Favignana & Levanzo from Trapani

Thirty-eight of the fifty-two Favignana and Levanzo boat tours we track leave from Trapani. That is the good news and the problem at once: it is the only port where you genuinely have a choice, and it is also the port where the quality spread is widest. Ratings here run from 4.2 to 4.9, and prices from $46 a head to $1,742 for a boat.

The crossing is the reason. Trapani sits roughly thirty minutes from Favignana by fast boat, which is short enough that operators can run a full day of stops and still be home by six. Marsala adds ten to fifteen minutes each way. San Vito Lo Capo adds considerably more.

The four things that actually differ

How many people are on the boat. This is the biggest single variable and it drives almost everything else. The $46 mini-cruise is a large shared vessel. The $58–$99 tours cap at around twelve. A private charter is your group alone. Group size determines which coves the boat can enter, how long each stop lasts, and how much of the day you spend waiting for other people.

Whether the boat can get into Bue Marino and the Grotta degli Innamorati. Both need a shallow-draught hull. The large cruise vessels sail past them; the RIBs anchor in them. If you have seen photographs of people swimming inside a cave on this coast, that is the Grotta degli Innamorati, and it is a small-boat stop.

What “lunch” means. Four different things on this route — a cooked meal on board, a pane cunzato with wine, an aperitif of fruit and crackers, or nothing at all with a stop in town. All four appear in Trapani listings.

What you pay at the quay. The $46 mini-cruise collects a €5 Marine Protected Area fee on the day. The mini-yacht tour collects a €20 per-person skipper fee at the box office, which is the single largest hidden cost on this route. Most of the RIB operators collect nothing.

The honest reading of the ratings

Trapani’s cheapest tour is also its most-reviewed by a wide margin — 2,940 reviews for the Blu Lines mini-cruise — and it rates 4.2. That is not a bad score for a large shared boat, and the tour does what it says: both islands, a hot lunch, free time in Favignana town, for less than half the price of anything else. The weaker reviews are about crowds, not about anything failing.

The twelve-guest operators sit at 4.8 to 4.9 — the Egadi Boat Experience at 4.9 across 448 guests, Tourist Lines Egadi at 4.8 across 830, Egadi Charter at 4.9 across 98. Those numbers are consistent enough across three different operators that the pattern is the format, not the company.

If your day is really about swimming, the twelve-guest boats are worth the extra $12 to $34 a head. If you mainly want to see Favignana town, eat lunch and come home, the mini-cruise does that honestly.

Where the value sits

The clearest value on this port is Egadi Charter’s full-day RIB at $58 — a twelve-guest boat rated 4.9, with wine, fruit, snorkelling gear and a floating mat, and no fee collected on the day. It undercuts several larger, lower-rated boats.

At the other end, the private charter with lunch on board is $836 for the boat — but read the capacity, because that price covers up to four people, which is $209 each. Larger hulls change the sum entirely: the Marsala 27-foot boat takes twelve for $1,161, or $97 a head. That arithmetic surprises people, and it is worked through properly on the private boat tours page.

If you are not staying in Trapani

Trapani is the default, not the only answer. If you are south of the city, Marsala is quieter and easier to park at. If you are already staying on the island, departures from Favignana itself save you both crossings and typically fit more swim stops into a shorter day.

Still weighing it up? The full decision page works through cheapest, best small group, best with lunch, best for families and best for snorkelling in one place. Or check availability and prices for your dates.