Nearly June and we still don’t know what’s happening
Confusion continues over ferries – Blue Star appear to be one ship short for the services they are committed to, and are using the ANEK Lines Prevelis as a stopgap. Unfortunately the Prevelis, although reasonable inside, is far too slow to operate the Piraeus-Kos-Rhodes routes that also serve Symi. Indeed she seems to be far too slow for all Blue Star’s routes and every time she is timetabled for a route, complaints flood in, and as it is election season, these are actually listened to.
So this week the Prevelis is “serving” Symi on Wednesday and Friday, and can be confidently expected to run several hours late even on the specially extended schedule. Next week the equivalent sailings will be made by Diagoras, an old favourite on the route but no spring chicken and not much faster. This week the Monday sailings were made by Nissos Rodos, pretty much on time, next week they should have been the Blue Galaxy, but this seems to have disappeared from the Dodecanese routes without immediate replacement. As a result of all the complaints, there are a pair of Tuesday sailings, made by Blue Star 2
Supposedly Blue Galaxy will make her delayed appearance on 12 June and continue with the Monday sailings thereafter, with Blue Star 2 on Tuesdays and Diagoras on Wednesdays and Fridays up to 23 June and then the Wednesday and Friday sailings will be in the safe hands of Blue Star Patmos, fast, modern, and purpose built for the route.
On the positive side, Dodekanisos Seaways are now allowed to run the Kalymnos-Samos tendered route they won and were then stopped from doing,so Panagia Skiadeni only appears on Saturdays and Sundays while the additional stops by Pride and Express will continue. Sebeco Lines’ Sebeco 1 and Sebeco 2 are running as advertised (except during recent bad weather), so is the King Saron of Sea Dreams. That only leaves SAOS Ferries Stavros. She has been making here regular four calls a week (Northbound on Mondays and Thursdays, Southbound on Tuesdays and Fridays) but even there confusion reigns. The online booking system of SAOS ferries doesn’t seem to show her operating on all the days that the online schedule shows, including missing out dates when the ferry has actually appeared in Symi.
Puzzled? I certainly am, but here is my best guess at June’s combined timetable
5 thoughts on “Nearly June and we still don’t know what’s happening”
Hi Andy, thanks for all your info regarding the ferries – I’ve just stumbled on this blog while trying to check reliability of ferries from Rhodes to Symi (leaving 27/6/23), and for our return to Rhodes again on 7/7/23. After reading this, just wondering what your advice is for my intended bookings as follows:
I’m using Ferryhopper website & just looking at booking Bluestar 2 RHODES to SYMI for 27/6/23 @ 17:00, but unsure about using FB Stavros SAOS ferry on 7/7/23 @ 14:20 from SYMI to RHODES.
Does this sound itinerary sound reliable to you, with your understanding of the ferry fiasco?
Sorry for the long message, many thanks!!
Absolutely no issue with booking Blue Star 2 – her calls at Symi are regular as clockwork. As regards Stavros, she is reliable but sometimes runs late, she is on a government contract so once the annual drydocking is past (which it is, she is actually at sea in service right now) it should run every day it is advertised. Mainly depends if you have a flight or another ferry to catch when you get to Rhodes, if not, or you have a large margin, go for it.
thanks andy for keeping us updated on the Symi ferries as always
I have not been back to symi for a number of years as I go to Halki and have discovered Kastelorizo which is a gem but hope to include symi again later this year
I do like the hotel Kokona in Symi – my first ever stay in 1990!
Hi Andy
Thanks for your blog it is very handy. We’re coming to Symi on 04 Sep with Blue Galaxy /Blue Star Ferry from Rhodes. Might you know if it will dock in the harbor or the New Port at Symi? If the New Port, do you know how I arrange a taxi to get me to the harbor?
Also do you happen to know if it is the Akantia Port that it departs from in Rhodes?
Best wishes . Corinna
Hi Corinna
Blue Star ships always use the new port area on Symi, and Akandia quay on Rhodes, as these are laid out to handle trucks and cars in quantity.
Assuming you are staying in an hotel or rented apartment on Symi I’d ask the owner/manager to arrange a taxi or other transfer for you. There are just 6 taxis on the island and there is no central booking system/number, each driver operates on his own, contact is via individual mobile phones.
If this fails, Lakis Travel may be able to arrange a minibus or car transfer for you.