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

[Travelntrike]

On 8/13/2023 at 12:46 PM, Labanos said:

Santorini

Alternative route - After the tender from the ship to the Old port of Fira, by a ticket from the ticket shop (Sea traveler) on the quai, for transportation to Oia. This costs 30 euro per person and includes a water taxi to Amoudi Bay, bus transfer to Oia and a bus transfer to Fira. A few remarks:

 

• The trip to Amoudi take about 15 minutes and is a nice sea ride
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• You then have to walk up a few 100 meters on a VERY steep hill. 
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• In 5-10 minutes a bus takes you to Oia center
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• Every hour from 10-16 a bus leaves to Fira. So you can take your time in Oia and leave when ready
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• We found this a perfect way to go against the flow of all the people wanting to go to Fira first by cable car
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• Even when Enchanted Princess was the only ship in Santorini (lucky us) it was busy everywhere. The lines for the cable car going down were long!
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• We took the donkey path down from Fira to the old port. We did this at 14:00 in the full sun. Well what should I say 😅😟. Yes it’s doable for any fit person but it’s not an easy task. The steps are sometimes high, the path uneven and you have to watch for slippery parts and donkey poop. Really watch out! We did it in 30 minutes as untrained persons with how should I say it, not fat but a quite a few ponds to much.

The water taxi from old port Santorini sounds fantastic. Does anyone know if you can purchase tickets with credit card? I'm finding many things in Greece that must be paid in cash with Euros. Thanks

[Labanos]

On 4/29/2024 at 10:48 PM, Travelntrike said:

The water taxi from old port Santorini sounds fantastic. Does anyone know if you can purchase tickets with credit card? I'm finding many things in Greece that must be paid in cash with Euros. Thanks

yes we bought with visa. amex was not accepted. debit cards are also accepted.

[AlaskaGoer]

Docking in Santorini in June. Oia seems like a decent place to check out, but I know it can be a bit rough to get too.

 

This guide seems to suggest taking the bus etc. from Fira over.

 

https://zeweekendtraveller.com/index.php/europe/greece/seeing-santorini-in-a-few-hours/

 

Knowing the mass chaos of people trying to get off the ship etc, is it better just to grab a taxi? And if so, how easy is it to grab one and where...

[mapleleaves]

22 hours ago, AlaskaGoer said:

Docking in Santorini in June. Oia seems like a decent place to check out, but I know it can be a bit rough to get too.

 

This guide seems to suggest taking the bus etc. from Fira over.

 

https://zeweekendtraveller.com/index.php/europe/greece/seeing-santorini-in-a-few-hours/

 

Knowing the mass chaos of people trying to get off the ship etc, is it better just to grab a taxi? And if so, how easy is it to grab one and where...

Have you checked cruisemapper or similar site to see how many ships are in port with you? their hours and # pax?

I read somewhere that there are less than 40 taxis serving Santorini, primarily serving the airport. And how many cruise pax on each ship vying for those taxis?   We had NO luck getting a taxi from Fira to Oia, and we just missed the bus so it was a 30 minute wait for the next  Given that we had waited 2 hrs for the cable car, we decided to pass on Oia just in case we couldn't get a ride back.

 

If I was to return to Santorini I would; 1)  take a ships excursion to Oia.OR 2) take the water taxi to Oia.  And on the return, I'd take the stairs if the cable car line was long. (The water taxi includes a bus ride back to Fira, 30E IIRC. )    

 

Good luck

[AlaskaGoer]

25 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

Have you checked cruisemapper or similar site to see how many ships are in port with you? their hours and # pax?

I read somewhere that there are less than 40 taxis serving Santorini, primarily serving the airport. And how many cruise pax on each ship vying for those taxis?   We had NO luck getting a taxi from Fira to Oia, and we just missed the bus so it was a 30 minute wait for the next  Given that we had waited 2 hrs for the cable car, we decided to pass on Oia just in case we couldn't get a ride back.

 

If I was to return to Santorini I would; 1)  take a ships excursion to Oia.OR 2) take the water taxi to Oia.  And on the return, I'd take the stairs if the cable car line was long. (The water taxi includes a bus ride back to Fira, 30E IIRC. )    

 

Good luck

 

I did. 

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/santorini-island-port-69?month=2024-06#schedule

 

We are in on the 10th. We get in around 1, and leave around 9. One of the big ships leaves at 6. 

 

Compared to other days, it doesn't seem that crowded?  Obviously our ship is a good size tho...

[mapleleaves]

1 hour ago, AlaskaGoer said:

 

I did. 

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/santorini-island-port-69?month=2024-06#schedule

 

We are in on the 10th. We get in around 1, and leave around 9. One of the big ships leaves at 6. 

 

Compared to other days, it doesn't seem that crowded?  Obviously our ship is a good size tho...

10,000+ cruise pax and only 40 taxis.  

IIRC the taxi stand and bus depot were on the same block in Fira.  When you exit the cable cars, instead of going right or left along the cliffside walkway, you go straight ahead to a main street then turn right for 5/6 blocks.

 

I was on the NCL Dawn 2pm-10pm and the only other large ship was 8am-4pm.  So I didn't expect much of a cable car line, esp since we were on the 4th tender.  Wrong! 

The only positive was that the other ship left at 4 so those pax were long gone when we decided to return to the ship around 6:30 to watch the sunset.  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

[AlaskaGoer]

3 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

10,000+ cruise pax and only 40 taxis.  

IIRC the taxi stand and bus depot were on the same block in Fira.  When you exit the cable cars, instead of going right or left along the cliffside walkway, you go straight ahead to a main street then turn right for 5/6 blocks.

 

I was on the NCL Dawn 2pm-10pm and the only other large ship was 8am-4pm.  So I didn't expect much of a cable car line, esp since we were on the 4th tender.  Wrong! 

The only positive was that the other ship left at 4 so those pax were long gone when we decided to return to the ship around 6:30 to watch the sunset.  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting back to the ship via the cable car doesn't worry me, we'll just walk the steps if needed. 

 

Getting off the ship with the ability to hop on a bus or taxi to Oia is a bit more stressful. 

 

I'll look for the water taxi when we get off the tender. Cross my fingers. 

[marazul]

4 minutes ago, AlaskaGoer said:

 

Getting back to the ship via the cable car doesn't worry me, we'll just walk the steps if needed. 

 

Getting off the ship with the ability to hop on a bus or taxi to Oia is a bit more stressful. 

 

I'll look for the water taxi when we get off the tender. Cross my fingers. 

There may or may not be water taxis to Oia. What's there is more of a water bus. It's a larger boat that they wait to fill up before they leave. It includes a bus ride up to Oia and a bus ticket from Oia to Fira.

[mapleleaves]

11 minutes ago, AlaskaGoer said:

 

Getting back to the ship via the cable car doesn't worry me, we'll just walk the steps if needed. 

 

Getting off the ship with the ability to hop on a bus or taxi to Oia is a bit more stressful. 

 

I'll look for the water taxi when we get off the tender. Cross my fingers. 

The water taxi is pretty large, holding about 80-100 pax IIRC.  It sits at the dock until it collects enough pax to make it worthwhile.  The employees 'worked' the cable car line encouraging people to take their boat instead.  It sat there for an hour before it finally left for Amoudi Bay. In hindsight we should have taken it, but I didn't expect to wait a 2nd hr for the cable car.  When the water taxi gets to Amoudi Bay, there's a shuttle that takes you up the hill to Oia, and they give you a bus ticket to Fira.

 

BTW, last yr someone reported that there were 2 small boats at Amoudi Bay taking people BACK to Fira.  They didn't use the same dock as the water taxi.  These 2 boats were across the Bay, at the foot of the stairs going up to Oia.  So look for them.  That would be ideal .... you'd skip the cable cars altogether. 

[AlaskaGoer]

53 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

The water taxi is pretty large, holding about 80-100 pax IIRC.  It sits at the dock until it collects enough pax to make it worthwhile.  The employees 'worked' the cable car line encouraging people to take their boat instead.  It sat there for an hour before it finally left for Amoudi Bay. In hindsight we should have taken it, but I didn't expect to wait a 2nd hr for the cable car.  When the water taxi gets to Amoudi Bay, there's a shuttle that takes you up the hill to Oia, and they give you a bus ticket to Fira.

 

BTW, last yr someone reported that there were 2 small boats at Amoudi Bay taking people BACK to Fira.  They didn't use the same dock as the water taxi.  These 2 boats were across the Bay, at the foot of the stairs going up to Oia.  So look for them.  That would be ideal .... you'd skip the cable cars altogether. 

 

Stupid question,  but the water transports are probably easy to find? Do you buy a ticket while getting on the boat or is there a kiosk or booth?

[marazul]

32 minutes ago, AlaskaGoer said:

 

Stupid question,  but the water transports are probably easy to find? Do you buy a ticket while getting on the boat or is there a kiosk or booth?

The port is tiny. Go up this thread for photos. Look at my post #236. You can see the entire port at the bottom of the path.

Edited May 4 by marazul

[AlaskaGoer]

1 minute ago, marazul said:

The port is tiny. Go up this thread for photos.

I'll browse, thank you. 

[mapleleaves]

57 minutes ago, AlaskaGoer said:

 

Stupid question,  but the water transports are probably easy to find? Do you buy a ticket while getting on the boat or is there a kiosk or booth?

As marazul says " the port is tiny".   When you step off the tender you'll see a stretch of storefronts. The water taxi had a kiosk and storefront ;  hard to miss their signage. Plus they had several employees walking around with brochures.

 

 

 

[Sujormik]

On 4/9/2024 at 1:31 AM, sunshinem1987 said:

We really enjoy the flexibility of setting your own pace and schedule on our trips,that's why we booked a private tour.Our guide was waiting us at the cable car exit( we were lucky enough to be the only cruiseship that day )so we went directly to the car. Visited the most famous spots within 4 hours! 

I have a private tour scheduled for May, do you mind sharing who you used?  We will have ours for about 5 hours, but our ship doesn’t leave until midnight. I’d really like to find a restaurant with a sunset view for dinner but am getting worried about finding a taxi to get us back to the cable car after dinner.

[Dreamer68]

On 5/4/2024 at 5:17 PM, mapleleaves said:

As marazul says " the port is tiny".   When you step off the tender you'll see a stretch of storefronts. The water taxi had a kiosk and storefront ;  hard to miss their signage. Plus they had several employees walking around with brochures.

 

 

 

So, @mapleleaves, we do not have to purchase tickets for the water taxi to Oia/ bus to Fira combo in advance, then? I had read this thread on Rick Steve's forum and wondered whether to get tickets in advance:

Boat-ferry from Santorini Fira Old Port to Oia query

We're on the Equinox arriving on May 31st at 8 am whilst the Norwegian Epic will arrive around 1-2 pm *yay!*. Do you and @marazul think we'll be okay just getting on an early tender to Fira Old Port and get our water taxi- bus combo tickets then instead of in advace? Supposedly with Dakoutras Bros/ Travel. 

Thanks for any input

[marazul]

1 minute ago, Dreamer68 said:

So, @mapleleaves, we do not have to purchase tickets for the water taxi to Oia/ bus to Fira combo in advance, then? I had read this thread on Rick Steve's forum and wondered whether to get tickets in advance:

Boat-ferry from Santorini Fira Old Port to Oia query

We're on the Equinox arriving on May 31st at 8 am whilst the Norwegian Epic will arrive around 1-2 pm *yay!*. Do you and @marazul think we'll be okay just getting on an early tender to Fira Old Port and get our water taxi- bus combo tickets then instead of in advace? Supposedly with Dakoutras Bros/ Travel. 

Thanks for any input

You can get them on the spot.

[Dreamer68]

1 hour ago, marazul said:

You can get them on the spot.

Thanks LOTS!