boat hire in Syracuse · Selva — 570 Da 40cv (2023)

I am not sure why this company was rated highly by other customers. Is it because I rented it for a Sunday, so everything did not go well? Is it because I made my rental enquiry at the last minute the day before at 6pm? Positives: 1) Ettore and his staff Cristian replied to messages promptly. 2) Ettore was kind enough to confirm my booking as the other boat owner in Click&Boat did not reply to me. 3) The boat was clean. 4) The old men working at the Yacht Club were kind. Negatives: 1) The meeting location was wrong. It is Lakkios Yacht Club and not Porto Lakkios. Ettore sent me only the words 'Porto Lakkios Ortigia'. No google map link, no landmark descriptions. We were waiting at Porto Lakkios and all the locals were helping us to look for Ettore for 20min. Our calls to Ettore were not answered. After I typed angry messages to him, he finally replied via WhatsApp and told me to look for 'Cristian at the office'. What office, again I don't know. After a few more angry messages, I finally got a goggle map link to the location of the YACHT CLUB. It was another 12min walk. So we lost time. 2) Pls be warned that the services listed is not available even if you are ready to pay for it. E.g. No towels to rent. No ice box: I had to ask and I was given a cooling box with no ice. Cristian said it is Sunday so nothing is opened. Ok. We went to the cafes to ask for ice ourselves. We lost another 15 minutes. No shower on board: this was the last straw for me after having so many NOs. I told Cristian this was listed as available. He told I have to talk to Ettore as it is not his responsibility. Sure, I respect that. Sunday is family day, with his kids hanging around waiting, I also did not want to take up too much of Cristian's time. But at that point, I did not want to write to Ettore anymore as I just wanted to cry. Cristian came back a few minutes later and checked the boat, topped up the fresh water and showed us how to use the shower on board. Bluetooth Radio: This was shown to us very quickly. 'Here is the radio' (Pointed at something and then he moved on to the next item). I gave up asking how to make it work etc. Why bother when he is in a hurry himself? The craziest thing was when we were out at sea and wanted to anchor, no anchor could be found! Haha! We thought we were stupid. I thought i listened to Cristian wrongly at the handover. NO! I shared my location and Cristian came in another boat to give us the anchor! The wonders of WhatsApp! In total we lost about an hour for all our troubles above. We still had to return the boat on time though. When we returned the boat, again there was dispute. Cristian insisted that I pay for the final cleaning in cash even though this was included in my total bill that I paid the day before. I sent him photos of my invoice. No. I must pay. Pls talk to Ettore. Omg. Please... can this nightmare just end. In the end Cristian said I need to just pay for fuel €25. Honestly, I don't even know if that's is a fair amount given that we didn't even travel far. But I am just too angry at that point. When I reached the hotel, Ettore actually sent me a text saying the fuel is waived. Too late. Already paid. I will NOT be renting from Boat & Click ever again. All the kind old men at the pier will get my next booking.

Everything was great, nice boat, good communication. We had an amazing day out on the water. Thanks!

I would recommend Ettore's boats - boat pickup location was convenient, boat was clean and in good condition plus I was also upgraded to a higher spec boat at no extra charge. A really fun an enjoyable afternoon spent in Ortigia.

We booked on short notice in the morning for a half day hire. Ettore made everything possible to honor our request. Boat in a great and convenient location and in impeccable condition. Great fun and excellent value for money.

Great boat, we booked on the last minute and still everything was ready in time. We got great service and were very happy. Thanks Ettore.

Really great offer. Perfect afternoon !

Friendly. Responsive great late model boat. Best out of five boats we hired through Italy this trip. Thanks guys great day. I highly recommend these friendly people with a great boat and a great price.