Find it Here: Santorini, Firá, and Oia Q & A

[jimfad76]

either get a cab or a private tour.

[QueenP]

The boat to Oia is super easy and convenient. We spent several hours there and caught the last bus back - it goes along a ridge with lovely views. No hassles at all, enjoyed our day very much thanks to people on this board!

[ELIZG]

On 5/18/2019 at 5:38 PM, QueenP said:

The boat to Oia is super easy and convenient. We spent several hours there and caught the last bus back - it goes along a ridge with lovely views. No hassles at all, enjoyed our day very much thanks to people on this board!

Can you confirm when you were there?   Was it this year / recently?    I am heading there in July and just want to confirm the boats are there.   I had read different threads from last year that said there were not boats / water taxi's to the base of Oia.     Thanks much.   

[QueenP]

It was October 2017. There were multiple boats waiting at the pier as soon as you stepped off the tender all competing for your money! I cant comment on more recently sorry.

[Piper77]

I was there last week and used the boat/ferry service you will see immediately at the pier. For 15 euros you get a nice boat ride and the busses leave on the hour between 9 and 2 to return you to Fira. Service was very reliable and pretty efficient. We took cable car down with minimal wait but there were only 2 ships in port. 

[ELIZG]

Thanks for the input.     Ugh...  We don't dock until 1:00 pm and depart at 10:00 pm.     If the busses stop running at 2:00 I am guessing we are on our own.     Wonder if they adjust the bus schedule to accommodate the ships in port.      There will be 3 ships in port.... one arrives at 7:00, one a 9:00 and ours at 1:00.    

Edited May 22, 2019 by ELIZG

[aberthelot]

4 hours ago, Piper77 said:

I was there last week and used the boat/ferry service you will see immediately at the pier. For 15 euros you get a nice boat ride and the busses leave on the hour between 9 and 2 to return you to Fira. Service was very reliable and pretty efficient. We took cable car down with minimal wait but there were only 2 ships in port. 

That's great! So, you just go to the ferry without reservations and they take you?

How was the weather?

Thanks.

 

[Piper77]

23 hours ago, aberthelot said:

That's great! So, you just go to the ferry without reservations and they take you?

How was the weather?

Thanks.

 

I found the company that we used.  There was no need for reservation.  I'm not even sure if there was set departure times, seems like they kinda waited until the ferry filled up.  We waited no more than 15 minutes it seemed.

 

http://www.aegeantravellersantorini.com/transfer-to-oia-by-speedboat-private-bus-back-to-fira/

 

From what I saw, the public bus also seemed pretty reliable.  In Oia there was a bus terminal that was easy to find where everything seemed to go from.  It's filled with tourists - so shouldn't be hard to find the right destination :)

[ELIZG]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.    I have sent off an email to see when the last water taxi and bus is... as we are in port from 1:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

 

Greatly appreciate the contact info.

 

[Hlitner]

I am not sure where folks got the idea that the bus between Fira and Oia stops at 2pm.  This is simply not true.  It runs all day and even into the night until around 10pm!.   But if there are a few ships in port that bus from Oia can become overcrowded and even full.  The driver will usually cram everyone in....but there are times when that might not be possible.  Here is a link to the bus schedule:

https://santorinisecrets.com/santorini-bus-schedule/

 

In the past the boat operators simply handed a regular bus ticket (for the return from Oia) to the passengers and they could return on any bus.  

 

Hank

[ELIZG]

Thanks Hank.    There has many conflicting reports on this service.   Glad to hear this is do-able within the time we have available.

[aberthelot]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

I am not sure where folks got the idea that the bus between Fira and Oia stops at 2pm.  This is simply not true.  It runs all day and even into the night until around 10pm!.   But if there are a few ships in port that bus from Oia can become overcrowded and even full.  The driver will usually cram everyone in....but there are times when that might not be possible.  Here is a link to the bus schedule:

https://santorinisecrets.com/santorini-bus-schedule/

 

In the past the boat operators simply handed a regular bus ticket (for the return from Oia) to the passengers and they could return on any bus.  

 

Hank

Hi Hank,

It is a difficult walk up the steep stairs to Oia or do people take the bus into the town?

Thanks!

Angela

 

[Hlitner]

17 minutes ago, aberthelot said:

Hi Hank,

It is a difficult walk up the steep stairs to Oia or do people take the bus into the town?

Thanks!

Angela

 

There are a lot of stairs so if you have mobility or endurance issues it would not be fun.  When we have been in Oia there is a small shuttle bus that we could see bringing folks up from the pier to town.  If you are concerned about the steps you probably should ask the boat operator (at Fira) if there is a bus...before you pay for the boat transportation.   I looked around the Internet and found the attached picture which shows the small pier from Oia.  It should help give you some idea of the geography.

 

Hank

[aberthelot]

37 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

There are a lot of stairs so if you have mobility or endurance issues it would not be fun.  When we have been in Oia there is a small shuttle bus that we could see bringing folks up from the pier to town.  If you are concerned about the steps you probably should ask the boat operator (at Fira) if there is a bus...before you pay for the boat transportation.   I looked around the Internet and found the attached picture which shows the small pier from Oia.  It should help give you some idea of the geography.

 

Hank

Thanks Hank!

[Piper77]

19 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I am not sure where folks got the idea that the bus between Fira and Oia stops at 2pm.  This is simply not true.  It runs all day and even into the night until around 10pm!.   But if there are a few ships in port that bus from Oia can become overcrowded and even full.  The driver will usually cram everyone in....but there are times when that might not be possible.  Here is a link to the bus schedule:

https://santorinisecrets.com/santorini-bus-schedule/

 

In the past the boat operators simply handed a regular bus ticket (for the return from Oia) to the passengers and they could return on any bus.  

 

Hank

The company I provided info on was not using the public bus and their shuttle service that included a coach ride back to Fira stopped at 2pm - but one could certainly take a public bus back if they wanted to on their own. 

 

I chose the 15 euro boat / bus combo as it meant we did not have to take the cable car up to Fira. 

 

The boat service we used took 15 minutes and then they also provide a short bus shuttle up to Oia - so you can avoid the steep walk if you prefer. 

[ELIZG]

I went to the source and contacted the company in the link above (aegeantraveller).   

 

For those interested.

 

The last boat leaves Fira to Oia at approx. 3:00 pm

The last bus leaving Oia to Fira runs at 7:00 pm

 

 

 

 

[Solent Richard]

Here's my full guide to Santorini with lots of tips and many photographs...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/07/14/one-way-to-do-santorini/

 

[Scarlett W]

This link is excellent and will be most useful when we visit Santorini,thank you.

[strobellayjam]

On 10/9/2018 at 6:10 AM, TheBandit said:

Hi,

 

came back from our cruise and just wanted to give you some feedback about our experience.

 

The shore excursion we booked worked out perfectly (on the ShoreBee website). Did cost us 15 Euros each. Departure on time at 8.30am with a boat directly from the port to the Oia port. From there a quick bus ride up to Oia. Arriving at around 9.45am. Then we had time to explore the town completely on our own. Buses back were at 11am, 12noon, 1pm and 2pm. No reservations needed, just show up about 15' before time. They have enough seats and busses ready for the transport to Fira (about 20'). From Fira back to the port you are on your own though (cable car or walking). We walked....took about only 30' and there weren't many donkeys around - it's end of season soon I guess. Great experience all around, well organised and on time. And for that price a real steal.

Was the boat and bus that transported you to and from Oia independently operated by ShoreBee? 

[4cats4me]

Public bus was so easy. We took the cable car up and asked locals to point us in the direction of the bus depot. However, we were the only ship in port in October, so it made things a lot easier.  

[Scarlett W]

Solent Richard do you have any other tips and hints of places to visit. I looked at your profile page for links but there doesn't seem to be any. 

[dcblack&gold]

We will be visiting on the Nieuw Statendam in October.  We are planning to hike the trail between Oia and Fira and are trying to figure out the most efficient way to do it.  Ideally we would like to take the cable car up to Fira and hike to Oia, then either bus or cab back.  But there are 5 ships calling that day and 1 of them (Celebrity Edge) arrives an hour earlier than the others.  So I am concerned that we will be out of luck as far as the line at the cable car goes and I'm not thrilled about climbing up the donkey path before starting a 7 mile hike!  So that leaves the boat over to Oia and then hiking back to Fira.  But from what I've read on these posts it seems like you could waste a lot of time waiting for them decide when, or if, they're leaving.  I am guessing that with 5 ships arriving, there should be enough people that the boat won't be a problem.  What am I missing???  Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

[suprmom28]

HI, 

We are on the same cruise with you and I was wondering the same thing. I was looking for a restaurant near the cable car station. However, sunset is not until 8:37 pm, and there is only 1 other small ship in port the same day.  I'm still not sure that will leave us enough time to take a cable car back down to the port. I've read multiple reviews that say the cable car line is still very long even with only 1 other ship in port. 

Please, let me know if you have any new information.

Thanks

[Ashland]

Try looking at the tour operator we just used May 26th ..."Greek Traveling" their Oia Experience tour that includes a jet boat to get to Oia from the tender ... a winery visit and drop off at Fira. We paid 82 Euros pp.

[chipmaster]

We sailed the Star this year June 23, the two tours we considered were Ultimate Santorini and the the Wine tour one.   We decided too late and the only one left was the Ultimate but the Wine tour / dinner did sound to have been the better fit for us.   The scheduled arrival was similar 1:00-22:00, but we arrived early 11am and were starting tendering by 12:00am.   

 

We also fretted the whole DIY and the lines at the cable car.  I'm reading there are independent tours that take speedboats / ferryies from the ferrying tendering port to the other docks, but we didnt' look at this opting for the ship tour.

 

Here is what happened on our tour Ultimate:  

All Cruise tours checked in to the theater and got assigned a # based on their tour.  They are then called and board a different tendering boarding area on the other side of the ship ( different than all the DIY ).   It is a bit of a circus in the theater as they call each tour down to get their #s and wait their turn, probably started boarding tenders about 20' after the process started.   As we made our way to the tendering we encountered several "confused" DIY that also tried to join us and were herded back to their respect DIY tendering.  No question that the pace and time of leaving the boat gained me an hour and half ahead of my DIY at Kotor where I had tendering ticket #3 where all the privates and elites got off before us.       SUMMARY:  Ship tour does get you off early and faster, they take you to the main port, a zoo but avoids the cable car issue.

 

Tour:  I am mixed about any big ship tour, you are always slowed by the slowest, we had a few really slow people in our group, shopping, restrooms, sightseeing

 

Stops in OIA was too short, as the end was a set dinner in Fira.  At both places it was pretty standard ship tour, all follow the guide as he tells us some story and history then freed up for a bit, too short a time in Oia, and lots of ree time in Fira.  The good, you got off and no worries.   The dinner was a very average meal/service, decent location of the cliffs.

 

You were given a ticket and free time in Fira, the issue is even with the end in Fira and late ship leaving 10pm, you really need to be on the ship 30' at a minimum earlier, means you get in line for the cable car ( we waited more than 45' ), the sunset happened while we were waiting in line.

 

No question dinner views of setting sun were beautiful, but timing sunset while having dinner even with late sailing is dicey, probably later August would be better.   But then again timing is that, unless you DIY the sunset will be hit or miss regardless.