Ferry Transfers

[Christine]

We will be visiting Halki for the first time (apart from the day trip we had last summer ), in September.Our return flight is late Saturday evening and am just wondering are we taking a chance waiting till Saturday for the Fedon or Nissos to get back to Rhodes? Are the ferries often cancelled due to the weather-noticed the Fedon not running today, any advise appreciated

[carol]

Hi Christine, you will just need to keep an eye on the weather conditions and have a word with the ferry owners or whoever you are travelling with if you are not going independently, normally you should be fine, there should be a 4pm ferry that day but do check to be sure the phone numbers are Fedon 6937252525 and Nissos Halki 6946519817. The ferries do get cancelled but not on a regular basis but obviously they will not sail if it is unsafe to do so, it is very windy in Halki today and forecast to get worse this afternoon, hopefully tomorrow will be calmer.

[Kinygos]

Aug 18, 2014 10:55:47 GMT Christine said:

We will be visiting Halki for the first time (apart from the day trip we had last summer ), in September.Our return flight is late Saturday evening and am just wondering are we taking a chance waiting till Saturday for the Fedon or Nissos to get back to Rhodes? Are the ferries often cancelled due to the weather-noticed the Fedon not running today, any advise appreciated

I wrote this in April:

"Every year people ask about ferry timetables.

Greek ferry timetables can be calculated using a mathematical formula that I have quoted twice; this can be found elsewhere! (It relates to Schrödinger's cat)

No local ferry to or from Halki can be confirmed until it is seen, at the departure port, casting off the mooring lines. (The probability wave function collapses!)

Yet every year people ask.

I look forward to the first inquiry like the first cuckoo of spring.

Perhaps one year...

Maybe not!

Sorry, it's not very helpful, but that's the way it is, and always will be!"


Concerning weather again I wrote this.

I know that you want certainties, but regarding Halki ferries there are none. Feel free to keep asking, but the answer will always be the same and you will find it unsatisfactory.

Internet access is available in most of the harbour front bars and this will enable you to check the weather forecast.

[Liz]

Last year we traveled on a Thursday ... up until the day before we departed we thought we had our choice of 3 ferries ... we didn't ! we had to get the 5.30 am back for a 1.30 pm flight , Just keep your eye on the weather and speak to the ferry owners , they will let you know if they are going or not

[Christine]

Thanks for the info,we are travelling independently so can easily go back to Rhodes earlier if weather is uncertain.

[muriman]

Christine, you've had some useful replies but for what it's worth I'll add a couple of points, as your question is something I've thought about when considering using late evening flights. Depending how late in September you are going, it's pretty likely that at least one (possibly two) of the ferries will have an arrangement with agents on Rhodes to take day trippers to Halki. You should be able to speak to one of the ferry operators on the harbour to check this on the Friday (and also check notice-boards with timings for the next day). If the ferries go to fetch day trippers and arrive back in Halki on a Sat morning with day trippers, you can be confident they will return to Rhodes the same day - usually between 4-5pm.

One other point - as a double-check, it might be worth calling at the port authority building (near the hotel) on the Friday. They may be able to tell you if they have any warning of bad weather for the Saturday being likely to cause cancellations - it's the port authority who can direct that ferries get cancelled, but they usually know beforehand so that anybody who needs to leave can be taken across the previous evening. I hope that helps.

[carol]

Thanks Muriman, the day trippers did occur to me, if they are brought across they will go back so that is a very valid point

[Christine]

We will be in Halki 7-20th Sept so not long now,thanks for the extra tips.Sounds like we should be ok till at least the Friday.Really looking forward to our holiday, we had a spare day on Rhodes last year after being in Tilos so spent the day on Halki and loved it.

[Kinygos]

Aug 19, 2014 12:55:05 GMT carol said:

Thanks Muriman, the day trippers did occur to me, if they are brought across they will go back so that is a very valid point :D

I have been checking my records, and cannot find the piece I want! There was one day when Chalkibert and I did a shopping raid on Rhodes when it was rough. We went over on the Nissos Halki and she snapped a mooring line at KS. Anyway Fedon left with day trippers for Halki as we arrived.
When we returned to leave on the Nissos Halki we had an "exciting" crossing with luggage swilling about the aft deck as she rolled like a drunkard and shipped water. We found out that Fedon had been refused permission to return with her day trippers who had to be found overnight accommodation. In fact the island was locked down until the next day.
So things can go wrong!

In my previous posting I put a link to an earlier posting regarding the weather this is the link to a warning about wind direction!

Here is another link to the best site for weather for ferry crossings.. Sailing forecast - Dodecanese. Sorry, it is a proper chart and not one with pictures of clouds etc., but should be easy to interpret; North good South bad, and blue good, yellow/red bad!

One further point if you wish to leave early as an independent traveller get your ticket in advance Fedon or Nissos Halki, as the port police are hot on overloading these days. (Nikos Express seems to be a law unto itself re:tickets etc.)

[carol]

It will affect us this year as well Simon as we have a late flight home so not planning on leaving until the afternoon, will definitely get ferry tickets in advance though and hope for smoother crossings than last year !!!