Greek Island ferry preferences?
 

Hi there,
We are travelling from Naxos to Paros Sept. 14 and from Paros to Santorini Sept. 22. I'm looking for opinions on how soon I should book ferry travel and on which lines. I've seen some criticism on Sea Jets, but they offer the best time (12:10 p.m.) to Paros, whereas Blue Line and Hellenic leave in the morning at 8:20 and 9:30, and Golden Star leaves at 16:40.
As for Santorini, Blue Star and Golden Star offer similar times (11:05 and 11:55) and pricing. Any preferences? Is one more stable than the other?
Thanks for your thoughts.

You don't need to prebook ferries from Naxos to Paros or Paros to Santorini, even in high season, and certainly not in late September. All the ferries are about half-full at that time, and only ever fill up going back to Piraeus. Just buy your tickets when you get to the islands.

My preference would be Blue Star, because they are large, modern conventional ferries where you can stand outside if you wish to view the scenery, which is particularly good between Paros, Naxos, and Santorini. The outside deck has seats, so you don't have to stand the whole time. Blue Star is almost like a cruise ship, with restaurants and comfortable inside seating areas. They are also about half the price of high speed ferries, and not that much slower.

Blue Star has two sailings from Naxos to Paros on Sep 14th, one at 09:30 and another at 18:00 (6 pm). If departure time is important to you. then look at the other ferries, but most of these have inside seating only, and you may not even be near a window. The exception is the Hellenic, Nissos Samos, which, like Blue Star, is another large conventional ferry. Large conventional ferries are always the most stable vessels.

The criticism of Sea Jets is with their small passenger-only catamarans, SeaJet 2 and Superjet, which are only 42 meters long and bad in rough seas. Avoid those, and the other Sea Jets ferries are okay.

Just curious—why are you going to Naxos first and then Paros? Naxos is in-between Paros and Santorini, so you are backtracking when you do it that way.

Hi Heimdall,
Thanks for the great info. We're going to Naxos first only because we're flying there from Athens (after four nights there and one in Meteora). We're spending five nights on Naxos, five on Paros, three on Antiparos (at the Dolphin, thanks to your recommendation) and five on Santorini before flying home. Hope that makes sense.

Okay, fair enough! the backtracking will cost you only about an extra hour each way, so no big deal. BTW, the new Paros Airport has a longer runway than Naxos, and more flights with larger aircraft.

Enjoy Antiparos! You will need a car to get the most out of Hotel Dolphin, but it's at the most beautiful end of the island. It takes only about 20 minutes to drive into town for evening entertainment from there, and the road is very good, courtesy of EU funding. Usual warning about drinking and driving, though.

When you are staying at the Dolphin try to get the Captain Sargos boat over to Despotiko to see the ancient site. Lots of excavation has taken place over the last two summers, and it's still free to visit. It's lots of fun to stroll around an uninhabited island.
http://www.sargosantiparos.gr/ws/?page_id=8
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014...n-open-museum/

If the sea jet is one of the Championjets then it is a large car carrying cat that is stable. As Heimdall says its the small sea jets with the bad reputation.

My thoughts are take the ferry that gets you to your next destination earliest. You seem to be not wanting the 9:30 blue star in favour of the noonish Championjet. Time is your most precious commodity on a short Greek vacation. I hate that feeling of being in limbo after checking out of my hotel and having to hanging around the port for a couple of hours just waiting for a ferry.
We will always opt for the earliest ferry so we can start our experience on the next island sooner.

As a ps; the Championjets do have rear decks that are open for the entire trip. Its windy and no seats but you can really experience highspeed first hand.

I've been on the rear deck of Hellenic Seaways highspeeds even though you aren't supposed to, and believe me you wouldn't want to stay out there very long. It's like sticking your head out of a car window at 40 mph! With Blue Star you can stay on the open deck the whole time in relative comfort.

I would want to be on the open deck the whole time on the route between Paros and Santorini. You get to see the Portara on Naxos as the ferry pulls into the harbour, then cruise down the strait between Paros and Naxos, past the Little Cyclades and Ios, then for a grand finale enter the caldera at Santorini! You will at least get a chance to see the clifftop buildings at Oia before having to go down to the car deck to disembark.

Going back to what stanbr wrote, I wouldn't worry much which ferry you take from Naxos to Paros. The trip takes only about an hour, and you will see the same scenery again if you go by Blue Star from Paros to Santorini. Choose whichever ferry leaves at the best time for you.

For Paros to Santorini you have a choice between two ferries that leave between 11 am and noon, Golden Star's Superrunner, a highspeed ferry, and Blue Star. Superrunner will get you there quicker, but you won't get as good a view, and being a highspeed will cost more. For a first-timer going to Santorini by ferry, the view as you enter the caldera will take your breath away.

Excellent advice and tips for ferries, Antiparos, car rental, etc. Thanks to you both.
Cheers!