Only on a Sunday
The Symi II has now received a licence to operate as a ferry between Rhodes and Symi, but only on a Sunday evening! The actual ship has always met ferry standards and was used as a ferry in the Sporades last year, it is the route licence that was missing. As the Sunday evening (19:30 Rhodes to Symi, 21:30 Symi to Rhodes) sailings don’t compete with any other operator, they’ve been approved without any issues, so far just for this weekend. Note that the Symi to Rhodes departure time is 45 minutes earlier than when the bigger “Symi” operated the route earlier this month. This is because the Symi II is purely a passenger ferry so no time is needed to unload vehicles, and it has always been quicker at unloading passengers than the “Symi” because the main saloon area is level with the exit ramp – no stairs involved.
I’m in the process of updating the ferry summaries and these will appear as an update later today.
Don’t panic if you can’t book this ferry on line with Sea Dreams yet, they seem a little slow at changing their website, but the sailings are loaded into the national booking system used by travel agents.
UPDATE – Symi II operated the Sunday evening sailing again on 1 July – still no on line booking, no website information, no visibility on agency sites. Unless someone is paying them to run this service, it won’t last long as it is clearly aimed at foreign tourists coming to Symi, who won’t know it exists.
12 thoughts on “Only on a Sunday”
Hi Andy
I have a friend who might be arriving on an early EasyJet flight in September. Which ferry/harbour would she have to make her way to.
Jenni Godfrey
Very hard to answer that, Jenni, without knowing which day and date she’s travelling on, and how early the EasyJet flight is (they have flights from quite a few airports across Europe to Rhodes so I can’t just guess).
For example, if she travels on a Monday and lands before about 2pm, she’s best off catching Blue Star 1 or 2 from Akandia at 4pm.
On a Wednesday, there’s a Dodekanisos Pride sailing from Kolonna at 1pm up to 19 September, with a fallback of either Blue Star Patmos or Nissos Chios (depending on the date) from Akandia at 6pm.
On a Friday, there’s Nissos Chios at 4pm from Akandia up to 10 September, and Blue Star Patmos at 7pm after that date, both from Akandia.
Thanks for info, Andy. Will get back to you for more advice when she has booked her flight from LGW!
Hi Andy,
My friend now has a definite booking so I wonder if you could help with advice on ferries, please.
She arrives on an easyJet flight from LGW to Rhodes at 11.35am on the 12th September and will be taking a taxi to whichever ferry/harbour you recommend.
On departure, 26th September, her flight leaves Rhodes at 12.15 midday.
Should she pre-book particular ferries for both journeys and can she print out the tickets prior to travelling to Rhodes?
Your help is very much appreciated.
Jenni Godfrey
OK. I certainly wouldn’t book any ferries yet. It is way, way too soon and the timetable will almost certainly alter before September.
Based on the currently advertised timetables for September, on Wednesday 12th, catch the 6pm sailing of Blue Star Patmos from Akandia quay. If, and it’s a big if, the plane is on time and the bags come back quickly, a taxi direct from the airport to Kolonna quay would catch the 1pm Dodekanisos Pride. For a first time visitor, this may be too much stress.
Returning, the 5.50am Blue Star Patmos is the only sailing that would work.
There’s no need to book tickets in advance, they’ll sell them at the quayside, and the Blue Star Patmos holds 2000 people – it simply isn’t going to fill up on this sector of its route (the loading is likely to be nearer 200). If she does book on line, all she’ll get is a booking confirmation which has to be exchanged for a real ticket before travel, so no time whatever is saved.
Now the new ferry Sebeco may enter service before your friend travels, and the times may be useful. Nobody knows since the owners haven’t given an entry to service date or a timetable yet! Another reason for not booking until much much nearer, if at all.
Returning from Symi, book a ticket the day before from one of the three island ticket agencies, it will allow an extra 10 minutes in bed…
Thanks, Andy. Hopefully our September dates will coincide with yours and we can thank you properly with a beer or two!
Afraid that won’t work, Jenni, as my next trip to Symi this year is in October. I haven’t visited in September for many years, by going in October my friends who work on Symi in tourism-related jobs have time to talk to me, whereas they’re still busy in September. For the same reason my early season visits are in April or May and not June.
Hi Andy,
we arrive in Rhodes on Sunday 16th at noon. I saw on your website that there is a ferry on sunday evening, but I can’t find it anywhere online. Could you please help us?!
Greetings from Italy,
Valentine and Max
Sunday, 16th of September, I intended 😉
The Sunday evening sailing is currently not to be found on any online timetable or booking site. The shipping line is simply selling through local agents in Rhodes and Symi to people booking in person. It isn’t even clear which ship will operate it from one week to the next. Hopefully by mid to late July things will become clearer and you will be able to find out what time the ship departs, which ship it will be, how much it will cost, and where in Rhodes it will leave from, in September. Right now none of this information is available.
Ok, thank‘s for your reply. The thing is, that we don‘t know either to book the apartment in Symi from the 16th or from the 17th of September, in case we won‘t be able to get to Symi Sunday evening… But if I get you right it isn‘t really sure, if the ferry is going to depart at all… Hmm, always an adventure to get to Symi, isn‘t it!!
At this moment, nobody knows if there will be a Sunday evening ferry or not on 16 September, and if there is one, which ferry it will be, where precisely in Rhodes Town it will leave from, and at what time. I’m not sure if even the ferry operators know for certain because the ship they want to use has yet to complete its sea trials and safety inspections.
I can remember when the furthest in advance you could find out ferry times in Greece was one week, and tourists coped. Unless you’re on a really tight budget I’d book the apartment on Symi and hope for the best, picking up the cheapest place you can find in Rhodes for Sunday night if things go wrong. After all, even if you knew all the ferry details now and had booked it, bad weather might disrupt the service.