Expanding beyond the road, Uber is taking its services offshore. In partnership with European boat rental platform Click&Boat, fleets of ‘Uber Boats’ will begin rolling out across five Mediterranean countries – Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, and Croatia – from mid-June 2026.
It’s the ride-hailing model, re-worked for the Riviera: your driver becomes a captain, and the journey comes with sea breeze and Aperol-spritz views. With clear ambitions to evolve from a ride-hailing service into a full-scale travel platform, Uber is now pushing toward a future where going from taxi to yacht happens without ever leaving the app.
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How Will Uber Boat Work?
Functionally, Uber Boat fits neatly into the rest of Uber’s ecosystem: open the app, select ‘Boat’ in participating cities, then choose your dates, times, themes, and routes based on available vessels and captains. Users will be able to browse a selected range from Click&Boat’s wider fleet and secure a charter without ever leaving the platform.
Unlike the existing Uber Boat service on London’s River Thames, this version is being positioned much more as a leisure offering than something designed for daily transport. Users will be able to book an actual day on the water – coastal outings, day cruises, island-hopping escapes – without the usual friction of comparing countless rental sites. With options across motorboats, sailboats, and more, these journeys are designed as pre-booked experiences rather than quick point-to-point rides.
Marketed as a way to open up Europe’s quieter islands, hidden coves, and harder-to-reach coastal stretches, the service also promises more flexibility for travellers who don’t want to commit to a full-day charter or the usual excursion price tag. In other words, the spontaneous island-hop suddenly feels a lot more realistic – no boat licence, no broker, no logistical headache, just the same app you would use to get to the airport.
Your Summer Coastal Map Starts Here
From mid-June to October, Uber Boat’s Click&Boat programme will run as a summer pilot across more than 20 coastal cities in Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, and Croatia.
Spain’s rollout is especially extensive, with Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Alicante, and Tenerife all included. France leans into the Riviera with Cannes, Marseille, Nice, and Saint-Tropez, while Croatia brings in Split and Dubrovnik. Italy’s island destinations also join the map, and Portugal rounds things out neatly, making it easier to imagine a Lisbon city break with time on the Atlantic coast folded in.
What This Entails
There’s a bigger ambition behind it, of course. As Uber continues trying to evolve into a single app for getting around while travelling, boats feel like a natural next step. The move also builds on the company’s existing time on the water, from its Thames service in London to earlier yacht-focused activations in holiday destinations.
For travellers, it means one less thing to organise across multiple platforms. For coastal Europe, it reflects a broader shift toward making boat hire feel easier to book and less reserved for the especially organised.
Whether the service extends beyond this first summer pilot is still unclear. Pricing has not been fully confirmed, though it will likely vary depending on factors such as Uber One membership, boat size, destination, and, inevitably, whether you’re trying to book in Ibiza at peak season. For now, though, Europe’s coastline is getting a distinctly app-era update – one where your next ride could arrive on the water instead of at the curb.
Born in Korea and raised in Hong Kong, Min Ji has combined her degree in anthropology and creative writing with her passion for going on unsolicited tangents as an editor at Friday Club. In between watching an endless amount of movies, she enjoys trying new cocktails and pastas while occasionally snapping a few pictures.
