by Andy W » 19 Jun 2008, 20:45
I think you have the harbours mixed up a bit, Ange. The day trip boats go from Mandraki, along with the Symi II and the Aegli to Symi, and the Sea Star to Tilos. Next along is Kolonna, literally under the walls of the Old Town, and the Dodecanese Express and Dodecanese Pride leave from here. They will be useful to you because there is at least one and often two sailings to Symi each day, 2 trips a week to Kastellorizo, 8 trips a week to Patmos, and 2 a week to Tilos.
Next again is the Commercial harbour, haunt of the car ferries, (and cruise liners) including Proteus with 2 trips a week to Kastellorizo and also 2 to Tilos via Symi, and various big boats belonging to Blue Star or GA Ferries which run daily between Rhodes and Piraeus via various combinations of islands, on some days including Tilos, Symi or Patmos.
You're quite right that if you don't arrive at Rhodes Airport until after 9pm you'll need to stay the night in Rhodes before you can move on, unless you are off in the Halki/Karpathos/Kassos direction and you chose a date when there is a night sailing on that route (Lane Lines).
Always bear in mind (if you didn't know already) that Greek ferry timetables can and do change at very short notice, so keep an eye on the ferry links here on this site. For the ferries that don't go anywhere near Symi, I use
I hope you have a great time. I've used all 3 of the hotels mentioned so far, and they're all fine.