Two harbours · Six services · One rule that matters
Half of Skiathos has no road on it, and the island itself is reached by sea or by air and nothing else. This is every sea service, what it costs, and the wind conditions that stop it.
The Bourtzi peninsula splits the Skiathos Town waterfront in two, and the two sides do completely different jobs. Getting them the wrong way round is the classic Skiathos mistake and it costs people ferries.
Getting the two the wrong way round is the classic Skiathos mistake, and it costs people ferries.
Everything scheduled leaves from the east side. Everything you booked at a kiosk that morning leaves from the west.
What leaves from where, how long it takes and what it costs.
Ferry · from the New Port, Skiathos Town
Corroborated The year-round link to the mainland. Conventional ferries carry vehicles; hydrofoils and catamarans do not.
The Sporades are not part of the Cyclades network that sails from Piraeus, and assuming otherwise is the single most common planning mistake visitors make. Volos is the main gateway and the only one with genuine year-round service, with two to four daily sailings in high season.
Never book a hydrofoil if you have a car
Only the conventional ferries take vehicles, however much faster the fast craft looks.
Everything docks at the New Port
On the eastern side of the Bourtzi in Skiathos Town. Not the Old Port.
We cannot tell you whether Agios Konstantinos is currently served. Sources flatly contradict each other, and the claim that it is not traces back to a booking system reporting no inventory rather than any route announcement. It is the port closest to Athens, so getting this wrong is expensive — check a live booking site for your dates.
Ferry · from the New Port, Skiathos Town
One source The neighbouring Sporades, served by both conventional ferries and high-speed craft.
Skopelos has two ports, a long way apart
Glossa/Loutraki at the northern end, and Skopelos Town. Which one you land at changes the day entirely. It is the standard island day trip.
Alonnisos is the marine park
Further along the same chain, and the gateway to the National Marine Park of Alonnisos and the Northern Sporades.
Skyros is not connected
Despite being in the same island group, there is no useful Skiathos–Skyros link. Skyros is reached from Kymi on Evia. This catches people out when planning multi-island trips.
We deliberately publish no crossing time for Skopelos. The figures in circulation are irreconcilable and at least one widely-repeated number is plainly a Volos–Skopelos time mislabelled as an inter-island one. It is a short hop, but the conventional ferry and the high-speed craft are not close to each other.
Excursion · from the Old Port, Skiathos Town
One source The only way to see the northern half of the island, which has no road on it.
A full day, typically running clockwise: the sea caves — Skotini the dark one and Galazia the blue one — then Kastro, the abandoned medieval capital seen from the water, then Lalaria for an hour or two, sometimes finishing at Tsougria.
Ask about boat size before you pay
Larger excursion boats often cannot fit through Skotini's narrow entrance; smaller caiques and RIBs can. If getting inside the caves is the point, this is the question that decides it.
Older listings quoting €15 are out of date. €25–35 is the current-looking range.
In a strong meltemi the boats cannot enter the caves or land at Lalaria, and trips get cancelled or reordered. Book this early in your stay so you have days in reserve — and treat a cancellation as the operator doing you a favour.
Water taxi · from the Old Port, Skiathos Town
One source The small island offshore to the south-east, with several sandy beaches and a summer canteen.
Taxi boats run roughly hourly from 10:00, returning on the half-hour until early evening, later at peak.
Tsougria is a separate island, so it is genuinely boat-access only — a half-day rather than an expedition.
Sources differ on both the fare and the departure point — one describes departures from the New Port near the taxi rank rather than the Old Port. Confirm at the quay.
Water taxi · from the Old Port, Skiathos Town
Sources conflict The island's signature beach, which has no road and no path down the cliffs.
Morning departures are commonly quoted around 09:00–10:00 and afternoon around 14:00–15:00, though most people reach Lalaria as a stop on the round-island trip rather than as a dedicated run.
There are no facilities of any kind at Lalaria — no sunbeds, no bar, no shade, no water. Taking the pebbles is prohibited.
The price range here is wide and some quoted figures are clearly old, which is why this carries a low confidence marker. Lalaria is also the beach most affected by wind: in a strong northerly it gets several-metre waves and a violent undertow off the cliffs, and landings stop.
Water taxi · from the Koukounaries
One source A six-minute water taxi over the headland — convenient rather than necessary.
Banana, also called Krassa, is not boat-only. It is a 5–10 minute walk from the Koukounaries bus terminus over the headland, on a dirt path that forks — Big Banana one way, Little Banana, the naturist beach, the other.
The water taxi exists and is pleasant. It is not the only way in, and any guide implying otherwise is wrong.
The meltemi
The dry northerly that blows across the Aegean from June to September, hardest in July and August. Every excursion on this page depends on it.
The trips go exactly where the wind hits
Skiathos gets off comparatively lightly because the Sporades sit in the lee of the Pelion peninsula. But the boat trips go to the north coast, and that is what a northerly hits. Lalaria gets waves of several metres and a violent undertow from the swell reflecting off its cliffs.
Big boats keep going for longer
Book the round-island trip early in your stay
So a cancellation still leaves you days to try again. And if a skipper cancels, take it as competence rather than inconvenience. The alternative is a boat that cannot land where it promised.
This page names services and routes but not companies, sailings or departure times. That is deliberate.
Timetables are re-set every season
Ferry operators publish them on their own sites, several of which our research could not reach. Printing a vessel name and a departure hour we could not verify would eventually put somebody on a quay at the wrong time, which is a worse failure than saying less.
Names we encountered, not a recommendation
Hellenic Seaways, Aegean Flying Dolphins, Anes Ferries, SeaJets, Goldenstar Ferries. Treat that as a list of names encountered, not a complete picture. Some are single-source; companies merge and stop trading.
Where to get the real times
A live ferry booking site for your dates, or the operator's own page. For excursions, the kiosks along the Old Port quay price and sell them on the day, and the weather forecast is more use than any advance schedule.
7 beaches in our dataset are reachable only by sea. No road, no path, no exceptions.
The grey-pebble cove beneath the abandoned medieval capital. Reachable on foot from the site above or by boat. No sunbeds, one seasonal cafe-bar, and a long way from anywhere.
Boat access only — no road, no path. White sun-polished stones under sheer cliffs, with the Tripia Petra sea arch at one end. No facilities of any kind, and taking the pebbles is prohibited.
north-coast beach, boat access only.
north-coast beach, boat access only.
north-coast beach, boat access only.
north-coast beach, boat access only.
A separate island off the south-east coast, 15–20 minutes by taxi boat from the Old Port. Several sandy beaches and a summer-only canteen.
No. Skiathos is in the Sporades, which are not part of the Cyclades network serving Piraeus. You travel overland from Athens to a mainland port — Volos, Agios Konstantinos, Mantoudi on Evia or Thessaloniki — and sail from there. Volos is the main gateway and the only one with genuine year-round service.
Only on the conventional ferries. Hydrofoils and high-speed catamarans do not carry vehicles, however much faster they look. The conventional crossing from Volos takes around 2h20 against 1h15–1h25 on the fast craft.
The Old Port, west of the Bourtzi peninsula, where the excursion caiques and water taxis moor. The New Port on the eastern side is for scheduled ferries and hydrofoils, and it also has the taxi rank. Confusing the two is the classic Skiathos mistake.
Around €25–35 per person for a group trip of six to eight hours, taking in the sea caves, Kastro from the water and a stop at Lalaria. Older listings quoting €15 are out of date. Ask about boat size before booking — larger boats often cannot fit inside the Skotini cave.
Yes, in a strong meltemi — the northerly summer wind. The trips go to the north coast, which is exactly what a northerly hits, and Lalaria gets several-metre waves with a violent undertow off the cliffs. Book early in your stay so a cancellation still leaves you time to try again, and treat a cancellation as the skipper being competent.
Taxi boats from the Old Port, roughly hourly from 10:00, crossing in 15–20 minutes and returning until early evening. Around €10–12 return, though sources differ on both the fare and whether some departures leave from the New Port instead. It is a separate island, so there is no other way across.
Most guides tell you July and August. Those are the hottest, busiest and most expensive months, which is not the same thing as the best.
Skiathos is roughly 12km long with one main road. That single fact answers most transport questions: the bus does the south coast well and cheaply.
Half the island has no road on it. That half holds a medieval capital, three sea caves and a white pebble beach with no way in but the sea.
