Santorini

[Sueswans]

Does anyone know where the Star Princess docks in Santorini? I read that a lot of the cruise ships are now docking at a new port called Athinios about 17km away from Thira as opposed to the old port of Skala which is right at the base of the town. Supposedly we were going to have to take either a donkey or a cablecar to the top of the cliff. For the new port, you have to take a bus into town. And yet the tours offered by the ship talk about picking up a tender at the base of the cliff to get back to the ship. I am confused. Anyone done this lately???? Sue

[Aussie Gal]

We went to Santorin in 1995 and we weren't actually docked. We were anchored out in the bay and were tendered in. I assume that this will be the same this year and we ended up with the donkeys, steps etc and at the top was Fira.

From all the reports I have read regarding this year, they all seem to be arriving in Fira.
Unless of course, the very big ships cannot anchor in that area because it could be too shallow.

Jennie

[Globaliser]

Unless of course, the very big ships cannot anchor in that area because it could be too shallow.I haven't been to Santorini since about 1995 too, so don't know about the new area either.

But as a matter of interest "too shallow" is the one reason that doesn't apply anywhere inside the caldera. Much of the caldera is actually too deep for many ships to anchor - the cliffs continue straight down below the water for several hundred metres in places. The anchorage off Fira is shallower, but even there it's still pretty deep.

[robinzhere]

We were there earlier this year in April and I seem to remember that our tour guide said that they were building a pier closer to Oia, but I don't remember actually seeing it under construction. It is possible that it could be ready by now, though. The "down side" to that would be, however, that all the shops, restaurants, car rentals, etc are in Thira which is quite a distance away. I suppose those serivces will go where the customers are. I would think that will take a while, however.

We tendered in at the foot of Thira. As much as I really don't like tendering in most places, it was pretty quick and easy here. The cable cars make it easy to get up to the town itself. You really wouldn't want to miss some time in Thira, so take that into account in your trip planning.