• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • My Account
  • Cart
  • Contact Us
    • Shipping Policy
    • Refunds and Returns
    • Terms & conditions

Sailing Britican

Learn to Sail with Confidence

TwitterYoutubeFacebookLinkedinPinterestInstagram
  • Home
  • Get Sailing Experience
  • Delivery Assistance
  • Sailing Books
  • Sailing How To’s
    • Buying A Boat
    • Checklists
    • CopperCoat
    • Destinations
      • Atlantic Crossing
      • Bahamas
      • Bermuda
      • Caribbean
      • Florida
      • Mediterranean
    • Electrical Systems
    • Getting Started
    • Safety
    • Kids On A Boat
    • Life Aboard
    • Maintenance
    • Major Upgrades
    • Making An Income
    • Marina Life
    • Our Journey
    • Organization & Cleaning
    • Passage Planning
    • Sailing Gear
    • Sailing, Maneuvering, & Mooring
    • VHF
  • Sailing Gear

The Greek Island of Symi Is Amazing!

A magically special and delightful place to sail into. Symi is a must-stop sailing destination…but aren’t all the places we go must-stop 🙂

Greek Island of Symi

The Greek Island of Symi was named after Poseidon’s wife, Symi and has a history spanning a millennia.

After a stay in Kos Marina and before heading west back to Sicily for the winter, my husband, Simon, and I sailed our sailboat to Symi Island. Aside from our 4-year-old daughter, we also had an 11-year-old guest with us (Tanna pictured below)!

Symi

Two weeks previously we ran into sailboat, ‘Why Knot?!’ and cruised around with owners Garth and Elaine, there two lovely girls and their three additional guests. For the full two weeks either our daughter sailed with ‘Why Knot?!’ or the one or both of the two girls sailed with us.

On two occasions Simon and I sailed our boat alone – no child on board!

What an experience. We sat back, soaked up the sun, enjoyed the quiet waves hitting the hull, and listened to the wind fill the sails. There was an absence of, ‘Mom, can you get me something to eat,’ ‘Mom, can you play with me,’ ‘Mom, mom, mom!’

Our quiet voyages felt like mini-vacations and we were so thankful to have alone time.

Most couples can get a family member or babysitter to look after the children but when you’re living on the sea the chances for alone time don’t come often!

That being said, I missed our daughter and couldn’t wait to hug her when we all finally moored up. Not surprisingly, my daughter didn’t even raise her head when we went by – she was way too busy having fun with the girls.

Sausage Pasta Bake

There were sleepovers and when possible we moored next to each other so the girls could jump back and forth between the boats.

Every evening we all met up and enjoyed dinner together. We either went to a restaurant or took turns cooking dishes.

On our lovely sail to Symi, we had Tanna with us. Aside from taking in the amazing sights, Simon decided to race Garth. His excitement over passing ‘Why Knot?!’ was so funny.

What is it about men having to race any other boat in sight?

After our little race (that Garth knew nothing about!) we couldn’t believe our eyes when ‘Why Knot?!’ pulled a tuna out of the water from their fishing line. It was huge! Excitedly we all started to envision tasting sushi and tuna steaks and tuna kebobs.

Eventually, we entered Symi harbor.

Mooring up in Symi is stressful and you’ll need to arrive around 10 – 11 am to get a place along the hard.

We called the harbormaster who told us to proceed into the harbor. There were boats already in the harbor waiting for instructions and many behind us coming in. Furthermore, there were large and small ferries and pleasure cruisers surrounding us. Top that off with a bunch of charter boats and it makes for an interesting time.

Symi

The harbormaster seemed nowhere to be found and people were just coming in and going stern-to to the hard.

We eventually dropped our anchor and started to back up to the hard. We felt that if we didn’t grab a spot there wouldn’t be one for long.

As we backed up a local shop attendant took our lines and it didn’t take long to secure the boat. The town was heaving with people. There was a massive ferry along the side and day-trippers by the hundreds were getting off.

We got ourselves settled and then quickly went a couple of boats down to see the tuna fish aboard ‘Why Knot?!’

Kos Marina

After we all got a glimpse Garth and Elaine said that they were going to go around and ask some local restaurants if they’d prepare the fish for us – to gut, clean, and cook it.

The girls all went to the end of the road to look at the horse-pulled wagon and Simon and I took our paperwork to the port authority.

Note: if you moor up on the right side of the harbor, where we did, you have a good 15-minute walk to the other side to visit the port authority. Let it be known that it’s quite a hike!

In the late afternoon, we all met up to discuss dinner plans.

Apparently, the restaurants wanted to charge 200 euros to prepare the fish for us. I made the comment that we should just do it ourselves. None of us knew how to clean and gut a tuna but that’s what YouTube is for – isn’t it?

Greek Island of Symi

Garth watched a YouTube video, I grabbed our massive cutting board and Elaine bought a newspaper to put over the table before we started cleaning the tuna. There were nine of us all huddled around the table on the aft deck of ‘Why Knot?!’ and passers-by stopped to take a look.

I must say that Garth did a brilliant job – he cut up the tuna and later that evening we all enjoyed plate after plate of tuna.

In the end, the tuna was large enough to provide three meals!

Greek Island of Symi

The following day, the girls played together and Simon and I walked around a bit.

Symi is like no other Greek Island. The town is built on the side of a mountain that meets the sea. There are windmills and a monastery at the top and very colorful homes dotted around the harbor.

There are loads of restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries, grocery stores, and tourist shops.

There’s a little beach that has a restaurant next to it and of course, there’s a little tourist train to show you the whole area if you’re not up for walking around.

Greek Island of Symi

Greek Island of Symi

Greek Island of Symi

Greek Island of Symi

During the day the town gets extremely busy. There are loads of day-trippers from Rhodes and there’s never an empty space along the hard afternoon. Symi fills up quickly.

Being famous for sponges, I asked Simon to grab me a sponge for the shower before we left.

I don’t think I ever had a real sponge before. Well, I’m very pleased with Simon’s selection as it’s the best sponge I’ve ever had.

Greek Island of Symi

Furthermore, the purchase sparked my daughter’s interest in sponges. We later spent half the day learning about sponges. We both wondered how they ate if they moved around and Sienna wanted to know where their eyes were!

I went online and found some early learning materials on sponges and we had a great time coloring them in and labeling the various parts of the sponge.

Sadly, Symi is where Britican had to say goodbye to ‘Why Knot?!’

Symi

We all felt teary-eyed as our friends left Symi to reach their final destination for the summer. ‘Why Knot?!’ was scheduled to get pulled out in Turkey for winter and the family had to go back home to South Africa. (I think Sienna wanted to go with them rather than stay with us!)

Sim, Sienna, and I stayed an extra day in Symi waiting for good winds.

We went for a walk, got some groceries, went out the eat, and soaked up as much of Symi as we could. After spending two weeks with ‘Why Knot?!’ we all felt a bit lost without them. Essentially, we moped around for the day.

So…Symi is a great destination.

I highly recommend a visit but make sure to get into the harbor early. I’ve been told that weekdays are not as busy as weekends and if you want a quieter night, try to moor on the right side rather than the left.

Check Out Some Areas other than Delos Greece & The Mediterranian

If you’d like a breakdown of all the places we’ve visited while sailing the Mediterranean please read our destination overview: Sailing The Mediterranean. Otherwise, check out more posts about our time spent in Greece.

  • The Greek Ionian Islands
  • Corinth Canal
  • Delphi
  • Poros Greece
  • Kos Marina
  • Sailing Around Kos
Share
Pin9
Tweet5
WhatsApp
Print
Email
14 Shares

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Olivia Frank says

    October 21, 2014 at 4:49 pm

    I love everything about this! From the “mini vacation” to sponges to the men racing other boats, super fun. Sail on guys. Much love from Miami!

    Reply
    • Kim Brown says

      October 22, 2014 at 11:27 am

      Olivia – thank you for comments 🙂 I took a quick peak at your website and it looks amazing. In a few days I’ll have a bit more time to properly look through it. Big smiles, Kim

      Reply
  2. Lesley says

    October 21, 2014 at 11:07 pm

    It all looks so beautiful 🙂

    Reply
  3. Lesley says

    October 21, 2014 at 11:08 pm

    Also, I’d never thought about sponges and how they live, etc – thanks for the prompt – shall go and look up some resources for my two.

    Reply
    • Kim Brown says

      October 22, 2014 at 11:29 am

      Thank you for your comments Lesley! Yeah – I never thought that much about sponges either. In Google I did a search on ‘learning about sponges for children’ and found some great worksheets and easy to understand explanations. I also realised that there are quite a few different varieties. Always learning – eh?!?!?

      Reply
  4. Elliot Vardis says

    August 7, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    Hi Kim,
    I read with interest all your comments about my ancestral island. My Grandfather damaged his hearing diving for sponges in the Symian waters when he eventually migrated to Alexandria and embarked on merchant ships.In 2010, I spent a total of 2.5 hours walking around the picturesque harbour with my wife, having arrived there on a cruise ship. I swore to return and stay for a while in order to learn about my ancestors who derive from both Symi and the island of Kassos.Thank you for the journey to this beautiful island and its lovely people.

    Reply
    • Kim Brown says

      August 7, 2015 at 5:09 pm

      Thank you Elliot for writing a comment… We spent 2 or 3 days there and just stayed in the harbor…I would have loved to have rented a scooter and toured the whole island – perhaps on our next circumnavigation of the Med?!?!? You must return 🙂 Big smiles, Kim

      Reply

Leave a Comment Cancel

sidebar

Page Sidebar

Mediterranean Passages & Destinations

  • Sailing in the Mediterranean
    • Sailing Mallorca To Gibraltar
    • Sailing Malta to Sicily
    • Sicily – An Overview
      • 12 Day Trips In Sicily
      • Sailing to Catania
      • Taormina Bay Anchorage
      • Stromboli Volcano Anchorage
      • Marina Di Ragusa Review
      • Riposto Marina Review
      • Salina Island Marina Review
    • Sailing Sicily to Corfu Via Mainland Italy
    • Greece Versus Italy
    • Sailing Southern Italy
    • Wintering In The Med
    • Sailing The Greek Ionian Islands – Where To Go!?
      • Corfu
      • Corfu Town
      • Fiskardo Kefalonia
      • The Lefkas Canal
      • Nisis Atoko
      • Port Kastos
    • Corinth Canal
    • Delphi
    • Olympia
    • Poros
    • Hydra
    • Delos
    • Kos Marina
    • Sailing Itinerary Around Kos
    • Symi
    • Exploring Crete
      • Agios Nikolaos, Gournia, Mochlos and Vai Beach
      • Knossos, Aqua Park and Elounda
      • Spinalonga Island
      • Bali
      • Rythemno
      • Agia Galini, Gortys and the Amari Valley
      • Chania
      • Agios Nikolaos Marina
      • Rethymno Marina Review
    • Santorini
    • Monemvasia
    • Methoni
    • Sailing Greece To Sicily
    • Bonifacio Corsica
    • Sailing around Minorca
  • Atlantic Crossing
  • Caribbean Sailing
  • Bahamas
  • Bermuda
  • Florida
  • Malta
  • Grand Harbour Marina

Britican Experience

The Britican Experience

Footer

Contact Sailing Britican

We help people find adventure and freedom by becoming sailing cruisers. If you would like to get in touch or having any questions, call or email us!
WhatsApp: +1 910 403 3067 Email: info@SailingBritican.com

Sailing Guides Payment Info

We accept PayPal and all major credit cards including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB Diners Club, credit and debit cards. Transactions are performed via a SSL server to ensure your safety.

Credit-Cards

Sailing On Social Media

TwitterYoutubeFacebookLinkedinPinterestInstagram

Statements

  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Statement
  • Refund and Returns Policy

Site Developed by Gary Fox

Sailing Britican, All Rights Reserved

Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Preferences
{title} {title} {title}