Santorini Ferry boat to Oia?

[JVilleGal]

Jville, once you left the excursion, how did you get back to the port?

 

We had a restaurant we ate lunch at call and arrange a taxi. We could have taken the bus but wanted to stay a bit later and be assured of getting back to the "skyway/tram" In time to get back to the ship. I can not remember the cost of the taxi but it was not very much. Just avoiding the masses waiting to get up the hill when getting off the ship that morning made it all worth while. We got off the ship with the tours, took us to the other port, got on bus to Oia. Our tour may have stopping at a winery on the way to Oia.

 

Mean while back at the dock people lined up forever waiting to get up the hill or walked up (remember the donkey poop). It worked for us is all I can say!

Be sure and get out on the deck of the ship for the sail into the Caldara approaching the port. It's stunning to see the town up on the cliffs!

[pterp]

Thanks! I will have to look into following suite to save a headache

[JVilleGal]

Thanks! I will have to look into following suite to save a headache

 

Get Rick Steves new updated Mediterranean Cruise Port book. We used it everywhere. And he just updated this year. Oia was fabulous:)

 

Safe Journey!

[dj2017]

Get Rick Steves new updated Mediterranean Cruise Port book. We used it everywhere. And he just updated this year. Oia was fabulous:)

 

Safe Journey!

 

His website says available September 2016, so I'm assuming this 4th(?) edition isn't out yet?

[JVilleGal]

His website says available September 2016, so I'm assuming this 4th(?) edition isn't out yet?

 

:( when do you leave??

[dj2017]

Sept 26

[JVilleGal]

Pre order the book on Amazon and order with Amazon Prime for 2 day delivery. You'll have it many days before you leave :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[pterp]

Will have to look into the book

[A.Emgee]

I took this boat/bus trip in Santorini on August 10 and wanted to post my experience here.

 

Celebrity Constellation arrived at Santorini at 7:00am. There were no tender tickets - anybody who wanted to get off could just go straight to the tendering area. We wanted to beat the ship's tours to Oia, so we got up early and we were on one of the first tenders to the Old Port below Fira.

 

Upon arrival at the Old Port at 7:20am, all the shops were shuttered. I asked the fellow sweeping the streets when the stores would open and he said at 7:30am. Sure enough, at 7:25am, a group of workers arrived from Fira and opened up shop.

 

There were two major tour operators. Both aggressively marketed their boats as "leaving in a few minutes to Oia!". (Of note, "few minutes" is up to individual interpretation as the actual wait to departure was 30-45 minutes - more on this later.) The shop closer to the entrance for the cable car is called Dakoutros Bros J.V. They told me that they needed a minimum of 12 passengers before they would leave. I do not recall the name of the other vendor further away from the cable car entrance. One fellow (not super friendly) there told me that their boat would leave at 8:00am regardless of how many passengers they had enticed; however, they were expecting two large European groups off the cruise ship. Another representative from the same company told me something entirely different! Therefore, I decided to go with the Dakoutros Bros company as they were vague about departure time but at least consistently so.

 

Both companies charged the same fare of EUR15 per person, which includes the boat ride, a bus ride from the Oia dock to the town (close to the bus station), and a bus ride from Oia to Fira (departing once an hour). Cable car from Fira to its Old Port (tendering area) is NOT included. There is a discounted fare for children, but the nice gentleman at Dakoutros Bros did not charge anything for my daughter! We were given three separate color-coded receipts: one for ferry ride, and one for each of the bus rides.

 

A large group did indeed arrive at around 7:45am and at 8:00am they boarded the other boat and left for Oia. The Dakoutros Bros boat did not leave until 8:15am, after it had accumulated about 30 passengers. We had waited a total of 45 minutes before the boat left "in a few minutes", which was disappointing.

 

Once at the dock in Oia we were all confused as there were no instructions about the bus ride to town. However, we soon saw a bus approaching and it stopped to pick us up. For those with mobility issues, note that there is still a fairly steep incline one needs to climb to reach the bus. The bus ride into town is short. The bus stopped near the Oia bus station in front of the Dakoutros Bros office (next to Pizza Edwin). At the office, we registered a return time for the bus back to Fira (options were 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm, and last bus at 2:00pm). Be very careful crossing the road here as the traffic is a big mess with double parked vehicles, buses left and right, etc. Of note, there are no public toilets at the office (and there are no services on the boat or the bus).

 

In Oia, the ship's tours had already started arriving, so our goal to get off early to beat the rush was in vain. For anybody hoping to get unobstructed views of Oia, it's probably better to rush off the ship, take the cable car up to Fira, and then take the first available bus to Oia. Upon arrival in Oia walk without stopping in a southwesterly direction to the Turret Viewpoint (the classic Santorini postcard photo vantage point) before the hordes get there.

 

We took the 11:00am bus from Oia to Fira which was on time but did not have enough air conditioning. It met with a ton of congestion as many buses and cars were trying to maneuver the overly narrow streets. The bus drops off a short walk from the upper cable car station in Fira.

 

To get back to the Old Port tender area the options are all poor - cable car, donkey part way, or walk 25 minutes down the switchback trail. We did the latter. It was oppressively hot, the steps were slippery, and donkeys and their urine/feces were frequent obstructions everywhere. But apparently the lineup for the cable car was quite long, and personally I think that riding a donkey downhill is a bit cruel.

 

Hope this helps someone!

Edited August 26, 2016 by A.Emgee

[superdave57]

actually it does.. we arrive in Santorini on Sept 6th. Thanks for posting this info

[rosebuds]

A.Emgee, thanks for the helpful up to date info.

[knobcreek]

I took this boat/bus trip in Santorini on August 10 and wanted to post my experience here.

 

Celebrity Constellation arrived at Santorini at 7:00am. There were no tender tickets - anybody who wanted to get off could just go straight to the tendering area. We wanted to beat the ship's tours to Oia, so we got up early and we were on one of the first tenders to the Old Port below Fira.

 

Upon arrival at the Old Port at 7:20am, all the shops were shuttered. I asked the fellow sweeping the streets when the stores would open and he said at 7:30am. Sure enough, at 7:25am, a group of workers arrived from Fira and opened up shop.

 

There were two major tour operators. Both aggressively marketed their boats as "leaving in a few minutes to Oia!". (Of note, "few minutes" is up to individual interpretation as the actual wait to departure was 30-45 minutes - more on this later.) The shop closer to the entrance for the cable car is called Dakoutros Bros J.V. They told me that they needed a minimum of 12 passengers before they would leave. I do not recall the name of the other vendor further away from the cable car entrance. One fellow (not super friendly) there told me that their boat would leave at 8:00am regardless of how many passengers they had enticed; however, they were expecting two large European groups off the cruise ship. Another representative from the same company told me something entirely different! Therefore, I decided to go with the Dakoutros Bros company as they were vague about departure time but at least consistently so.

 

Both companies charged the same fare of EUR15 per person, which includes the boat ride, a bus ride from the Oia dock to the town (close to the bus station), and a bus ride from Oia to Fira (departing once an hour). Cable car from Fira to its Old Port (tendering area) is NOT included. There is a discounted fare for children, but the nice gentleman at Dakoutros Bros did not charge anything for my daughter! We were given three separate color-coded receipts: one for ferry ride, and one for each of the bus rides.

 

A large group did indeed arrive at around 7:45am and at 8:00am they boarded the other boat and left for Oia. The Dakoutros Bros boat did not leave until 8:15am, after it had accumulated about 30 passengers. We had waited a total of 45 minutes before the boat left "in a few minutes", which was disappointing.

 

Once at the dock in Oia we were all confused as there were no instructions about the bus ride to town. However, we soon saw a bus approaching and it stopped to pick us up. For those with mobility issues, note that there is still a fairly steep incline one needs to climb to reach the bus. The bus ride into town is short. The bus stopped near the Oia bus station in front of the Dakoutros Bros office (next to Pizza Edwin). At the office, we registered a return time for the bus back to Fira (options were 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm, and last bus at 2:00pm). Be very careful crossing the road here as the traffic is a big mess with double parked vehicles, buses left and right, etc. Of note, there are no public toilets at the office (and there are no services on the boat or the bus).

 

In Oia, the ship's tours had already started arriving, so our goal to get off early to beat the rush was in vain. For anybody hoping to get unobstructed views of Oia, it's probably better to rush off the ship, take the cable car up to Fira, and then take the first available bus to Oia. Upon arrival in Oia walk without stopping in a southwesterly direction to the Turret Viewpoint (the classic Santorini postcard photo vantage point) before the hordes get there.

 

We took the 11:00am bus from Oia to Fira which was on time but did not have enough air conditioning. It met with a ton of congestion as many buses and cars were trying to maneuver the overly narrow streets. The bus drops off a short walk from the upper cable car station in Fira.

 

To get back to the Old Port tender area the options are all poor - cable car, donkey part way, or walk 25 minutes down the switchback trail. We did the latter. It was oppressively hot, the steps were slippery, and donkeys and their urine/feces were frequent obstructions everywhere. But apparently the lineup for the cable car was quite long, and personally I think that riding a donkey downhill is a bit cruel.

 

Hope this helps someone!

 

thanks for the inform since we are doing this port on our own it helps with planning, don't want to waste precious time