Ferries from Anafi

There is no airport. Anafi is reached by sea or not at all, and with 5 active sailings in our timetable that is a genuinely small number of chances to arrive or leave. Everything about planning a trip here follows from that.

The connection

Anafi to Santorini takes about 70 minutes, with 4 sailings in our data, worked by Blue Star Ferries and Maistros. Santorini is the hub — its airport and its dense ferry network are what connect Anafi to everywhere else.

That makes almost every journey here a two-leg journey, and the second leg has few departures.

⚠ Build in a buffer day

With a handful of sailings and an exposed position at the eastern edge of the Cyclades, a cancelled boat is not an inconvenience — it is a missed flight. The meltemi blows hardest in July and August, which is also when most people come.

Do not schedule the return leg for the same day as a flight home. Leave a night in Santorini between them.

Kalamos

The eastern end of the island rises into Kalamos, a limestone monolith often described as the largest in the Mediterranean after Gibraltar. A monastery sits at its foot and a chapel near the summit, reached by a long walk from the road.

It is visible from the ferry on approach and is the reason a lot of people come.

The port and the village

Boats dock at Agios Nikolaos, the port on the south coast. Chora, the main village, sits high above it — a bus meets the ferries, and walking up with luggage is possible but steep.

This is normal for Cycladic islands and worth expecting rather than discovering.

Season

Sailings thin drastically outside summer, and in winter the island runs on a skeleton connection. Come between June and September if you want choice; come outside it if you want the island as its residents know it.