Hello everyone, <BR> <BR>I am getting info for my honeymoon way in advance....we are planning to get married in 2001, either the spring or fall (probably April, May, or September, October). We want to go to Greece...we will probably spend 2 nights in Athens, a few days in Santorini, and depending on how long we can stay we may visit another Cyclades island. My question is about water temperature. Swimming is not essential for us, but it would be nice considering we will be surrounded by all that beautiful water. Will the water be too cold in the spring? I've heard it is warmer in the fall, but I have no idea if that means it is too cold to swim in the spring. Does anyone out there know how much the water temperatures vary between spring and fall in the Cyclades?

I swam off our sailboat in early June of 1997 in the Saronic Gulf (west of the Cyclades) and at the very southern tip of Greece near Monemvassia. The air temp was consistently in the mid to high 80's, but the water temp was so cold that I thought I was going to stroke out in the water. <BR> <BR>Having said this, the Greece trip was probably the best holiday of my life, and I have traveled a fair bit.

I was in Santorini in Sept but did not get to swim there. However I did get to swim while on Mykonos the same trip and the water beckoned me too, after sailing in it for a week. So, a former New Jersian now transplanted to Florida thought, it can't be that cold! Well, it is very cold. Probably 60 ish the end of September of "98. I took one dip and that was it. The weeklong cruise to the Greek Isles and Turkey was even to cold to swim in the ship's pool. <BR>But, it was a trip of a lifetime and would go back in a heartbeat! Very clean, very friendly people, great views, and fantastic food!!!.. Ouzo is great but avoid the Retsina. Kalispera! <BR>

The water will be a little warmer in the fall versus the spring. April to May, it may be a bit chilly. By June, it should be warm enough. Many hotels have pools right on the the lip of the cauldren. I would stay in Oia. For a photo of Santorini see URL. http://www.footloosetravel.com/photoarchive.html. Enjoy Greece!!

Nicole- <BR>My husband and I spent 2 weeks in Greece this Sept. We went swimming every day in Mykonos and Santorini. The water was crystal clear and had to be in the 70's. In fact, it felt warmer than the pool at our hotel! <BR> <BR>Athens was very warm (80's) and we did most of our sightseeing in the a.m. <BR> <BR>I agree with previous writers - this was a trip of a lifetime and I can't reccomend the island enough. Happy planning! <BR> <BR>Jill

Just wanted to say thanks to all who replied to my question...I appreciate the input. I'd love to hear from anyone else who has been to Santorini. <BR> <BR>If we have time to visit another island in the Cyclades, does anyone have a suggestion? I've considered Mykonos, but I've heard it is a party island and that's not really appealing to me. I don't hear much about the other Cyclades islands, so if anyone out there has experienced one of them, please post. Thanks.

Check out the recent Hosted Forum on the Greek islands for great suggestions. Or search under cyclades or greek islands.