheltered from that day's wind.
- 95-120 minutes — back to port.
Leaving from Praiano skips the first fifteen minutes and buys you time towards the fjord, or you can head the other way towards Positano instead. The fjord deserves a page of its own, and it has one: the Furore fjord.
The Spiaggia Grande jetty: the only way down is on foot from the steps off Viale Pasitea, 10-15 minutes going down and twice that coming back.
Speed: how fast you really go
The name is misleading. A speedboat on the Amalfi Coast spends most of its time going very slowly, because:
- within 300 metres of the coast the limit is 5 knots inside the Punta Campanella marine protected area, and 10 knots beyond it;
- powered craft must stay more than 200 metres off beaches and 100 metres off rocky shores from the middle of May to the second half of September, under the Salerno coastguard's bathing-safety order, which is reissued every spring;
- fines for ignoring the limits inside the protected area run from 100 to 1,000 euros.
The speed is therefore for covering open water, not for tearing along in front of Positano. The real advantage of a speedboat is not going fast past the town: it is covering in twenty minutes a stretch a gozzo takes forty over, so you see more coast in the same time.
Marina di Praia is the calmest departure on the coast: two minutes off the quay and you are in open water.
The fjord is as far as a two-hour trip from Positano can reach: you look at it from the water, without pulling in.
Who it does not suit
This needs saying plainly, because it is the main reason for the disappointed reviews:
- Children under six. No shade, constant slamming, constant spray. Two hours is a long time.
- Anyone prone to seasickness. Afternoon chop plus a fast hull is the worst possible combination. If someone in the party is sensitive, take a gozzo, or better still a catamaran, which is the most stable platform there is.
- Anyone who wants to swim properly. In two hours the swimming stop lasts fifteen or twenty minutes. A day in the water needs four or six hours: look at snorkelling on the coast or the longer trips in all the Amalfi Coast boat tours.
- Anyone with fair skin. The exposure is total and unrelenting. A hat with a chin strap, sunglasses, factor 50 and a long-sleeved top are not overcautious.
What to bring on board
- High-factor sun cream and a hat with a chin strap (at 20 knots it goes overboard).
- A light fleece: coming home wet and into the wind, it feels cold even in August.
- A waterproof pouch for your phone. The spray gets everywhere.
- Shoes you do not mind soaking: the Positano jetty is slippery.
- Cash for a tip if you want to leave one; charter operators locally suggest 5-10% at the guest's discretion.
Getting to the jetty
Positano. The Spiaggia Grande jetty, in front of the main beach. The only way there is on foot down the steps from Viale Pasitea: 10-15 minutes down, twice that back up. Private garages on Viale Pasitea charge €4-7 an hour according to the local tourism board, with much higher peaks in high season. The full details are in boat tours from Positano.
Praiano. Marina di Praia, below the Torre a Mare, with parking at around €3 an hour. It is the easiest departure to reach by car, and the least crowded.
The alternatives
- A longer private trip. The 4-hour private tour from Positano costs €680 and buys time to swim and to push further east; the 4-7 hour private option from €750 is the most flexible of the three.
- A group tour. At €86-95 per person with a guide, drinks and swimming stops, it remains the best choice for a couple.
- Driving yourself. A licence-free boat rents at Positano from €350 for half a day, fuel included in the published rates: rules, deposits and limits are in boat rental.
- Bigger boats. If you want comfort, a heads on board and a crew, you are in yacht charter territory.
- An evening trip. Those same two hours work beautifully at sunset, when the breeze drops and the sea flattens: see sunset cruises.
A speedboat tour on the Amalfi Coast is the right choice if you are short of time, travelling as a group and untroubled by wind in your face. If what you want is shade, calm and hours in the water, almost every other format beats it. Once you know which of those you are, compare times and availability on the 2-hour speedboat tour from Positano or Praiano and book a morning departure.
