Ferries to and from Symi

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Ferries to and from Symi

Postby KN9700 » 26 Jun 2020, 08:47

My wife and I have decided in spite of all the problems to go to Symi also this year.
At first we had to change airlines because TUI doesn't fly from Aalborg directly to Rhodes. Instead we are going with KLM and their partners to Rhodes.
Now we have noticed that there are no ferry connections between Rhodes and Symi on the usual days.
We want to go to Symi on Sunday the 13th of September and back to Rhodes on Friday the 25th of September. I phoned Dodekanisos Seaways and they told me that they had dropped their usual sailings.
Does anyone know if it is possible to go/from Symi with a ferry on the days mentioned?
If there will be no ferries on the 13th and 25th of September, do you think it might be possible to go with the boats bringing people on a daytrip to Symi?
I really hope we can come to Symi on the days mentioned so we will not have to stay on Rhodes for 2 days on the trip to and 2 days on the trip back, so we can only have ten days on Symi.

All the best
Karl-Johan
Danish Symiguest
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Re: Ferries to and from Symi

Postby Allan » 27 Jun 2020, 10:53

Hello Karl-Johan

It's good to hear that you want to visit Symi this year despite the problems, they must be desperate for tourist income. I am in a similar situation to you, landing in Rhodes late on Saturday night intending to get the Sunday morning ferry as we have always done. That ferry, as you have discovered, is cancelled and I will have to spend two nights on Rhodes, crossing on the Monday morning boat. Our usual Saturday evening return ferry is on the schedule and all I can do is cross my fingers and hope that doesn't change.
As far as I know, the only day-trip boats with licences act as ferries (as opposed to day trips) are the Panagia Skiadeni which, as you know, doesn't seem to be running at all this year and the Anes Sebeco which is now operating from the mainland near Athens and is unlikely to be seen at all on Symi this year. I doubt that the day-trip boats will allow ferry passengers but the situation is changing daily and I guess they might be able to negotiate a temporary change to their licence for this season only, who knows.
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Re: Ferries to and from Symi

Postby Jan » 28 Jun 2020, 10:07

We'll be in the same boat (pun intended) unless additional services are added as the season progresses.

I'm not getting too excited/worried about ferries yet as there are plenty of other obstacles remaining which might stop us from travelling at all. And fortunately we have 3 weeks booked so losing more Symi nights would be a pain but better than not going at all - Rhodes with fewer tourists might be an interesting experience.
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Re: Ferries to and from Symi

Postby KN9700 » 06 Jul 2020, 08:52

Yesterday I asked Andy Ward, who knows almost all about travels to Symi about ferries to and from the island.
I had a quick answer, which gave us some hope for the ferry connections that we need this September.
If you want you can read his answer to all my questions on his travel blog.
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Re: Ferries to and from Symi

Postby Allan » 31 Jul 2020, 18:01

What a strange year this is! Just as I was resigned to an extra day in Rhodes on the way to Symi (and actually starting to look forward to it) Dodekanisos Seaways go and change the timetable again! Now they have added a new and rather strange route for the Dodekanisos Pride catamaran on Sundays travelling from Rhodes to Symi and Tilos twice! Our usual 08.30 sailing is included so I'm happy, plus there is a crossing leaving Rhodes at 16.30 which may help Karl-Johan. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be anything on the 25th so that is probably going to mean a night on Rhodes on the way home for you.
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Re: Ferries to and from Symi

Postby Andy W » 02 Aug 2020, 09:13

Allan
Dodekanisos Seaways tendered for, and apparently won, a government contract to run three sailings per week on the route Rhodes-Symi-Tilos with a high-speed craft. This contract starts at the beginning of August. Since it is almost impossible to even cover costs with the 55% of passenger capacity rule that has been imposed to enable social distancing, these government contracts are a lifeline to shipping companies. Tilos is now better connected to Symi than it has ever been - one sailing a week with Blue Star, two with SAOS Ferries, and three (albeit two on the same day) with Dodekanisos Seaways. The "two sailings on the same day" allows people to make day returns from Symi to Tilos, or from Tilos to Symi, as well as offering some connectivity for flights in Rhodes. And before someone asks, yes this new service runs in September too.
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