Boat To and Bus From Oia

[Moo_Cruiser]

Thanks for the info on your thread but I was actually wondering if anyone recently in the last couple of weeks has been let on to the boat with their voucher or if it has been refused as evidence of payment? As I have paid 100 euros for 4 people via Paypal I am getting a bit worried that I will have to pay again. I think Paypal would possibly cover this but as I have never claimed from them I am not really sure what I would do in the event that the voucher is invalid.

 

 

Hi. We did this trip in June, pre booked early on when booking was done on website (you now book on Facebook page).

 

We showed our vouchers at the little office at the port and had no problems.

 

It was a great way to see Oia easily and we enjoyed the boat trip. Just make sure you get the bus back with enough time to wander around Fira and line up for cable car.

 

We got the 12pm bus back to Fira after an early lunch in Oia and had enough time to look around the shops before getting in the queue. It took 30 mins with one ship in port but would be a lot longer if more ships in.

 

You will have a great day, we loved Santorini, it really was picture perfect!

 

Cheers

 

 

Amanda

[sassy12]

We'll be in Santorini in October 2015 and I'm wondering if the speedboat gives a rough ride. One of our traveling companions has a very bad back so I don't know whether to give the boat as an option or not.

 

I know it will probably depend on the size of the waves, other boats passing, etc. Also, I can't remember if it was mentioned about how many passengers the boat can carry. Does anyone know?

[Ha-pealady]

I think previous posts have mentioned about 100 people so it will not be an actual "speedboat" in the true sense of the word, more like a pleasure boat I should think. If it seats 100 there should be no problem with your friend's back but the seats will probably be hard plastic. If the waves are high enough to toss you about I doubt very much whether the boat would go and I for one would not be on it if it did! I get seasick on a massive cruise ship so no chance!

[Ha-pealady]

Having just returned from our magical trip to Santorini as part of our Eastern Med cruise I can happily report no problems experienced with the boat transfer. We had pre-purchased tickets online and were lucky to get an early tender so went straight to Santorini Planet kiosk on the dock side (1st booth), presented our ticket voucher to the lady behind the desk. She then produced some tickets for us. We got straight on the boat at 8.25am (our tickets were in fact for the 9.45am departure). The boat left at 8.45am and was not full. The coach transfer up to Oia was waiting for us (beware there is quite a steep short climb up from the water side to the bus). We arrived in Oia at approx 9.20am. Oia is so beautiful and we were lucky to arrive early as there were not too many crowds. We got the 12 Noon bus to Fira. This is where we encountered our first problem. There was such a long queue we decided to get in it. Fira was so packed by this time it was not enjoyable trying to look around. It took approx 45 mins to get on the cable car down. We were safely back on ship by 2.00pm and thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Oia. A must see sight.

[RJHNorthyorks]

We used this service on August 27th having purchased vouchers on line in early May. We were travelling on Celebrity Reflection which docked at 2pm so were booked on the 3 pm boat. We went into the first office we saw after leaving the tender and immediately came across Gianluca who had sold us the tickets via Santorini Planet. He took our vouchers and said they were not valid because he had not received the money. I gave him my recept from PayPal and also pointed out that I had emailed him twice regarding the service after reading concerning reports on this website. He continued to insist the voucher was not valid but my husband and I gently stood our ground. He then walked away from us and passed the voucher to the cashier without further communication with us. This was very uncomfortable as he was rude and charmless.

We got on the 3pm boat but had failed to appreciate that the boat went to Athinos and not Oia. We were bused from Athinos to Oia which took about 45 minutes on a bus with no air con. We arrived in Oia at 4.20 pm and the buses back were 5pm, 6pm and 7pm.

The whole thing was pretty chaotic and most people like us did not appreciate that they were going via Athinos.

[Ha-pealady]

We used this service on August 27th having purchased vouchers on line in early May. We were travelling on Celebrity Reflection which docked at 2pm so were booked on the 3 pm boat. We went into the first office we saw after leaving the tender and immediately came across Gianluca who had sold us the tickets via Santorini Planet. He took our vouchers and said they were not valid because he had not received the money. I gave him my recept from PayPal and also pointed out that I had emailed him twice regarding the service after reading concerning reports on this website. He continued to insist the voucher was not valid but my husband and I gently stood our ground. He then walked away from us and passed the voucher to the cashier without further communication with us. This was very uncomfortable as he was rude and charmless.

We got on the 3pm boat but had failed to appreciate that the boat went to Athinos and not Oia. We were bused from Athinos to Oia which took about 45 minutes on a bus with no air con. We arrived in Oia at 4.20 pm and the buses back were 5pm, 6pm and 7pm.

The whole thing was pretty chaotic and most people like us did not appreciate that they were going via Athinos.

Hi, sorry to hear you did not fare well with your boat transfer. I noticed on the booking website when we booked that the only boats that went direct to Oia were the 8.45am and the 9.45am. When we got to the office as I have stated in my post above, the girl at the desk did look a little doubtful and went off into the back but soon reappeared and just gave us the boat tickets. She did not look very happy!

[Wiltonian]

Just to report did it this month. Big signs where the tenders land. 25 euro cost. Works really well and you get to Oia before the crowds.

 

Yet Equinox still claim your only choices are donkeys or the cable car, or the steep walk. Not true.

 

Stuart

[HenryK]

Still waiting for a reply from Aegean Travel.

[bvocruise]

We will be on the Celebrity Reflection in May and do not arrive until 2:00. Does anyone know if there are any boats that go direct to Oia?

[roothy123]

Just to report did it this month. Big signs where the tenders land. 25 euro cost. Works really well and you get to Oia before the crowds.

 

Yet Equinox still claim your only choices are donkeys or the cable car, or the steep walk. Not true.

 

Stuart

 

I doubt our cruise line (not Celebrity) will mention the boat either - and so far I haven't seen any mention of it in the 2014 tourist guides I've looked at. However, I think some writers (including those in the Destinations staff of cruise ships!) don't want to put information in their literature unless they're very sure the service will be available and reliable on the day the ship is to be in port. I suspect they will get more criticism if they claim something is available which turns out to be not available than if they don't say a word and then some of us notice there's another way to get where we want to go!

[dani negreanu]

We will be on the Celebrity Reflection in May and do not arrive until 2:00. Does anyone know if there are any boats that go direct to Oia?

 

AFAIK, the boats go direct to Oia only in the morning. Last boat when we were there in July was supposed to leave at 11.30.

I would post it again near the season, may be get a "real time" answer.

[bvocruise]

I think we will just make other plans and not depend on the boat.

[Ha-pealady]

I think we will just make other plans and not depend on the boat.

 

There were only boats in the morning to Oia last Sept. 8.45 and 9.45am. If you are not there very long I would get a taxi from the top

[bvocruise]

There were only boats in the morning to Oia last Sept. 8.45 and 9.45am. If you are not there very long I would get a taxi from the top

 

We may see if we can get off quick and then catch one of the bus. I've heard taxis are VERY expesnive on the island.

[Ha-pealady]

It really depends on how long your ship is in port. Allow 45 mins each way to get up and down the cable car as when we came back in he afternoon it took us 45 mins queing to reach the cable car which was at about 3.00pm Fira was heaving. You need at last 1 hour in Oia to appreciate its beauty and the bus journey takes about 20 minutes or so. It is possible to charter a boat to take you round to the port at the bottom of Oia and then minibus up. If you can get a party together to join you that would be your quickest method of getting there. It is also possible to walk along the scenic path but allow 2-3 hours I think. Oia is so beautiful, we are visiting again in October on Constellation.

[bvocruise]

It really depends on how long your ship is in port. Allow 45 mins each way to get up and down the cable car as when we came back in he afternoon it took us 45 mins queing to reach the cable car which was at about 3.00pm Fira was heaving. You need at last 1 hour in Oia to appreciate its beauty and the bus journey takes about 20 minutes or so. It is possible to charter a boat to take you round to the port at the bottom of Oia and then minibus up. If you can get a party together to join you that would be your quickest method of getting there. It is also possible to walk along the scenic path but allow 2-3 hours I think. Oia is so beautiful, we are visiting again in October on Constellation.

 

We are looking forward to the visit either way.

[lemonjelly]

just a huge thankyou for all you folk posting info on santorini ,we are going in september 15 and do like the idea of getting a boat to and from oia ,all help and tips greatfully appreciated ,we are also debateing upon a visit to the newly founded santorini brewing company i think it is in mesa gonia ,anyone know where this is in relation to our trip ?:)

[Travel To Be Free]

Love all this information. We're going mid July so I'd love input on how things are going with the boat service. Someone posted about a year ago that they were taking a 2-hour boat tour at the END from Oia ending in Fira. Has anyone done recently? What kind of tour? Where can you book? Cost?

[HuggyL]

just a huge thankyou for all you folk posting info on santorini ,we are going in september 15 and do like the idea of getting a boat to and from oia ,all help and tips greatfully appreciated ,we are also debateing upon a visit to the newly founded santorini brewing company i think it is in mesa gonia ,anyone know where this is in relation to our trip ?:)

We too are going this September and I have asked about this on Trip Advisor and was told this boat no longer is operating, so I am confused but really grateful for all this information. I am trying to avoid waiting in the hot sun for the cable car down from Fira to catch the tender back. As I believe there will be 4 or 5 cruise ships in port, I expect these lines would be long! Am trying to find a private/semi private tour that will accomplish this. Someone did mention a water taxi but it was very expensive 160 Euros between the old and new ports, I think! Any help would be appreciated.

[lemonjelly]

looks like a few are looking at the option to get a boat to oia and bus back lets hope someone who has recent experiance can post a reply to help us all out ! maybe worth putting a post on some of the current roll calls asking for help

[HenryK]

Where do you get information about ships in port for Thira? For some reason Cruise TT, which I have used successfully for all the other ports on my 33 day cruise, does not go beyond October 2014.

[Travel To Be Free]

Try again. I just used cruise TT and found ours.

[HenryK]

I don't know how you got it to work, Travel To Be Free. I tried again and it won't let me past October 2014. I even tried the site's search engine with entries like "Thira 2015" but no luck.

[lemonjelly]

hi there try, cruisetimetables.com ;all info for 2015 and 2016 is there rather than thira just put santorini

Edited April 6, 2015 by lemonjelly

[suznjune]

HenryK we are in Santorini with a Regent ship on Sept 12