Anyone been into Santorini Marina in 2013?

[trattles]

HI

We are currently in Naxos, heading down to Crete for the winter. We want to stop in Santorini for a look and are a bit nervous looking at the write-up in Heikel. The best bet looks to be the marina, but apparently it silts in the entrance. Others say that they now dredge.

We draw 1.8 meters (6 feet). Anyone of our depth been in there recently (this year)?

Any advice/comments would be appreciated.

Desiree
Skylark II

[jckb]

It's been like this for the 13 years, and there's been no reason to doubt it has been different this year. My draft was 2m.

[beneteau-500]

well i have been in there about 6 times this yr it is the biggest s%65 hole around the entrance to marina is no prob if you start of about 1/4 off shore and on a heading of 75 degrees line up with the broken slabs of bitumen that are laying vertical on the shore and head in once you reach level with outer mole begin to turn and aim for the centre of fairway and proceed up fair way to one boat width starboard of fairway under no circumstance go to port of the centre of fairway whilst its just soft silt it was starting to build up a lot in july my yacht keel is 1.9 and i was ploughing up the silt all the time
and when moorred up i only had 100 mm under keel and the cost for one night is a TOTAL RIP off 43 euros a night your boat will get cover in sand the Drinking water is salty , but if you decide to go there only go in between 10.30 am an
d 12 and 14.30 16.00 as the day charter boats will not be there then and they dont move over in the fairway entrance for you

[steve.garlick]

We had a great and free dock on Eos, and caught the ferry over to Santorini. Much better idea than the marina. There are some laid moorings, particularly around the southern tip of the island, that you can often use. You could also try anchoring in the little bays on the island in the centre of the caldera. Haven't tried that, but saw several smaller yachts anchoring there.

[Palarran]

Dale, do you think it will be a problem getting a berth there with my Cat? It has an 8 meter beam. I'll be going there three times next year for crew changes. Two of them I don't mind just anchoring and either my son or I will keep watch, but on the first I'd like to be able to get off the boat and explore for two days.

BTW, sorry about your loss. It was quite a story and I'm glad your ok. I agree with Rivonia, go with a mobo.

[beneteau-500]

Palarran you wont have a prob getting a berth there its all alongside berthing so dont be suprised if they put 3 to four boats along side each other , marina it is in the middle of nowhere though a bus service does run from port 4 times a day to thira 2.20 euros one way or taxi costs about 25 euros one way. if you enter at the times i said as there is about 14 day charter cats in there they tie up in the inner marina part and charge out at 10.00 am every day mugs like us have go to the outside part of marina .

In the caldera there are some good spots to tie up over night i dont have my book on me because its about 1300 meters down on bottom to tell you exact spots but there are a few moorings been put in by the day charter yachts you usally can jump on one around 18.00 then get off the next morning around 10 also the big Mooring bouys in front of thira port are fibreglass magnets if you tie up to one of those use 2 ropes no less than 100 ft long if you use these moorings try to get on No3 & 4 they are located in front of the old pumice chutes and there is another Buoy in front of no3 buoy close in which is deep enough for a cats and does offer good shelter and have seen a few cats tie up over night there as the santorini boatman whiz past the other 2 buoys I know i spent 10 days on No 1 buoy and it was hell

[LadyMarion]

Santorini itself is great and worth visiting but unfortunately can't say much of its marina.

[Palarran]

I thought I'd bump this thread. Does anyone have any new info on Santorini this year? Has anyone ever heard of a way to reserve a berth? I'm going to be coming from Ios so getting there early in the morning won't be a problem. Not getting a spot in July would.

[jckb]

Every year starts the same way.

The approach sector is quite wide (35 degrees or so), rocky bottomed, a good 3 to 4 metres or more.

Depending on the winter southerlies, there will be variable amounts of silting in the channel on the left between the breakwaters, most silting under the outer wall, least silting on the outside of the inner wall.

If the entry is shallower than 2 metres, they dredge once the chance of southerlies becomes remote (usually around mid-May). The deepest I've seen that channel is around 3m, both sides, most of the way around.

So it all depends on what happened over winter, and if it silted, when they'll dredge.

[Palarran]

Thanks. I've little worry about getting to the marina but more about there being room in the marina in July for a fairly large catamaran.

[beneteau-500]

Try this phone number +302286082119 but don't call until 9.00 am onwards the only place for your cat will be in the inner marina where all the charter cats are or the far s/w end on the outer mole wall nr the boat lunching area

[affinite]

Another bump on this thread in case you hadnt been told that the yellow buoy that Heikel refers to isnt there (May 2014). There is a red buoy which appears to be on the end of the Easterly reef. On following the approach instructions in Heikel we got too close to it and had to abort entry and try again with more distance to stbd between the buoy and us. Once in there was extensive silting inside the outer wall and as said previously the inner harbour seems to be reserved for the dozen or so big charter cats.
We were rafted up by the harbourmaster inside the outer wall in May
IMO - Its expensive for what it is but overall Santorini was a great experience

[beneteau-500]

The yellow buoy hasn't been there for last 6 yrs and you should only use the Greek pilot as a guide a lot of stuff is so far out dated you should read my post of October 2013 on entering the pumice pit marina

[Palarran]

Well, here I am tied up at Vlikadha Marina. Dales description is quite accurate. It's a real hell hole. At least 8 boats have hit the sand bar at the entrance. One big motor yacht had to be towed off. The sand has caked my boat completely inside and outside and the water is horrible. Even brushing my teeth with it makes me gag. I'm on the outer quay and there is basically no water under my keel. I'm not bumping ground (anymore) so that's good. There is a fairly good surge here which is making all three boats on this wall dance constantly. The marina wanted to tie up a 55' mono to me yesterday and I asked it there would be a discount on my charges if they did. Then I basically said no. The stresses of this surge along with the predicted 40 knot winds today would be dangerous or damaging on my boat. We will be here for a total of 4 nights due to the weather and crew changes. The cost is 85 euro per night and includes the horrible water and about 12 amps of power. Any more and the breaker blows.

But, at least I have a safe spot for the next two days as the weather is supposed to be pretty bad. We will see. In retrospect, it would have been better to make the crew changes on another island even if it meant that they had to take planes and ferries to get there. The hassle for me is not worth it.

[Zai]

Better to stay at Ios. We were there in May (Ios). Considered to go to Santorini with the boat, then made the decision to avoid it.
In may you could buy a package round trip from Ios with hotel and breakfast for 49 euro.