Symi Chat

Can't seem to work out where to find schedule for hydrofoils to Symi! Is it me or is it rather elusive?
Also are there only early morning and early evening ferries/cats/hydrofoils to Symi?
Not coming over until beginning of September so know that actual times can change!

As far as I know, the Aegli is not in the water these days.

I think the Dodecanese Pride/ express is working, but I could be wrong.

I'm coming to Symi in September too, and I'm taking the trip from Rhodos to Symi as an adventure/ surprise. (- doing the package deal holiday)

As Adriana says on her page, the Aegli hydrofoil has now relapsed into her usual Mandraki coma so the ferries have been changed around a bit.

The Dodek Pride and Express should be running but their schedules and timetables won't be published for a while yet. ANES, however have already published their ferry schedules and there is just a chance that they may remain unchanged by September (don't hold your breath). Check nearer the date on:



They are reduced to the Symi II and the Proteus at the moment but the Symi may well be back on scheduled trips by the time you appear.

There are no late scheduled ferries from Rhodes to Symi on Friday, the day I arrive on Rhodes, seems 3pm is the latest, I arrive on Rhodes at around 4pm. I'd hate to spend a night in Rhodes. I wish they'd somehow schedule a ferry each day that would at least be able to accommodate people flying into Rhodes during the late afternoon, Friday seems to be the problem day.

People who had booked tickets on the Aegli from Rhodes for Friday afternoon have been given tickets for the Symi II on Saturday night instead which means a night and a whole day in Rhodes.

Another change is that the Symi II is no longer doing the Saturday trips to Datca - it goes to Panormitis instead.

Of course, this could all be different again by next week...

There almost seems to be a conspiracy by the ferry companies to sabotage tourism on Symi. Having got flights etc organised (big problem if you live in Scotland!) my nightmare is now being unable to get to Symi as planned when planned - we didn't factor in Rhodes nor do we want to.This is one of the most expensive holidays myself and family have ever taken - apart from going to Hong Kong years ago.We want to just get to Symi after what will already involve two days of travel.Hong Kong was a walk in the park compared to getting to Symi!!! Ferry problems seem to be the bugbear of most starting visitors!

It's the bugbear of a lot of us Snoopy2.

It's the most frustrating thing about coming to Symi . Some may say an overnight stay in Rhodes isn't such a big deal, however when I'm coming to Symi it's Symi I want to stay on NOT Rhodes and when it takes a day or more out of your holiday, it's annoying .

As you say by the time you take all things into consideration it can make for a very expensive holiday...I'm doing 2 weeks all inclusive in Tobago for the same money I usually spend to come to Symi . I adore Symi but there has to be a balance somewhere.

I may consider coming with Olympic next time but only because I now know the ropes in terms of taxis, ferries etc., I know Symi Rep Ian is very good but I'm not so confident about Olympic themselves in terms of customer service.

Doesn't sound like they offer any help with your luggage, Mazie .

I don't know about Kalodoukas, though I should imagine they do likewise, but we certainly include the arrival transfer from the harbour to the property, including a porter if necessary, in the price of the accommodation. Cases on wheels are all very well but no one has come up with luggage that climbs steps

Adriana - i cannot fault the help and support that you and Wendy have given in the tortuous route to getting flights and having to wobble over flights hence dates and i am sure having followed this forum your help and support will be there when we arrive, during our stay and on our departure but - and it is a pity there has to be a but - the ferry system appears the fly in the ointment. As maiziemoo says - Symi is the destination and where we want to be but the wobble on the ferry front makes the holiday feel - at the start that there is a waiting for the other shoe to fall in that will we get straight through or not. With far fewer Brits travelling this year i would have thought the ferry services would have married their passenger tourist numbers to ferry service! If Olympic are still running Symi hols then obvioulsy commercially sound to Olympic then surely ferry service or am i not seeing the whole picture - (quite possible) Or was it ever thus that one group doesn't speak to another group.

I was speaking to Lemonia about this the other day (she co-edits the Greek town hall newspaper, Ta Nea) and she was saying that the town hall is having an uphill battle with the ferry companies on all fronts.

From private observation, it seems to have been a seriously bad move for ANES to allow municipalities from other islands to buy shares in the company as this has slowly pushed Symi's requirements into the back ground, to the detriment of the entire population of the island as everyone's income one way or another is connected to tourism. At the same time the shareholders, like shareholders everywhere, are more interested in the bottom line, which is why there is the mysterious Agios Nektarious, an ANES boat that none of us has ever seen, featuring prominently on their website as it churns up and down between Pireaus and Aegina.

Meanwhile the other shipping company, the privately owned Dodecanese Seaways, has opted to increase the number of routes it serves but without increasing the size of the fleet, so 2 catamarans are spread thinner over the Dodecanese (yes, Richard, I agree, that makes for an interesting mental picture )

[quote="Adriana"]

I was speaking to Lemonia about this the other day (she co-edits the Greek town hall newspaper, Ta Nea) and she was saying that the town hall is having an uphill battle with the ferry companies on all fronts.

From private observation, it seems to have been a seriously bad move for ANES to allow municipalities from other islands to buy shares in the company as this has slowly pushed Symi's requirements into the back ground, to the detriment of the entire population of the island as everyone's income one way or another is connected to tourism. At the same time the shareholders, like shareholders everywhere, are more interested in the bottom line, which is why there is the mysterious Agios Nektarious, an ANES boat that none of us has ever seen, featuring prominently on their website as it churns up and down between Pireaus and Aegina.

Meanwhile the other shipping company, the privately owned Dodecanese Seaways, has opted to increase the number of routes it serves but without increasing the size of the fleet, so 2 catamarans are spread thinner over the Dodecanese (yes, Richard, I agree, that makes for an interesting mental picture )


[/quote]
Thanks for the info Adriana - i should imagine frustrating in the extreme for those who live and work in Symi.

This is obviously a hot topic and I can understand why.....I'm having to stay on Rhodes one day each end of my trip which is ok this year as haven't been for a few years but if I came every year I'd be very frustrated about not being able to get to Symi for the whole of my holiday. Hopefully the ferry companies will be more co-operative in the future. Meanwhile thanks for all the advice.

[quote="Bluenose"]

Regarding George Kaloudoukas and his staff, we have always found them very professional, knowledgable dealing with our hols to Symi, transfers, taxi`s can all be arranged through George, and dont forget you are dealing with a man who knows his Island back to front, and his staff meet you from the plane and escort you to the ferries, its well worth thinking about booking with this company.
[/quote]

That is who I usually book my accommodation with and they are brilliant, just a shame they don't have control over flights and ferries.

It also has to be said that although I pay a more than I would if say travelling with Olympic, the accommodation is excellent. They are a delightful company who go out of their way to please.

It's not really a conspiracy, more like no planning, try booking a flight like this that's not the usual Athens and gt;Rhodes route every one of us seems to favor for Athens and gt;Kos then a ferry to Symi or Athens and gt;Kalymnos then a ferry to Symi ... the ferry lines from those other two islands to symi, still don't tie in with flight times!

So you have 3 islands you can take ferries from pretty easily to Symi, all 3 have airports, but most flights don't tie in well with ferry times. This is frustrating and downright absurd.

It's not like Rhodes is the only option getting to Symi by ferry, but still the other 2 routes are just as worthless.

Just to take up a point brought up by Adriana. Olympic do provide transport for your luggage to and from the ferry to your accommodation. The only time they didn't do that was from Mandraki this year to the International Hotel which they were using instead of the Hermes. Again, this was the fault of Rhodes Olympic staff who , as usual, didn't come up with good customer service. They timed the walk as an easy 10 minutes, but obviously didn't do it with a full load of luggage! I think subsequent travellers were given transport after a mass complaint (orchestrated by yours truly!). Ian unfortunately got some fallout from this despite it being out of his hands. I know that he also was having problems with the Rhodes office.

Sort of on this thread - and apologies if this has already been discussed elsewhere on the site - when I missed the Wednesday Proteus (thanks to Fly Thomas Cook changing flight times at v short notice ....... don't start me ranting on that one) I found an ANEK Lines ferry, Ierapetra, leaving Acandia (the back of beyond port) at 22.30 getting into Symi just before midnight. Mighty useful and running through September, as I understand it. I think it does the reverse journey on Weds and Sats at 16.30.

Now strange you should say that Janie cos I'd heard that little rumour a while back but as it hasn't featured here before (to my knowledge) I thought perhaps the person was mistaken and as I haven't witnessed a really late ferry arrival from my harbourside balcony when on Symi in September it only seemed to thwart the notion.

Adriana you are the font of all knowledge, do you know anything about this ?

The Ierapetra runs just on a few days of the week from Rhodes to Symi, not on Friday, which seems to be the most problematic day to travel by ferry from Rhodes to Symi. On Friday the last ferry to Symi leaves at 3pm.

The problem with big boats, aside from the fact that they too change from month to month and sometimes don't run at all , is that if they are in any way delayed on the trip down from Pireaus, which is easy if there is just a 5-10 minute hold up at each stop, then of course the boat is also late leaving Rhodes again. Which means that instead of watching a movie in the comfort of your hotel room you are camped out at Arcandia in the middle of the night waiting for a ferry...

Another thing is that late night arrivals on Symi only work if you know where you are going and have your own transport as that elusive nocturnal animal, the Symi taxi, is no where to be found at that time of the night.

When I arrived in May we got the 19.15 Proteus at Acandia. We were there early so had to hang about. The Piraeus ferry was also in, due to leave for Symi at 18.00hrs. I met Mary from the Vapori Bar who'd come to Rhodes to meet her sister, who I also knew. They decided to get the Piraeus boat. When we left on the Proteus at 19.15 the big ferry was still there, still showing a departure time of 18.00hrs! It followed us to Symi!