VIVA CHARTER: private charter at Castellammare, how to read the quote

VIVA CHARTER is an identifiable company — VI.VA CHARTER SRL, via Plinio il Vecchio 47/49, Castellammare di Stabia, VAT number 10287991219 — and that sets it apart immediately from the micro-businesses hiring out boats around the Gulf. It sells private charter, not single seats: you take the whole boat, with crew, for eight hours.

What kind of operator it is

A charter company with its berth at Marina di Stabia, in the middle of the Gulf. Its location is its sales argument and that is not just talk: from Castellammare, Capri, the Sorrento peninsula, the Amalfi Coast, Ischia and Procida all sit at a similar distance, while anyone setting out from Naples spends a slice of the day simply getting below Sorrento. You reach it on the Circumvesuviana, band NA3 from Naples: €3.30 a ride, €4.10 if you take the 140-minute integrated ticket. Lines, times and changes are in the Circumvesuviana review.

There is no tourist guide on board: there is a crew. The contact details published are two names, Vincenzo and Vittorio, and an email address. The sales channel is a single quote-request form on which you state the port of departure, the date, the number of adults and children, the tour you want and the addresses for the transfer.

What it publishes and what it does not

The fleet is published in detail, with dimensions and capacities: a 10-metre Gozzo Classic for ten people, a De Antonio 32 (9.9 metres, eight passengers), the Italyure 35 and 38, a 13.5-metre Itama 40 with two cabins, an Atlantis 40, the Lancia Aprea 42 and 52, a Pardo 43, a 15-metre Fiart 47 for up to twelve passengers, a Maori 50 and a 16.5-metre Riva Rivale. On several models the site distinguishes maximum capacity from the recommended number: ten authorised, eight recommended. That is an honest indication, and you need it to work out how much space you will really have.

The price is not published. No route carries a figure, not even an indicative one, and there is no price list to download. Nor are the general terms published, or the cancellation policy, or the bad-weather rule, or the amount of the port taxes, which the site declares excluded without quantifying them.

The routes

Seven itineraries share the same description: eight hours, full day, with crew, fuel, soft drinks, an aperitivo, snacks and snorkelling gear included; port taxes, water toys and lunch excluded.

• Capri: the Faraglioni, the Blue, White and Green grottoes from outside, Marina Piccola, swim stops in coves, a landing on request.
• Positano: sailing close inshore and free time in the town.
• Amalfi: Praiano, the Fiordo di Furore, Conca dei Marini, the Saracen towers, a landing for the cathedral.
• Ischia: a circuit of the island, San Montano, Citara, the Castello Aragonese, thermal springs at the water’s edge.
• Procida: Corricella, Chiaiolella, the less-travelled coast.
• Capri and Positano and Positano and Amalfi: the two combinations, same scheme.

Outside that scheme sits the eighth offering, the most interesting one if you do not have a large group: the lap of the island of Capri in a gozzetto of about 8 metres, 3 or 4 hours, seven people maximum, leaving from Marina di Capri. It includes the skipper, fuel, the boarding tax, beach towels, soft drinks and snacks; it excludes the Blue Grotto ticket. Note the catch: it starts from the island, so the hydrofoil from Naples is on you.

How it compares with the platforms

The useful comparison is the Amalfi Coast, where the platforms sell the same day by the seat. Prices checked regularly.

The method is simple: take the quote, divide it by the seats you can actually use — the recommended ones, not the maximum — and compare it with the €58.50–89.10 per person of these packages. Leave lunch and the port taxes out of the sum, because on a charter you pay them separately and in the packages they often do not arise at all, since you stay on the boat.

GetYourGuide 10 h

From Naples: Boat Tour of Amalfi, Positano and Ravello

★ 4.5 (5,503 reviews) ✓ Cancellation free

GetYourGuide 7 h

Naples: Boat Excursion to Ischia and Procida with Lunch

★ 4.6 (158 reviews) ✓ Cancellation free

The advantage of a charter is not the price: it is that you decide where to stop for a swim and for how long. On the partner listings, by contrast, the exact meeting point is on the voucher and the coach from central Naples is included, which is not on offer at Marina di Stabia; on booking and refunds there is the GetYourGuide review.

How to check before you pay

• Ask for the exact model you would be given and the recommended capacity, not only the maximum.
• Ask that the quote spell out the port taxes and mooring fees: they are the one item the site declares excluded without figures.
• Ask for the cancellation policy and the rough-sea rule, in writing.
• Ask for the boat’s charter licence and its insurance policy: the site mentions neither.
• If you set out from Naples, get the outing quoted departing from Naples, not Castellammare: otherwise you add two transfers to the day, plus the Circumvesuviana ticket.

The verdict

VIVA CHARTER is the right call if there are eight or ten of you, you want the whole boat and you want to design the day yourselves. The fleet is broad and documented, the company is identifiable, and the base in the middle of the Gulf saves you sailing time. Its limit is the complete absence of published prices and terms: everything goes through a quote you have to know how to read. If there are two or four of you, or you are starting from central Naples with no appetite for the trip to Castellammare, the per-person package is still the rational choice. The other formats are on the page about boat tours in the Gulf; for the day by road there is the Amalfi Coast in a day; for the jetties in town, the Seaside Napoli and Naples Boat Experience reviews.