Volcanio & Hot Springs in Santorini

[nycgirl0618]

I really want to do this but one male poster stated that the mud was hard to get out of the swim trucks. My DH will not be happy walking around Santorini feeling like mud is on him. Is there any place to shower or change after the tour? Was anyone uncomfortable after the tour? I know, these are dumb questions, I'm sure I'll have a lot more by the time I cruise (august 2008) Is there enough time to explore Fira and Oia after a 3 hour tour or is that cutting it too close. My boat will tender at 7am and leave at 5pm.

[plane2port]

Hey girl, I also have been trying to get more info on the volcano/hot springs tour. Have you checked out portreviews dot com? Go there, click on Europe, and then on the left hand side find Santorini and click on it. There is some info on the springs, and some pretty good pictures. Lets keep this thread going and hopefully we'll come up with some more info. BTW, when are you going? I'm going in July.

[nycgirl0618]

Thanks for the website. It had some great info. I'm not going until next year(august 2008)!!!! Can you tell I plan early:o ? Yesterday I was on tripadvisor.com and they have a forum on santorini. I did a search on the hot springs tour and people either love it or hate it. Let's hope we get more info when people come back from the June cruises to Santorini

[ShipsandDipper]

Just FYI, 7-5 in Santorini means more like 8:30 or 9 to 4:30. The volcano tour met at 8:45. Our friends did that tour and they liked it (and one them is fastidious about his appearance). I believe that they just brought extra clothes and popped into a bathroom in Fira.

 

We accidentally met up with them at a cafe in Oia after their tour (we hiked from Fira to Oia, picked a restaurant at random, and there they were!). That was about 1:15 or so. We had a nice lunch and walked around Oia, then about 3 p.m. started looking for a taxi. BIG mistake - no taxis to be found! (And no buses between about 2:30 and 4:30!) A couple dozen increasingly frantic people swarming any taxi that appeared. Seriously, the only reason we got back to the ship on time was a lucky break - someone with a mini bus who obviously knew about the taxi shortage came by. We went straight to Fira and had to walk very quickly down the donkey path (20 minutes) because the cable car line was too long. Didn't see Fira at all. Made the second-to-last official tender (4:25; 4:30 was supposed to be the final tender, but the actual final tender brought the ship's crew back at 5 exactly).

 

Long story short -- it's doable to go to Oia after the tour, but make sure you check the bus schedules or leave a lot of time to call for a taxi (our friends mentioned that the taxi line in Fira was also very long, but they approached the first couple in line and asked if they would share the taxi, so they avoided the 45-minute wait). Next time I'd probably plan on doing the bus (our other friends were on that 2:30 bus back from Oia and had no problems) or just stick with staying in Fira.

[nycgirl0618]

Thanks ShipsandDipper. Very helpful info.

[plane2port]

Wow, ships--sounds like a tense day in Santorini! And everyone always remarks how EASY it is to take the bus to Oia. Wonder why there is that two hour interval with no buses? Seems like taxis would be thick as fleas on a dog to take all those cruisers back to Fira. I had planned to walk/use public transportation like you did. Perhaps we will go to Oia first thing, then hike around Fira in the afternoon.

[ShipsandDipper]

Wow, ships--sounds like a tense day in Santorini! And everyone always remarks how EASY it is to take the bus to Oia. Wonder why there is that two hour interval with no buses? Seems like taxis would be thick as fleas on a dog to take all those cruisers back to Fira. I had planned to walk/use public transportation like you did. Perhaps we will go to Oia first thing, then hike around Fira in the afternoon.

 

Yeah, we were quite surprised too! We stood there at the bus/taxi area for about a half-hour and only two taxis even came by. If I were to do it over, I would take the bus to Oia first thing, look around Oia a little, and then do the walk back to Fira just to know that getting to Fira on time was within my own control. Overall we were really glad to do the hike, though. (By the way, if you do walk between Oia and Fira, wear closed-toe shoes. There's a lot of volcanic rock and gravel that makes sandals/Tevas greatly uncomfortable.)

[Welshlady]

Our table mates did 2 ships tours on Santorini. He went to the Hot Springs and she went to Oia and some villages and a winery. He complained what a waste of time and money as it involved a long hike over volcanic rock to a supposed viewpoint which showed them nothing more than they'd already seen. He said the hot springs were just luke warm brown water, nothing special, and you had to swim across to them a fair way. She really enjoyed her trip and was able to see a bit of the island but he didn't have time to do anything else so was very disappointed. I hope this helps!

[plane2port]

Welshlady, your description of the hot springs fits exactly with the pictures I saw on port review dot com. Since our time will be limited I think we will not do this trip. We have visited some fabulous springs and this one looks fairly interesting, but doesn't seem to be in the "don't miss" category. If anyone disagrees please let me know.

[Welshlady]

The friends who told us about this trip are from Vancouver. They have visited other hot springs and I think the ones in BC/Banff are pretty spectacular. He loves swimming and wanted to swim in the Med but was so disappointed. Perhaps other trips would be more exciting!

[Hlitner]

I have watched this thread with some interest since I was curious to read the responses. We have visited Santorini 5 times, driven around the entire islands with rental cars, used the local buses, etc etc. I find it somewhat shocking that there is even a "volcano/hotspring" tour, but than I guess they offer tours to almost anything as long as somebody is willing to pay the cost. When you consider that a rental car for a full day costs about $75 you have to wonder about the cost of tours. Regarding the "volcano" this is a real joke. Santorini is actually part of the wall of a large volcano and the bay where the ships off-load their passengers is the crater. As to hot springs, well, if you want to see real hot springs go to New Zealand. Just my humble opinion. By the way, we absolutely love Santorini, but we love it for its cute towns (Fira and Oia), some of its interesting beaches, the wineries, Akritori (when its open) and just the wonderful beauty of the place.

 

Hank

[plane2port]

Bruce and I are connoisseurs of springs both hot and cold, so naturally we are interested. The Santorini springs don't look very aesthetically pleasing; also there is so much more to see and do there. Haven't been to New Zealand (after kids graduate from high school we'll go) but there are some fantastic hot springs in the Western US and Canada. There is a very interesting and unusual spring called Warm Springs in southern Florida. It is the only thermal spring in Florida. Of course, there are hundreds of cool fresh-water springs all over Florida. We dive and snorkel them all the time. You all may want to check them out on your way to Tampa, Canaveral, or Miami.

[High C's]

Well, you can count us in the "hated it" category. We did the Volcano Hot Springs tour 2 years ago with our 2 teenagers, while the rest of the family went on tours of Oia and Fira with some sort of stop for wine tasting.

 

The "volcano" is a climb up a dry, ugly hill. At the top, you look in a dry, ugly hole. end of story. The only good part is the view of the ship across the bay, with Fira above it. Then the hot springs tour - be sure to be a strong swimmer as there is quite a swim over - the water is so full of sulphur that it permanently stained the white portions of our bathing suits orange.

 

And that was it.:mad:

 

We are going back next year (2008) and will definitely be going to Oia, as everyone else on our tour LOVED it!