by Andy W » 07 Mar 2018, 12:43
Lets look at the two timetables as Jan wisely suggests:
On Fridays all year round, the Blue Star Patmos leaves Symi at 07:45, and goes to Kastellorizo arriving 13:40 calling at Rhodes on the way.
On Mondays all year round the Blue Star Patmos leaves Rhodes at 07:00 and reaches Kastellorizo at 10:40. You'd have to spend the night before on Rhodes to use this sailing.
on Wednesdays 6th, 13th and 20th June the Dodekanisos Express leaves Rhodes at 09:00 and gets to Kastellorizo at 11:20. You could catch the Blue Star Patmos from Symi at 05:45, getting to Rhodes at 07:05, and have time to move from the Akandia quay that Blue Star arrives at to the Kolonna quay that Dodekanisos Express uses.
On Wednesday 27th June the high season timetable starts and Dodekanisos Pride leaves earlier at 07:30, reaching Kastellorizo 09:50. But the Blue Star Patmos runs later and doesn;t connect at all, so an overnight on Rhodes would be needed.
Coming the other way, from Kastellorizo:
On Fridays Blue Star Patmos leaves 14:00 for Symi, arriving 20:30, calling at Rhodes.
On Mondays Blue Star Patmos leaves 11:00 for Rhodes arriving around 15:00. There's no onward same-day sailing to Symi, you'd need to overnight in Rhodes,
On Wednesdays 6th, 13th and 20th June, Dodekanisos Express leaves Kastellorizo 15:30, getting to Rhodes at 17:50. There's no workable connection to Symi the same day as the last ferry leaves at 18:00 from the other end of the port complex.
But on Wednesday 27 June things are better, as the Dodekanisos Pride leaves Kastellorizo 10:00 and continues via Rhodes to Symi arriving 13:50
Then there's flights from Rhodes daily in June by Olympic Air, except on Thursdays. Trouble is the plane leaves Rhodes at 07:00 and arrives Kastellorizo at 07:40, too early for any same day ferry from Symi. Coming the other way planes leave Kastellorizo 08:00 and reach Rhodes 08:40. That doesn't really leave you enough time to catch a morning ferry from Rhodes to Symi, so except on Wednesdays and Fridays when there are sailings in the afternoon/evening, it means another overnight on Rhodes.
Conclusion - almost impossible to spend 4 days on Kastellorizo in the middle of a holiday on Symi without overnighting on Rhodes in at least one direction. Why not make it the beginning or end of your holiday instead, then you waste less time travelling?