Santorini Water Taxi

Hi

Has anyone used this service between Fira and Oia. How much was it and how did you get to the town from drop off. Thanks for any info.

I just looked at Rick Steves' guide and there is no mention of taking a water taxi. If you did get one, it appears the only way up the cliff is walking.

We hired Stathis of www.santorini.com/sailing/anemos-boat/ to take us from Ammoudi Port 280+ steps below Oia back to the tenders at Fira. His charge was 200 euro for 12 people which included a 2 hour tour. We easily found others from our roll call to join us and it was an extremely relaxing and scenic way to travel and not have to deal with lines for the cable car at day's end.

He would probably be willing to do something similar from Fira.

I've read here that you can just get a fast boat from the dock below Fira to take you to Oia, along with a bus from Ammoudi up to Oia then a bus back to Fira.

What I'm wondering is whether you can do the reverse or just do a fast boat there and a fast boat back. I mean, just go down to Ammoudi from Oia [via the bus] and boats will be waiting there to go back to Fira. I'd rather not have to wait for the cable car down to the ship in Fira if we can avoid it.

Anyone know?

I've read here that you can just get a fast boat from the dock below Fira to take you to Oia, along with a bus from Ammoudi up to Oia then a bus back to Fira.

 

What I'm wondering is whether you can do the reverse or just do a fast boat there and a fast boat back. I mean, just go down to Ammoudi from Oia [via the bus] and boats will be waiting there to go back to Fira. I'd rather not have to wait for the cable car down to the ship in Fira if we can avoid it.

 

Anyone know?

We where there in early July from 2pm - 10pm and paid 20 euro each for fast boat from dock below Fira to Ammoudi and then up to Oia. It was 3:00pm by the time we were tendered to dock and the cable car line was very long. There were 2 different fast boat operators. We did see other people getting on the fast boat back to dock below Fira when were were dropped off at Ammoudi. We spent 2 hours in Oia and then they took us in a bus back to Fira. Cable car line down was only 10 minutes at 8pm but we were only ship left near island.

Thank you, gatorpuppy!

Will be in Santorini in mid-September on the Celebrity Equinox. We'd like to go to the top of the cliff using the cable car. Then we'd like to Akrotiri, Oia, Fira and maybe Thera. Is this doable? We had thought of doing a shore excursion. Can anyone recommend one? The only thorough one I've come across is Viator Shore Excursions.

Any input at all would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Will be in Santorini in mid-September on the Celebrity Equinox. We'd like to go to the top of the cliff using the cable car. Then we'd like to Akrotiri, Oia, Fira and maybe Thera. Is this doable? We had thought of doing a shore excursion. Can anyone recommend one? The only thorough one I've come across is Viator Shore Excursions.

 

Any input at all would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

Fira, Thira and Thera are different spellings for the same place, so you are really looking at a tour that stops at Thira, Akroitiri, and Oia, which can easily be done in even a short day.

I've read here that you can just get a fast boat from the dock below Fira to take you to Oia, along with a bus from Ammoudi up to Oia then a bus back to Fira.

 

What I'm wondering is whether you can do the reverse or just do a fast boat there and a fast boat back. I mean, just go down to Ammoudi from Oia [via the bus] and boats will be waiting there to go back to Fira. I'd rather not have to wait for the cable car down to the ship in Fira if we can avoid it.

 

Anyone know?

This was the boat company we used next to cable car building

Will be in Santorini in mid-September on the Celebrity Equinox. We'd like to go to the top of the cliff using the cable car. Then we'd like to Akrotiri, Oia, Fira and maybe Thera. Is this doable? We had thought of doing a shore excursion. Can anyone recommend one? The only thorough one I've come across is Viator Shore Excursions.

 

Any input at all would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

We are doing a similar tour with http://www.oceanwavetours.com/ - I've read some trip reviews who used them and they get a lot of good feedback and reviews on TripAdvisor.

They will be picking us up at the top of the cable cars in Fira, taking us to Oia, Akritori, a winery, and all around the island in a 5 hour tour. We're with Celebrity, and their trip is going to cost the same as the boat excursion that just goes to Oia and the winery, and will be a private tour for us instead.

Hope that helps!

Check out Dakoutros bros online..they take you by boat to Oia from the Old Port of Fira, & now bring you back to the Old Port by boat...you used to be taken by coach to Fitr town by coach but that's had to change now.

So if you want to go up to Fira town as well, you need to chance the cablecar queues or the mules, or the steps!

You get about 2 hrs or more in Oia..it costs €20 pp for the return trip, but I think they need at least 15 people to run the trip?

Just got back a few weeks ago. Once you get off your tender below Fira there are a number of water taxi booths to get to Oia. It was 20 euros for a pretty wild, rough 15-20 minute ride to the dock below Oia. They quickly bussed us up up the hill to Oia. You could spend 1-3 hours there, then they bus you to Fira. Kids are free. :)

Here's an update - I just heard back from Dakoutros.

"We do have this excursion available , but it has a minimum of 15 people and in October it will depend on the weather.

We start from the old port , take you to Ammoudi bay with one of our traditional sailling boats , a mini bus will take you up to Oia for about 90 minutes free time to visit the village. After the mini bus will bring you back down to Ammoudi bay and sail back to the old port of Fira. Because of a new regulation effective from 31/07/12 from the local port authorities , we are obligated to transfer you back to Fira by boat and not by bus.The price is 20 euro per person.

As far as the rest of the volcano trips go , they all depend on the weather at that time of the year , so it is better to contact us again close to those days."

Just got back a few weeks ago. Once you get off your tender below Fira there are a number of water taxi booths to get to Oia. It was 20 euros for a pretty wild, rough 15-20 minute ride to the dock below Oia. They quickly bussed us up up the hill to Oia. You could spend 1-3 hours there, then they bus you to Fira. Kids are free. :)

Do you know what the name of this company is? Did you just walk up to the business to see if they were available?

Just got back a few weeks ago. Once you get off your tender below Fira there are a number of water taxi booths to get to Oia. It was 20 euros for a pretty wild, rough 15-20 minute ride to the dock below Oia. They quickly bussed us up up the hill to Oia. You could spend 1-3 hours there, then they bus you to Fira. Kids are free. :)

Hi Vancouvergirl, I hope you are back on here and see this. Did the owners wait around until they had a certain number of passengers before they made the trip to Oia? Was the 20 Euro/pp inclusive of the bus ride back to Fira?

Anyone else have experience with this? This sounds like a good option to get to Oia without having to use the donkeys or cable cars but I'm wondering if there are always enough people to fill up the boats?

It would be great to hear from anyone who used this service in August. As I noted in post #13 above, at least one of the companies that was offering it is now restricted to taking pre-organized groups of 15 and isn't allowed to provide the mini-bus back to Fira.

Bumping his back to the top to see if anyone who has been to Santorini in Aug has used this, and what the actual routine was.

I'm going to bump this thread up about the water taxis and/or fast boats because I would really like some more information from those who have used these this summer.

Are you able to just walk up the day you arrive and use the services when the operator gets enough customers? This is what I'm interested in. I'm not interested in the water taxis/fast boats that have the pre-arranged tours of a group of people.

Just back from cruising..Santorini one of the best days! Oia was fantastic..so good we plan to return here for a week next holiday. Just didn't get long enough there. Took independent trip (20€)on boat from Fira port...avoided all the awful queues for the cable car to Fira town, not wishing to try the mules either. Dakoutros bros( look on line!) have a 3 masted wooden boat that takes you to Ammoudi, then they put on a mini bus upto Oia, about 1.5/2 hrs there..time for a snack or drink! The their own mini bus back to Ammoudi to return by the boat to Fira port. If you have time you could chance the cable cars then..if the queues are gone....depends when your ship leaves! Or you could try the local bus from Oia to Fira instead of taking the return boat trip. It was gorgeous...so many photo opportunities.:p

Just back from cruising..Santorini one of the best days! Oia was fantastic..so good we plan to return here for a week next holiday. Just didn't get long enough there. Took independent trip (20€)on boat from Fira port...avoided all the awful queues for the cable car to Fira town, not wishing to try the mules either. Dakoutros bros( look on line!) have a 3 masted wooden boat that takes you to Ammoudi, then they put on a mini bus upto Oia, about 1.5/2 hrs there..time for a snack or drink! The their own mini bus back to Ammoudi to return by the boat to Fira port. If you have time you could chance the cable cars then..if the queues are gone....depends when your ship leaves! Or you could try the local bus from Oia to Fira instead of taking the return boat trip. It was gorgeous...so many photo opportunities.:p

Thank you so much for the post. Did you walk up at the dock for your trip or did you make reservations online in advance? If you made them in advance did you need a group of a certain number to make reservations for the trip?. May I ask what time of day you left for Ammoudi? Thank you.

We made a request for a booking online. It took a while to get a response from Dakoutros, but they were waiting for us. We paid when we arrived at the office in the port. They asked for a minimum of 15 for a booking, but several other people just turned up at the office when they got off the ships tenders. The office is to the left as you get off...you need to squeeze past all the people queuing for the cable car! We took the 10.15 am sailing. We had to leave Oia on the minibus at 12.45... No time for lunch there unfortunately,( but our ship left in the late afternoon anyway). I believe there is another Dakoutros boat trip leaving in the afternoon.

We made a request for a booking online. It took a while to get a response from Dakoutros, but they were waiting for us. We paid when we arrived at the office in the port. They asked for a minimum of 15 for a booking, but several other people just turned up at the office when they got off the ships tenders. The office is to the left as you get off...you need to squeeze past all the people queuing for the cable car! We took the 10.15 am sailing. We had to leave Oia on the minibus at 12.45... No time for lunch there unfortunately,( but our ship left in the late afternoon anyway). I believe there is another Dakoutros boat trip leaving in the afternoon.

firstcarib, thank you for the reply. This helps a lot. I think I will go ahead and make a reservation and also put it out to our 'roll call'. Like you, I want to avoid the cable car and the little donkeys. We want to do the hike from Oia back to Fira so we would just skip the return trip. When we get to Fira from our hike we can look around there and take the cable cars if they are not too backed up or we will walk down the steps. This depends on the weather that day (we will be there the first week of May).

Sounds a good plan. I just posted it on CC Roll call & it grew! 26 of us in the end. Have a good cruise! Santorini is on our list of places to go back to again...we are lucky as we can fly sttraight in from UK in a few hours:o

Just returned from Med cruise with a stop in Santorini. Our CC group had arranged for a Dakoutros (not Dakoutrous) tour as described below, ship from Fira pier to Oia then bus uphill then bus back to Fira city fro 20 E each. However, shortly before our departure we were informed that the tour was changed to boat both ways as the "government" wouldn't let them use the bus to return us to Fira. This would then require we find our own way up into Fira (walk, cable 5E, or donkey 6E). However, on the same small pier was NST travel which offered the original bus back plan for the same 20 E and instead of mandating 2 hrs in Oia gave a choice of 1, 2, or 3 hours to get a return bus. This provided us the chance to see the land on the outer side of the island and is very worthwhile. The boat they use is faster but allows more than enough time to enjoy seeing the island from the water. My only complaint with NST is that the Fira drop off location is not really "at the cable car" as they claimed but required walking through the shopping streets and asking directions frequently. By the way, NST is the same as Santorini Boatmen Union and it is the Boatmen Union who provide all the tender services for the cruises.

Just returned from Med cruise with a stop in Santorini. Our CC group had arranged for a Dakoutros (not Dakoutrous) tour as described below, ship from Fira pier to Oia then bus uphill then bus back to Fira city fro 20 E each. However, shortly before our departure we were informed that the tour was changed to boat both ways as the "government" wouldn't let them use the bus to return us to Fira. This would then require we find our own way up into Fira (walk, cable 5E, or donkey 6E). However, on the same small pier was NST travel which offered the original bus back plan for the same 20 E and instead of mandating 2 hrs in Oia gave a choice of 1, 2, or 3 hours to get a return bus. This provided us the chance to see the land on the outer side of the island and is very worthwhile. The boat they use is faster but allows more than enough time to enjoy seeing the island from the water. My only complaint with NST is that the Fira drop off location is not really "at the cable car" as they claimed but required walking through the shopping streets and asking directions frequently. By the way, NST is the same as Santorini Boatmen Union and it is the Boatmen Union who provide all the tender services for the cruises.

Thank you so much for this information. Did you go as a group over to NST? I'm wondering if my husband and I just walk up without being in a group if we will be able to use this service?