Pillirina and Plemmirio by boat: where you swim and what it costs
Updated October 22, 2026 · 5 min read
If you want to swim from the boat, book a two-hour Pillirina tour at €40 and not the one-hour tour of the caves. The Pillirina trips are the swimming trips: they combine Ortigia and its sea caves with a stop in the clear water of the Plemmirio, and they cost about twice as much as the €20 hour-long tour. The most reviewed one is €40 per person, rated 4.6 from 749 reviews.
What Pillirina and Plemmirio are
The Plemmirio is a marine protected area on the south-eastern edge of Syracuse, set up in 2004, along the eastern side of the Maddalena peninsula. Pillirina is the bay where the boats stop. The tours describe a swim and snorkel in the Plemmirio, a visit to caves such as the Pillirina Grotto and a pass by the coast of Ortigia.
The protected area has rules. Swimming is allowed in most of it, but the zone in front of the lighthouse, with the Secca del Capo, is closed to swimming, anchoring and diving all year. That is a good reason to go with a local skipper who knows where the lines are, and not a reason to expect a particular bay: the skipper chooses where to stop according to the day.
The tours compared
| Tour | Price | Length | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boat Tour of Pillirina, Ortigia and Sea Caves | €40 | 2 hours | 4.6 stars, 749 reviews |
| Ortigia, Sea Caves and Pillirina Boat Tour | €40 | 2 hours | 4.7 stars, 291 reviews |
| Pillirina, Ortigia, Sea Caves and snorkelling | €40 | 2 hours | 4.7 stars, 144 reviews |
| 2-Hour Boat Tour of Ortigia Island, Caves and Plemmirio | €40 | 2 hours | 4.7 stars, 116 reviews |
| Snorkelling and Pillirina boat tour with fruit and prosecco | €50 | 2.5 hours | 4.6 stars, 47 reviews |
| Picnic boat tour of Pillirina, Ortigia and sea caves | €52 | 2.5 hours | 4.9 stars, 75 reviews |
| Ortigia and Sea Caves Boat Tour with Sunset Aperitif | €65 | 2.5 hours | 4.8 stars, 129 reviews |
All prices are per person.
The €40 group: four tours, one trip
Four of these trips cost the same and last the same two hours: Ortigia, the caves and a swim at Pillirina. The booking pages differ in wording and not much in substance. One mentions the swim and snorkel possibility, another the Pillirina Grotto, another the Gulf of Pillirina. With ratings between 4.6 and 4.7, the choice is down to the departure time that suits you and the boat. Check on the booking page whether snorkelling gear is provided.
The longer ones: what the extra €10 to €25 buys
Fruit and prosecco at €50, a Sicilian picnic at €52, an aperitif at sunset for €65. All are 2.5 hours, so you get half an hour more than the €40 trips and food on board. The picnic tour has the highest rating in the list, 4.9, but from 75 reviews, and the sunset aperitif trip has 4.8 from 129. Those two are the ones to pick if the point of the day is the occasion, not just the swim. One caveat: the booking page of the €65 trip speaks of sea caves and swimming stops but does not mention Pillirina or the Plemmirio.
The sunset trip is also the one to pick if the midday sun is a problem: swimming in the evening light, with a drink, is a different kind of outing from a morning swim.
What the listings do not tell you
How long the swim stop is. The two-hour tours include sailing time, caves and a swim, so the time in the water is part of the two hours, not all of it. The listings give no length for the swim.
What the sea is doing. Conditions at sea change. If the sea is rough, the trip may be cut short, changed or cancelled. Read the cancellation terms on the booking page.
Whether it suits small children. Operators set their own rules about age and life jackets. Look at the participation terms on each booking page before you book, and ask the operator.
Which one for whom
A good swim, a fair price: the €40 trip with the most reviews.
Food and drink on board: the picnic tour at €52, or the fruit and prosecco tour at €50.
An evening out: the sunset aperitif trip at €65, and a look at the sunset cruises in Syracuse.
You only want to see the caves: the one-hour tour is enough, and the guide to the Ortigia sea cave tours compares them.
You can see every boat trip on the Syracuse boat tours page, and the swimming and kayak trips are under snorkelling and kayak in Syracuse.
