Lanzarote boat trips: Papagayo catamarans, Lobos and private charters

A boat trip in Lanzarote nearly always means the same thing: a catamaran that runs down the south coast to the coves of Papagayo, drops anchor, lets you swim and serves food and drinks. What changes is the departure port, the size of the boat and what you pay. Playa Blanca sits right next to Papagayo; from Puerto del Carmen or Puerto Calero the crossing is longer, which is why those trips last 4 hours.

Here is who actually sails, with direct prices and departure times.

Lanzarote boat trips at a glance

If you only want to see Papagayo from the sea and have a swim, the €35 mini cruise is the best value for your time. If you want a full day on the water with food and drink included, choose between Romero's big catamarans (cheaper, up to 200 people on board) and the small 12-passenger boats (dearer, calmer).

GetYourGuide4 hours

Lanzarote: Papagayo Catamaran, Lunch & Drinks

4.8 (428)

from €85Check availability

GetYourGuide

Lanzarote: Day Trip to the Papagayo Beaches by Catamaran

4.4 (1,123)

from €66Check availability

GetYourGuide1.5 - 3 hours

Playa Blanca: Mini Cruise to Papagayo with Swimming Stop

4.7 (415)

from €35Check availability

GetYourGuide4 hours

4-hour Shared Catamaran sailing to Papagayo Beaches (12 people max)

4.7 (55)

from €89Check availability

GetYourGuide2 - 8 hours

Puerto del Carmen: Catamaran Trip with Water Sports

4.5 (82)

from €100Check availability

GetYourGuide

From Lanzarote: Corralejo & Lobos Island Self-Guided Visit

4.5 (30)

from €59Check availability

See all on GetYourGuide →Prices checked on 5 October 2026

Papagayo catamaran: price and what's included

Papagayo is a string of coves inside the Los Ajaches Natural Monument, east of Playa Blanca. By road, non-residents pay €3 per car, card only; by boat you anchor off the sand without paying at the barrier. Every cove is described in our guide to Lanzarote's beaches.

Líneas Romero's big catamarans

Romero runs the largest programme on the island. Its I Love Papagayo leaves Puerto del Carmen at 11:00, lasts 4 hours and costs from €66 (children from €45). It includes coach pick-up, a welcome mojito with papas arrugadas (Canarian wrinkled potatoes), paella or pasta, fruit, unlimited beer, sangria, water and soft drinks, kayaking and swimming; the boat anchors near Punta de Papagayo. Its excursion fleet is made up of catamarans carrying 100 to 200 people, so don't expect intimacy in high season. The guide speaks Spanish, English, German or French, but each language is only guaranteed with 8 or more passengers.

From Playa Blanca, Romero's mini cruise does the same thing in short form: 2 hours, €35 (€25 children), reaching Papagayo at around 12:00 or 14:20. You can book it on the company's website (https://www.lineasromero.com/en/excursions/minicruise-papagayo) or through the mini cruise on GetYourGuide, at the same price. Our full review of the company is at Líneas Romero.

Small boats: Catlanza and H2O

Catlanza sails a catamaran from Puerto Calero: 4 hours for €85 (€60 teenagers, €50 children), with lunch and hotel pick-up, or free parking at the port. Its adults-only (13+) departure is the only shared catamaran trip we have found without small children on board; handy if you're travelling as a couple (more ideas in Lanzarote for couples). Website: https://catlanza.com/.

H2O Sports runs a 12 m motor catamaran with a maximum of 12 people from Puerto del Carmen: €100 per person, 4 hours, with drinks, fruit, cheese and cured meats, plus SUP boards, kayaks, snorkelling, and a towed banana and donut. Note: this boat does not go to Papagayo; it anchors at El Poril (Playa Quemada). You pay more per head, but at anchor there are boards and kayaks for everyone.

Boat trips from Puerto del Carmen, Puerto Calero and Playa Blanca

Catamarans and Papagayo trips don't leave from Costa Teguise or Arrecife: from there you are collected by coach (Romero and Catlanza include it; H2O charges €5 per person). These are the four departure ports:

• Puerto del Carmen, old harbour: Romero, H2O and Lanzarote Sea Tours (catamarans, dolphin speedboats, Lobos). Town guide at Puerto del Carmen.
• Puerto Calero: Blue Flag marina. Catlanza, Senda Eco Way and the submarine.
• Playa Blanca harbour: Papagayo mini cruise and ferries to Corralejo, also Blue Flag.
• Marina Rubicón: second stop of the mini cruise, private boats and jet skis to Papagayo. More in Playa Blanca.

The cheapest boat ride: the water bus

The cheapest boat ride in Lanzarote isn't an excursion. It's Romero's scheduled boat between Puerto del Carmen and Puerto Calero: €11 one way (€8 children), €18 return (€12), with a bar on board. It leaves Puerto del Carmen at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 13:30, 15:00 and 16:30, and returns from Puerto Calero at 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:30 and 15:45 (https://www.lineasromero.com/en/waterbus-puerto-del-carmen). On Tuesdays and Fridays from 09:00 to 14:00 there's a market in Puerto Calero.

In the south, the same service links Playa Blanca harbour and Marina Rubicón at the same price: departures from Playa Blanca at 10:00, 11:10 and 13:30; from Rubicón at 10:30, 13:15 and 16:10. The Marina Rubicón market is on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 09:00 to 14:00.

Getting there by car or bus

At Marina Rubicón all parking is paid: 45 minutes free, then about €1.20 an hour by day, maximum €25 a day, and 2 hours free if you validate your ticket in a participating shop. By "guagua" (the local word for bus), lines 60 and 161 reach Playa Blanca harbour, line 24 (from Arrecife) and line 25 (from Costa Teguise) reach Puerto Calero, and lines 2, 3 and 161 serve Puerto del Carmen. Timetables at https://arrecifebus.com.

Boat to Lobos and Fuerteventura from Lanzarote

Lobos is an islet off Corralejo, in the north of Fuerteventura. From Lanzarote there are two ways to get there: the ferry from Playa Blanca to Corralejo and then a boat to Lobos, or a direct speedboat from Puerto del Carmen.

• Lobos at your own pace (Romero): coach, the 09:30 ferry, boat to Lobos and free time; 8 hours, €59 (children €38). It's the same price as the self-guided Corralejo and Lobos visit on GetYourGuide.
• Ferry + Lobos and Corralejo catamaran (Romero): anchor off La Concha, guided walk, kayak and SUP; €100 (€63).
• Lobos mini cruise + ferry (Romero): 09:30 or 11:15 ferry and a mini cruise from Corralejo at 13:15; €60 (€35).
• Dolphin route (Lanzarote Sea Tours): Biosfera Jet speedboat from Puerto del Carmen at 10:00, an hour and a half each way, two and a half hours on Lobos and a picnic; from €72.

Going independently, Romero's ferry (€39 return) plus the boat to Lobos (€17) adds up to €56 before the bus fare: almost the same as the €59 package. If you'd rather spend the day in Corralejo, El Cotillo or the dunes, it's all in our guide to a day trip to Fuerteventura; the ferry companies are compared in ferries to Fuerteventura.

Licence-free boat hire: no longer legal

Since 1 October 2026 boats can no longer be hired without a qualification in Spain. Royal Decree 1188/2025 changed the rules on boating licences: the exemption that let you hire a boat up to 5 m and 15 hp without any licence no longer covers rentals (text in the BOE, Spain's official gazette: https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-2025-27010). You may only skipper a boat like that without a licence if it's privately used, not hired.

Some Lanzarote websites and adverts still offer "boat hire without a licence" in Playa Blanca, Marina Rubicón or Puerto Calero. They're out of date: if someone offers you one, ask what qualification they'll require before you pay. What you can do instead:

• Get the basic navigation licence (licencia de navegación). Nautical schools and federations issue it: 2 hours of theory and at least 4 of practical training, with no official exam. It lets you skipper boats up to 6 m and jet skis, by day and within 2 nautical miles of port. Minimum age 18 (16 with parental consent).
• Hire with a licence. Some rentals require a qualification, such as this speedboat to Papagayo from €90. Check which licences they accept when you book.
• Hire with a skipper. It costs more, but you need nothing: see the next section.
• Jet ski on a guided tour. Guided outings and buoyed circuits still don't require a licence. Papagayo by jet ski runs from Marina Rubicón; details in jet skiing in Lanzarote.

Private boat and skippered charter

For a group, a private boat can work out cheaper than buying individual seats. Direct prices from the companies:

On the booking platforms there's also a private sailing boat from Playa Blanca from €280 and a private sunset catamaran in Puerto del Carmen from €500. Twelve seats on Romero's sunset cruise add up to €636: more than the private catamaran. More in sunset cruises.

GetYourGuide1.5 - 4.5 hours

Lanzarote Playa Blanca: private sailing cruise

5.0 (45)

from €280Check availability

GetYourGuide2 hours

Puerto del Carmen: Private Sunset Catamaran Tour with Drinks

4.9 (44)

from €500Check availability

GetYourGuide1 - 6 hours

Papagayo Beaches: Boat Rental with Basic Licence

4.8 (65)

from €90Check availability

See all on GetYourGuide →Prices checked on 5 October 2026

Seasickness, swell and weather cancellations

The sea around Lanzarote is the open Atlantic. The trade wind, blowing from the north-east, blows on 45 % of days in January and 70 % in July, so summer is the windiest time on the north and east coasts. The Papagayo boats sail along the south coast, but crossings to Lobos and La Graciosa cross open channels, and they're the first to be cancelled when there's a swell warning.

If you get seasick easily, pick a catamaran over a speedboat and ask at a pharmacy before the day. With small children, see Lanzarote with kids.

If the trip is cancelled because of the weather: Lanzarote Sea Tours refunds you or changes the date; Romero refunds the money and nothing more. EU passenger rights rules don't cover sightseeing excursions, so the cancellation policy of whoever sold you the ticket is what counts. Ask the company for the cancellation in writing (email or WhatsApp) before you claim from the platform. Sea conditions month by month in Lanzarote weather.

Dolphins and glass-bottom boats

The Papagayo catamarans aren't dolphin trips: to see dolphins there are dedicated outings in dolphin watching, and swimming with wild dolphins is prohibited. There's no confirmed glass-bottom boat in Lanzarote; to see the seabed, the Puerto Calero submarine dives to about 30 m, or try scuba diving.

How to book without surprises

Our picks

1

Anyone after the best catamaran day

Rated 4.8 out of 5 from more than 400 reviews; 4 hours to Papagayo with lunch and drinks.

GetYourGuide4 hours

Lanzarote: Papagayo Catamaran, Lunch & Drinks

4.8 (428)

from €85Check availability

2

Staying in Playa Blanca or on a tight budget

Papagayo from the sea plus a swim for €35 in 2 hours, without losing the day.

GetYourGuide1.5 - 3 hours

Playa Blanca: Mini Cruise to Papagayo with Swimming Stop

4.7 (415)

from €35Check availability

3

Families who want everything included

The big catamaran with pick-up, lunch and open bar; the one with the most reviews.

GetYourGuide

Lanzarote: Day Trip to the Papagayo Beaches by Catamaran

4.4 (1,123)

from €66Check availability

4

Anyone who wants to set foot on another island

Ferry to Corralejo and boat to Lobos with free time, for €59.

GetYourGuide

From Lanzarote: Corralejo & Lobos Island Self-Guided Visit

4.5 (30)

from €59Check availability

On the platforms the price is usually the same as on each company's own website: all boat trips on GetYourGuide. How their cancellations work is in our review of GetYourGuide.