What to Bring on a Corfu Boat Trip: the Packing List

The formula is simple: swimwear underneath, quick-dry layers on top, and something for the wind. Corfu's summer air runs hot at midday, but the sea breeze called the maistro builds from late morning and blows about 10-18 knots through most afternoons from June to September. On an open deck at speed that breeze feels far cooler than the beach temperature suggests, which is why locals throw a light jacket in the bag even in July.

Base layer and swimwear

Wear your swimsuit under your clothes from the start. Changing rooms do not exist on speedboats and are tight on cruise boats, and swim stops can be announced with a few minutes' notice. Choose quick-dry synthetic shorts and a shirt rather than cotton, because cotton soaks up seawater and stays cold and clammy against your skin for hours.

A rash guard is the single most useful garment on this list: it covers shoulders and the back of the neck during a 50-70 minute swim stop off Antipaxos, when most sunscreen has already washed off.

Sun protection

The sun comes at you twice on a boat, once from above and once reflected off the water. A wide-brimmed hat with a chin strap or a drawstring survives the wind, sunglasses need a strap too, and a long-sleeved shirt or rash guard does the work sunscreen cannot sustain over a 10-12 hour day like the Parga cruise. Apply sunscreen before boarding and reapply after every swim.

Footwear

Barefoot is the norm on most of these boats, so shoes mostly matter for boarding, beach landings and town stops. Water shoes are the default choice, because rocky entries at places like Paradise Beach are exactly where bare feet suffer. Sneakers are fine for the deck and for walking around Gaios or Parga but not for swimming.

Sandals with a secured strap work for lounging on deck. Skip flip-flops and heeled sandals entirely: they offer no grip on wet fibreglass and slide around or blow overboard.

Colour matters less than fabric, with two exceptions. Bright colours make you easier for the crew to spot in the water, and pale colours stay coolest under a strong midday sun. Dark colours soak up heat and show salt stains.

Here is the short version:

• Reef-friendly sunscreen, reapply after every swim
• Rash guard or long-sleeve shirt, sun does double duty at sea
• Swimwear worn under clothes, changing space is scarce
• Quick-dry shorts and shirt, cotton stays wet for hours
• Hat with a chin strap, the maistro takes loose hats
• Sunglasses with a strap, waves and wind knock them off
• Refillable water bottle, big boats have bars but charge
• Cash in small bills, tips and village stalls take no card
• Dry bag or waterproof phone case, spray comes over the bow
• Small towel, most tours provide none
• Light windbreaker or jacket, wind chill once underway
• Seasickness tablets, take one before boarding

The dry bag

This is the item people regret skipping. On speedboats with nine or twenty guests, spray and the odd wave reach everything on deck, and bags are stacked in open storage on the big cruise boats. A cheap dry bag in the 5 to 10 litre range holds a phone, wallet, keys and a paperback.

A zip-lock bag works in a pinch for the phone alone, and a lanyard case lets you shoot the sea caves without balancing your phone over the water.

Cash

The two big full-day cruises include no food, so lunch in Gaios village or Parga is on you, and small tavernas and beach stalls are cash-first. Card terminals on the boats themselves are not stated for most listings. Bring small notes for tips as well.

The crew on the wooden boats and speedboats works hard, and a couple of euros at the end of a good day is the norm.

Water

Refillable bottle, filled before you board. The Paxos cruise has a bar that sells drinks, the wooden boat cruise pours house wine, juice and water for free, and the sailing trips from Gouvia include soft drinks. But the cheapest habit is still your own bottle, refilled in Gaios or Parga during the shore time.

There is little shade on any of these decks and a 10-12 hour day burns through more water than you expect.

Motion-sickness remedy

Take a tablet an hour before departure, not when you already feel ill. The open crossing to Paxos takes roughly 30 minutes from Lefkimmi but far longer from Corfu Town, and the afternoon maistro raises a chop. The wooden boat cruise listing explicitly asks people prone to seasickness to skip it, which tells you how the swell behaves on that route.

This is where you save bag space and money. The table compares every boat trip compared here in the catalog on the four things that decide what you carry: food, drinks, towels and snorkel gear. Every cell comes from the tour listings and the notes operators attach to them, and a cell reading Not stated means the listing simply does not say.

Check your own booking against it the night before, because a tour that includes lunch, towels and masks lets you leave half this page's checklist at home.

Read the pattern and pack accordingly. The private yacht from Gouvia Marina is the outlier, with wine, beer, soft drinks, sandwiches, snorkel gear, floats and beach towels all on board, priced per group rather than per person. The big Paxos and Parga day cruises from Corfu port sit at the other end, with food, drinks and towels all on you.

The Lefkimmi speedboat hands out water and a glass of Prosecco but no lunch. The Gouvia sailing trip includes sandwiches, fruit and soft drinks but lists beer, cocktails, wine, Prosecco and snorkel gear as not included, so bring a mask if you want one.

Three kinds of things stay behind: things operators ban, things the deck will punish, and things you simply will not use.

• Cotton clothes and jeans: they soak up seawater and stay cold and wet for hours on a windy deck
• Loose flip-flops and heeled sandals: no grip on wet boards and they slide or blow away
• Jewellery and watches: they slip off in the water at swim stops and are gone for good
• Outside food and drink on the pirate ship: the listing bans it outright, the bar on board sells drinks instead
• Excessive alcohol: swim stops and lurching decks do not mix, and the crew can refuse the ride
• Hard suitcases and dry beach bags without a closure: spray reaches open stowage on every boat
• Single-use plastic you can avoid: littering is banned on board the wooden boat cruise, which stops below protected wetlands

One more from the fine print. On the Paleokastritsa speedboat, weak swimmers are asked to either stay on board or bring their own floats, so if that is you, a cheap inflatable armband or noodle belongs in the bag rather than a hopeful assumption. And on the Paxos day cruise, remember that swimming inside the blue sea caves is not part of any trip, so leave the cave-diving fantasies and just enjoy the photos the crew sets up.

The monthly climate figures behind the seasons, and the verdict on which months suit which trip, are explained in the guide to the best time for a Corfu boat trip. For packing purposes, the year splits into three kits.

June to August: the high-summer kit

Average highs sit at 28.2 to 31.5 degrees Celsius and rain is scarce, with 15.5 mm in June and just 8.7 mm in July. Swimwear, rash guard, hat and sunglasses carry the day. Add the windbreaker anyway: the maistro blows 10-18 knots through most afternoons and drops at sunset, so the sail home or the tail end of the sunset cruise can feel cool in wet clothes.

April, May and September: the shoulder kit

Average highs run 19.1 to 27.5 degrees Celsius and the sea is cooler. The same summer list applies, with a real layer on top: a light fleece or long-sleeve midlayer for mornings and the crossing, when the boat moves and you are not generating heat. September also brings 87.8 mm of rain on average, so a packable shell earns its space.

October to March: the off-season kit

Most listings run less often or not at all, and average highs fall to 13.9 to 23.2 degrees Celsius with October wetter than any summer month at 140.4 mm. If you find a sailing day, pack full warm layers, a waterproof shell, and a hat that covers your ears. Wet-weather days are exactly when the operator's weather clause kicks in, and every listing says cancelled trips get a new date or a refund.

The crossings are the honest weak point of some of these days. The trip from Corfu Town to Paxos is an open-water run, and the Parga and Sivota cruise is the longest day in the catalog at 10-12 hours with pickup, much of it underway. The afternoon maistro chop is real.

Three practical moves: take your tablet an hour before boarding rather than after you feel ill, sit midship and low where the motion is smallest, and keep your eyes on the horizon rather than your phone.

Choose your boat as your first remedy. The wooden boat cruise listing tells people prone to seasickness to skip it outright, while the speedboat to Paxos asks anyone with spinal injuries or poor heart health to think twice, and the northeast coast boats stay in the most sheltered water in the afternoons. The semi-private speedboat from Lefkimmi cuts the open crossing to about 30 minutes, which is the shortest rough-water exposure on the list.

Calm mornings are why nearly every full-day boat leaves between 08:00 and 10:00, so an early boarding is a feature, not an annoyance.

• Tablet one hour before departure, not at the first wobble
• Midship and low decks, where motion is mildest
• Eyes on the horizon, phone down
• Plain crackers and water help more than an empty stomach
• Avoid alcohol the night before a long open crossing

Pack light, pack dry, and let the tour do the work. The single best move is to read the inclusion table above against your booking: the private yacht from Gouvia leaves you almost nothing to carry, while the big Paxos and Sivota day cruises leave food, drink and towel entirely to you. Compare days, prices and group sizes in the catalog of Corfu boat tours ranked, then pack the night before with the checklist and sleep well.

The boat leaves early for a reason, and the calmest water of the day is the one you will be on.