Greece, Cyclades sailing

[Jana]

Dear sailors, we will be sailing in Cyclades at the end of July, one way from Athens to Kos.
Could you please advice, which island to add in case you think it's more interesting than any from our itinerary? Would you skip any of these? So far we thought to stop at following islands: Kea, Siros, Mikonos, Naxos, Santorini, Anafi, Astipalea, Kos.
Thank you in advance!
Jana


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[PamlicoTraveler]

I would think about skipping Santorini (Thera) and go to it via ferry from Ios, Milos, or another nearby island. Santorini isn't a great place to stay overnight. Not secure.

[Dtm67]

There is a marina on the island, but its a decent cab ride away from Thira. I ended up renting a car to get around. When I stayed there a few years ago they were dredging the entrance and it made for a tight entry. Also need to pay attention to charts and plan for the entrance ahead of time but it was well marked. Marina officials were pretty friendly. We ended up rafted to another boat, third one deep. The marina is somewhat awkward shaped (lots of curves) so there doesn't seem to be as much room if they had designed it more functionally.
If its on your bucket list to sail into the caldera (like mine) it's certainly worth doing. It was a magical experience. How often does one sail into a volcano?


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[beneteau-500]

Santorini you must be joking see the thread on Santorini on here , but hey your on a charter boat so it won't matter , if it was me sailing from Alimos to kos I would do this ,
Alimos to cape sunion , kythinos Syros finikas, Naxos , Amorgos , levthai astipalia, kos,

[Barra]

We just did this leg (athens to kos) and would recommend adding the following to your list-

kythnos - quieter and better anchorages than kea for a first stop
Delos - for the history but no need to overnight
Paros - Naoussa (only if winds suit but dont miss it if they do)
Nisyros - not on the night before charter fleet change over though - you probably wont get in

I would skip siros and anafi to give me more time on the others

Thira is well worth the hassels IMHO (how often can you sail into a calderra and potentially moor off an active fissure?) (though maybe not the latter in a charter boat)

enjoy!

[Jana]

Thank you everyone! We are already on our way. First stop overnight was Loutra/Kithnos, yesterday we wanted to make it to Mikonos, but we have finally stopped at Siros due to weather and big waves. So we're off to Mikonos now

[annaG]

This probably to late but I would like to record that the island of Symi is truly beautiful and well worth a visit if you are around Kos. The main harbour is secure and cheap (at least last time I was there) AnnaG

[Tim Godber]

Nisiros is definitely worth the trip, Simi as well.
The negatives about Thira/Santorini are fair comment, but the positives of sailing through a caldera of that immense size are definitely worth the trip, the problem is, there are just too many people, if only they would all go away and leave it for me!