This Naxos to Santorini ferry information is the most up-to-date guide on ferries from Naxos to Santorini online. Contains ferry schedules, tips, and advice.
Ferries from Naxos to Santorini
Naxos and Santorini are less than a couple of hours apart by ferry. This makes them both ideal destinations to be included on a Greek island hopping itinerary. It also makes visiting Santorini from Naxos a perfectly viable day trip.
This guide aims to give you all the information you need on planning how to get from Naxos to Santorini. It's actually one of the simplest ferry trips in Greece!
Why visit Naxos?
Naxos is one of the most upcoming Greek destinations. With stunning beaches, lovely villages, great food, and a fantastic Chora, it is ideal for a relaxing holiday in Greece.
Whether you are travelling with friends, your other half or your family, it’s hard to not like Naxos.
I often recommend Naxos as an alternative to Mykonos for people planning a trip to Greece. It's far more authentic than Mykonos, and Naxos is a really good destination for family vacations in Greece.
The best way to get from Naxos to Santorini
Many visitors combine Naxos with some other Greek islands, one of them being Santorini. I often get asked about the best way to get from Naxos to Santorini, and so created this guide.
The very very short answer to what is the best way to get from Naxos to Santorini is: By ferry.
This is because there are no direct flights between the islands. Hence, the only practical way to travel between Naxos and Santorini is by ferry.
Naxos to Santorini Ferry Information
Now you know you need to get a boat, the next question is which one?
The best ferry from Naxos to Santorini depends on what is more important for you – time or money.
Boat prices range a lot. For example, whilst it is possible to get from Naxos to Santorini in just over an hour, it is also possible to get there in a couple of hours, having spent just half the money.
In this article, we have listed all possible ferries from Naxos to Santorini in 2019.
You can also find details of exact ferry times here: Naxos ferry times
Ferry from Naxos to Santorini
Checking routes and buying boat tickets from Naxos to Santorini can be done very easily on a third-party provider, https://www.ferryhopper.com/en/.
Here, you can find itineraries for most boats in Greece, along with the full itineraries and prices, which makes it very easy to compare.
Like for most ferry schedules in Greece, there are different types of boats going from Naxos to Santorini. The fastest ones take just over an hour, while the slowest ones take a maximum of 2.5 hours, which means that the trip isn’t really that long.
Ticket prices vary accordingly, from 22 euro for the slower boats, to 43 euro for the fast boats, but there are also cabins and VIP seats that cost a lot more. If you have children or have an ISIC card, check out for discounts.
Getting from Naxos to Santorini on Blue Star Ferries
We have described the Blue Star Ferries in detail in this article – How to get from Athens to Santorini. They are large boats, carrying both passengers and vehicles, and offering all amenities such as restaurants, cafes, etc.
Depending on the time of year, there are one or two boats daily from Naxos to Santorini, taking anywhere from 2 to 2.5 hours. Note – As those boats are coming from another island, they might on occasion be delayed.
There are several types of tickets, with the cheapest option (deck, with no designated seat) costing 22 euros.
I would totally recommend paying an extra 2.5 euros to get a designated airplane seat, as there will already be several people sitting on the deck and you might not be able to find a seat. There are business and cabin options too.
If you want to travel from Naxos to Santorini with the Blue Star Ferries in 2019, you will be boarding the Blue Star Delos or Blue Star Patmos. This is their website www.bluestarferries.com
Getting from Naxos to Santorini on the Hellenic SeaJet ferries
If time is your main issue, you can choose to travel on any of the SeaJet boats. Both the World Champion Jet and the Champion Jet 2 are large high-speed ferries, able to carry passengers as well as cars.
The SeaJets will take you from Naxos to Santorini in 1-1.5 hours, but their base fare costs 43 euro, or almost doubles if you want a VIP seat.
If you are on a very tight budget, or just love boats and want to check out different ports, you could go with this choice – at 13.30 euros it’s a steal, but it takes just under 6 hours to get from Naxos to Santorini!
This boat would be one of your few options if you wanted to visit some of the least visited islands, like Sikinos or Thirassia.
Check out the SeaJet boats here https://www.seajets.gr/learn-about-seajets/fleet
Getting from Naxos to Santorini on the Golden Star ferries
The Golden Star ferries are another company, operating two boats from Naxos to Santorini, called Superrunner and Supercat.
Standard tickets for the Superrunner cost 30 euro, and you will be in Santorini in 2 hours, while the Supercat is slightly faster but costs 39 euros.
Note that the Supercat is a smaller boat with no vehicle capacity, therefore if the weather gets too windy you might find it uncomfortable.
You can check the Golden Star Ferries here https://goldenstarferries.gr/en/our-fleet/
Buying boat tickets from Naxos to Santorini – Which company to choose?
This is entirely up to you, as all these ferries are fine, though you might want to stick to bigger ferries that are more stable.
I would personally go for one of the Blue Star Ferries boats, as the trip isn’t really very long, and the price is significantly lower than the SeaJets.
You should be able to get tickets even last minute for many of these boats, though for some times of the year (e.g. the weeks around 1-20th of August, when most Greeks go on holiday), it is best to book them in advance.
Like with any boat trip in Greece, if you have booked your hotels already, it’s a good idea to book the boats as well.
Traveling to other Greek Islands?
If you are planning to travel to some of the other islands in Greece, these other guides may be useful.
- Athens Santorini Mykonos Itinerary
- How to get from Athens to Santorini
- How to get from Athens to Mykonos
- How to get from Mykonos to Santorini
- How to get from Piraeus to Athens
- Santorini 1 day itinerary
Pin this guide on how to get from Naxos to Santorini for later
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Have you been to both Santorini and Naxos? Which one did you prefer? Let us know in the comments!
Lesley says
Dave – Your travel posts have been super helpful in working on our trip plans. I will be traveling from Santorini to Naxos at the end of May 2020 So the reverse order of your travel page. I will be traveling with 2 US college students will their student IDs offer any discounts? I’ll look at Blue Star Ferries as you recommend that in your travel page. I have read other travel posts that say ferry prices go up as you get closer to departure so booking in advance is advisable.
Dave Briggs says
Hi Lesley,
Glad you’ve found these guides useful so far!
For their student ID’s, they may need ISIC cards (if their id’s say this on them, it should be fine).
If they don’t say ISIC on them, you may be able to get ISIC cards online through STA Travel. You’d just need to do the math to see if applying for the card still makes the ferry tickets cheaper.
For booking ferries, you can also use Ferryhopper which which will give you a good idea of times. As we’re still relatively early in the year, not all the routes may be up.
Because you are traveling in May, I wouldn’t expect tickets to rise by very much if at all – so you could leave booking until a month before without it making much difference.
The only exception is if you are traveling with a car, as you’d be wanting to guarantee your space.
Have a great time in Greece!
Morgan block says
Hey, do you know if there are boats that leave from Naxos to Santorini in May of 2020? I could not find any ferry’s that show on Monday May 25th, 2020. I couldnt find anything in June for reference either (Naxos to Santorini) and I thought maybe their schedules are not out yet? Do boats leave from Naxos to Santorini in May on Mondays or Tuesdays?
Dave Briggs says
Hi,
I hope you had a great weekend!
The schedules for next year are most likely not released yet. (Maybe not for several months in fact!).
They are running right now on Mondays (in October), so it’s most likely they will be running next year on Monday’s as well…. but don’t hold me to that!