Symi Island & St George's Bay Full-Day Boat Cruise from Rhodes

Mandraki Harbour, Rhodes Town

Your day starts in Mandraki, the old harbour of Rhodes Town and the departure point for most Rhodes boat trips. Two bronze deer statues stand on columns at its mouth, on the spot where tradition places the Colossus of Rhodes, the giant statue of the sun god counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Along the harbour wall you see three medieval windmills, and at the tip of the mole the round Fort of St Nicholas, built by the Knights of St John in the fifteenth century.

Boarding begins at 09:30 and the boat leaves at 10:00, so there is a moment to photograph the walls of the medieval Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, rising behind the waterfront. As you pull out, the captain points out the coastline of Rhodes before the boat turns north-west towards Symi, a crossing of roughly an hour and a half on calm summer water.

St George's Bay (Agios Georgios Dysalona), Symi

St George's Bay sits on the rugged east coast of Symi, where a sheer limestone wall rises hundreds of metres straight out of the sea above a small pebble beach and a whitewashed chapel. There is no road and no path down the cliff, so the only way to get to St George's Bay is by boat, which keeps it quiet and the water exceptionally clear, shading from turquoise near the shore to deep blue a few metres out.

The boat stops here for about an hour. Port Authority rules do not allow it to moor at the beach, so you swim directly from the boat using the ladders, staying close to the vessel at all times. Bring a mask if you like snorkelling: fish gather around the rocks at the foot of the cliff. Guests who prefer not to swim can stay on the sun deck and enjoy the view of the cliff from the water.

Greek lunch on board

Between St George's Bay and Symi harbour the crew serves the traditional Greek lunch included in this package. The menu is the kind of food Greek families cook on Sundays: moussaka layered with aubergine, minced meat and béchamel, house-made meatballs (keftedes), grilled chicken and a classic Greek salad of tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and feta.

Lunch is served in the short stretch of cruising before the harbour, so you arrive in Symi already fed and can spend all three hours ashore exploring rather than searching for a table. Drinks are not part of this option and can be bought on board. If you have a dietary need, tell us when you book and we pass it on to the crew in advance.

Symi Harbour (Gialos)

Few arrivals in Greece match the first view of Symi harbour: an amphitheatre of neoclassical mansions painted ochre, pink, cream and pale blue, stacked up the hillsides around a narrow inlet. Most were built in the nineteenth century, when Symi grew rich from sponge diving and wooden shipbuilding, and they give the town a unity of style rarely seen elsewhere in the Aegean. If you are wondering whether Symi is worth visiting, this view is usually the answer.

You have three hours of free time on the waterfront. Walk past the late nineteenth-century clock tower, browse stalls of natural sponges and spices, and try the tiny fried Symi shrimps that the island's tavernas are known for. A small plaque near the harbour recalls that the surrender of the Dodecanese was signed here in May 1945, before the islands joined Greece in 1948.

Chorio and the Kali Strata

Above the harbour lies Chorio, the upper town, reached by the Kali Strata, a broad stone stairway lined with grand captains' houses, some restored and some romantically ruined. The climb takes about 15 to 20 minutes at an easy pace and rewards you with the best panorama of the harbour, so it fits comfortably into your three hours if you start soon after arrival.

At the top, narrow lanes lead to windmills, small churches and the site of the old castle of the Knights, where the church of Panagia tou Kastrou now stands. The best time to visit Symi is from May to October; in July and August start the climb early and carry water, as the afternoon sun is strong. Be back at the boat in good time for the 16:15 departure to Rhodes.