This was an excellent way of getting to see both Venice and neighbouring islands. We originally booked a three island boat tour also but cancelled after seeing how easy it was to use the waterbus which meant that we could tour the islands in our own time. We got a 2 day ticket and I had read other reviews thankfully which made it clear that the tickets are midnight to midnight so doesn’t matter what time you actually activate it you will have the remainder of that day and the following day to use them.

this water bus system is brilliant. As long as you have the ticket you can practically go anywhere around the city on the main waterways. We were there in November and it was busy but only one or two trips did we have to stand in the bus or wait in a queue. I imagine that in peak season it will be overcrowded and long lines to get on a bus.

A stay in Venice involves lots of walking, so it's great to let the vaporetto do the work sometimes. It was easy to get to the smaller islands without booking organised tours. Worth noting that the ticket lasts for 24/48/72 hours from when you first validate it, ie if you validate a 1 day pass at 10am on Monday it's good until 10am on Tuesday, not just midnight on Monday