First time DIY

[soupdragon]

Hi all

We've finally taken the plunge and cut the cord from Olympic. We have a booking at the Villa Marigo for the first two weeks in May 2024, pending the confirmation email from our future hosts.
So from our previous visits with Olympic we know that if we want to get to the island on the same day as we leave the UK it's got to be a morning flight. We can sort those out, no problem as we've been independent elsewhere before.
The questions for now are do we book our ferry tickets online or just turn up at the kiosk? If the tickets are flexible and our flight is delayed are they transferrable to another ferry (different day even)?
Speaking of different day, if our flight is significantly delayed will the rooms be available at short notice in Kamiros Skala or would we need to shack up elsewhere?
I'm also presuming that our best option is to pre book a taxi from the airport (both ways) as we do elsewhere?
Thank you all in advance 😁

Cheers Tom and Rose

P.S. More queries to follow I would imagine

[Liz]

Hi Tom .. you're right on the flights you need a morning one , although this year the ferry crossings were quite late 6 ish so not so much of a rush as previous years. If you have a later flight the rooms at the Althemenis are easy to book and fine for the one night
There are a few places you could stay at KS if need be .. we've always stayed at the Althemenis but there is another just up the road the Macedonia and from what Ive heard in recent years theres not a problem getting a room if you are delayed or staying longer if the weather is too bad for the crossing.

As you know there are hundreds of taxis outside the airport but we always book with Aggelos & Metaxas ( they are on fb but there is a number further down for them ) they are friendly and reliable and always waiting for your both ends of the journey

Ahh the ferries Personally I'd book online as if there is a problem with a crossing they will contact you and rearrange etc , they do honour tickets if the crossing is cancelled ,not sure they would if you were delayed as its not their fault ... another reason for booking is the number of day trips the boats cater to so depending on what time you cross they may be well booked up
Dont forget you can also cross from Rhodes town depending on the day and time , I find the Open seas app or webpage easy to use and accurate .

It is really easy and not as complicated it sounds .. we've been going DIY for years and only came off early once ( it was extremely windy in the late afternoons so we decided to leave in the morning ) we booked a day room at the Althemnis and went to the little beach around the corner from there .. freshened up , ate a meal and our taxi picked us up as planned !

[soupdragon]

Hi Liz

Thinking about it the only extra component over and above what we've done elsewhere is the ferry. That's the slightly unknown bit, as has been said on many an occasion here (and Facetube) the weather can and does play havoc when least expected.
It's good to know that there shouldn't be a problem getting a room for the night should there be any delays to either our flight or the ferry 😊 I'll book the taxi a bit closer to the time and online, it's what we're used to. The last one we had was a really smart minibus just for the two of us. I wondered where the lady was going as she took us past the line of taxis parked outside, just around the corner was our almost brand new chariot with lovely cold air con and no rattles or squeaks as we were delivered to our destination.
Thanks again for the words of wisdom Liz 😁

Cheers Tom and Rose