It was to be a three-hour tour to the remote island of Folegandros from Naxos. If I learned anything from my early years of watching Gilligan’s Island, I knew all along that this wouldn’t be the case. As the seas grew rougher and my ferry seemingly went airborne with a few waves, I realized that the romanticized side to the Greek ferry experience was lost at sea.
Unaware of our future at sea that day, we sat in the port terminal at Naxos hours earlier. Nothing more than a few beams of concrete protected us from the whipping wind. Poseidon saw our future at sea and it wasn’t pretty. Before I left Greece, I had very little knowledge of just how the Greek ferry system would work. As we would be jumping from island to island, this would be our main mode of transport. Guidebooks encouraged arriving to the islands by sea, that it was the most dramatic and essential part of the Greek island experience. And while I don’t question the essentialness of traveling by ferry to the Greek islands, I do wish I knew a thing or two about the experience before I set sail.
Know Your Boat
Not all Greek ferries are created equally. Some are high-speed and much more expensive. Some are smaller catamarans. Others are large, slow chugging vessels. To make the system more complicated, there are a number of different companies servicing the Greek islands. Before I left for Greece, I wish that I researched my boats a little more carefully. A high-speed catamaran ride from Naxos to the island of Folegandros that was set for three hours ended up taking closer to five. As the seas were very rough that day, being on such a little boat didn’t help matters. At one point on the journey, it seemed as though we had left the waters and were flying in the air. This boat was also glass encased, creating a coffin feel for the many seasick on board.
If I could pass on any advice to those looking to go by ferry in Greece, know your boat. If you find a route you want to take, research the boat for that route. The larger, high-speed vessels were the most calm, but to save some cash the slow big boats also did the trick.
Come Prepared For Seasickness
While I avoided seasickness on the Greek ferries, my husband and those around me were not so lucky. Rough seas are common and sailing from island to island is not always that Greek island dream. Even if you don’t think you will get seasick, you should have some Dramamine on you just in case. I avoided getting seasick mostly by looking at the horizon and also not thinking about it. It seems the more you worry about getting seasick, the more likely you are to turn green on board. Those extended trips due to rough seas will be unbearable without a little seasickness preparation.
Boats Are Seldom On Time So Check Before You Leave For Port
Of the four ferries that I took while in the Greek islands, none of those were on time. Some were delayed by only 15 minutes, while others were hours late. If you have ever spent time in a Greek island port, you know that there is very little to them. Usually exposed to the elements, they are not like airport gates. Waiting in these spaces is excruciating if the wind is howling and Greece has turn up the heat. Before I departed for each port, I wish I knew that you should check to see if your ferry is actually on time. It doesn’t hurt to check with port police and/or travel agencies near the port to see if your boat is on time. This would have saved me hours waiting in grimy ports for boats that just aren’t coming.
Leave Your Luggage, At Your Own Risk
Traveling with two rolling suitcases, we were surprised that the general system on these ferries was to leave your bag downstairs under a sign denoting your destination. While I didn’t have my bag stolen or damaged, it was somewhat unsettling to just leave your bag with the masses. At each stop, someone could easily grab your bag and have a field day with your vacation wardrobe. I would advise keeping all of your valuables in a smaller bag you can bring upstairs on the ferry just for some peace of mind. Again, while nothing happened to me, those signs above the suitcases saying, “leave your bag at your own risk” weren’t the most comforting.
Get On and Get Off Quickly Because No One Is Waiting For You
As the ferries in Greece are almost always late, it seemed like they needed to make up time at each port stop. As a result, if you aren’t waiting with the masses for the ferry door to lower on to land, you could get left on board. If the seas are rough or you have been on board for countless hours, this can be a traveler’s worst nightmare. Usually when I spotted land and it was around my time for disembarking, I would begin getting ready to head downstairs to avoid the impending stampede off of the boat.
Have you traveled the Greek islands by ferry? What do you wish someone told you about the experience before you left?
Not yet! Well, quite helpful tips about ferries in Greece.
I traveled an overnight ferry from Sorrento to Corfu once; what an experience! 2 hours late departing and what was said to be a 20 something hour ride ended up having a few more hours tacked on. I think it was 26 hours total once I got off the boat…. People were camping out in the hallways, which I was surprised to learn that just because you have a ticket on an overnight ferry doesn’t mean you have a bed or room. It was disgusting to see travelers washing their underwear in communal sinks and hanging them to dry on the railings in front of my room. When morning came, which was around 4am, crew members RUDELY slammed our doors open, yelling at us that we had to get out, and had 15 minutes to do so. I was on a “nice” boat, which stunk like stale cigarettes. I was shocked to see smoking allowed on a boat in general. In the end, it’s hard getting wrapped up in what you know a boat/cruise to be like and the harsh reality of what a ferry to Greece is really like!
Oh yah, I echo the be prepared for sea sickness thing. The only time I’ve ever been sea sick in my entire life (full of lots of sailing and other boat activities) was on board a ferry from Greece to Italy. We hit a horrible storm on the overnight trip and the deck was quite the scene with everyone green in the face and leaning over the edges or a trash can. Needless to say, that has to have been one of my worst travel experiences ever.
Great tips! I don’t get on boats very often because I’m one of those people terrified of getting seasick. However, Greece is #1 on my list so I appreciate all of this info for my future travels 🙂
Is it just me or is everything in the Eastern European area kind of late…all the time. We had late trains in Bosnia, Croatia, and to a lesser extent, Serbia. It was frustrating because I come from a city where you get five minutes MAX to be late on public transportation.
Oh man, this is good advice.
I travelled by ferry in the Caribbean this spring, and… well, it was a Heineken-sponsored boat, and there was all the free beer I could drink on the way over and lo and behold NO BATHROOM. Hahaha, if only I’d known. Some things just aren’t made/meant for women.
I experienced the unpleasant lurching of the ferry on the return trip, and I almost thought I was going to puke, but you’re right; the more you think about it the worse it gets. So I did what you did and tried to just focus on the horizon. Didn’t help that I may or may not have been borderline hungover… Ugh.
most of my memories using ferries are of the bar on the boat and the free pouring spirits! I found it hard to research my boats as most websites were hard to navigate or mostly in Greek however I personally loved ferry travel around the Mediterranean, gave some great views and its spacious to walk around unlike train, buses and planes
Yikes! Sounds like quite a stressful experience!!
My only experience with Greece is in movies, so I would have pictured any boat ride there as a calm float in beautiful sunshine and clear waters. But it seems more like an extra bumpy and long version of the NYC subway!
Ugh sorry about the sea sickness. A lot of these are good info for ferries in general though….similar in a way perhaps to things in Italy as well.
Hi there, I came across your blog when searching ferries in Greece. Love this post 🙂 Completely agree! I went to the greek islands for the first time last year & my sister who had travelled there many times said the ferries were fine. I wasn’t concerned because I had never experienced sea sickness before. I took a tablet just in case, because it was so windy & wow was it a ride! Only meant to be 2.5 hours and took us close to 5 hours…people around me were becoming Ill and I felt like i was in hell ! I’m going back to Greece this year, but i think I’ll pay extra and just fly between Mykono and Santorini – can’t bare the ferry again! xx
wow thanks so much for that info. You have helped a lot as I was not sure about ferries or planes to the island. Def fly instead as was worried abouty luggage as well.
We are 2 older people planning an tour in June 2017 island hopping from Athens to Santorini, Mykinos and Nixon then back to Athens. We will have soft travel bag each…2 wheels …medium to large size. In your honest opinion is this a good idea as I am concerned with luggage storage etc. we are both fit and both move quickly.
Hi Noela,
Sorry for my delay in responding. In case you haven’t found the answer you were looking for by now, I would think you will be just find with a bag each. Again, the only thing I advise is not to keep valuables like wallets, computers, phones, etc. in these bags on ferry travel days. Or you can always just use a luggage lock for extra peace of mind. Nothing happened to my suitcases and it seems the chaotic system just works out somehow. I always advise to travel with no more bags than you have hands. If you are both fit and more quickly, you should be fine. Have a great trip!
We traveled the overnight Superfast ferry from Italy to Greece and then back. Our trip back was awful. The waves were so high you couldn’t go outside. The waves were crashing over the upper decks. You could not walk without holding on to the inside railings. You had to crawl or sit on the floor. The staff was handing out puke bags and the boat rocked up and down. We were really surprised that they even let the boat travel on such bad weather. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. The overnight trip to Greece was great, but the ride back was awful. This was a very large ferry that carried cars and buses and it still rocked and rolled. Crazy. Our boat we took around the islands was more like a cruise ship and the seas were great, so I guess it just depends on the weather.