Gialos Harbour (Symi)

36° 37.0′ N · 27° 50.2′ E

Arguably the most beautiful harbour in Greece. A deep natural inlet is ringed by an amphitheatre of ochre, salmon and pale-blue neoclassical mansions, built when Symi's sponge and shipbuilding fleets were among the richest in the Aegean, with a clock tower at the entrance. When the afternoon ferries leave, the quay belongs to the yachts.

Dodecanese

Practical

Call the Harbour Office on VHF 12 for a berth, or berth where the harbour master directs with whistles and hand signals. Stern-to on the quays. Sailing Issues (June 2024): red mooring buoys form a lazy-line system, so mind your prop and bow-thruster and attach your own mooring line; electricity and water pillars are installed but had no power. Grecosailor: bring a 20 m line plus a 4 m bow line for the buoy; staff help with mooring. Depths are considerable, in places over 20 m. Mud and rock bottom, holding poor to good: test your anchor. Noonsite: a chain runs parallel to the harbour wall about 40 m off at the last slot on the starboard side before the fishing boats, so do not moor there. Shelter is all-round except in NE winds (winter months) and prolonged southerlies, which build an unpleasant swell. Strong W–NW gusts come down the hills. Many ferries and gulets come and go, causing wash, so keep well off the quay. Big motor yachts and gulets go near the entrance, sailing boats and smaller yachts further in. The day-tripper quay frees up after about 4 pm. Fees: the line-handlers are harbour-authority staff collecting the legal overnight mooring fee, separate from the port police charge, and Symi collects more strictly than most. A Noonsite letter reports €16 total for a night and a 2012 report €6 a night port police (both old; verify locally). Agents are widely used for berths in July–August. Grecosailor phones: +30 22460 71205, +30 694 484 2284.

Best for

The showpiece harbour of the Dodecanese

Season

Year-round; crowded July–August; exposed to NE in winter and swell in prolonged southerlies

Practical

Best for

Season

Nearby