Thirassia by boat, from Santorini
Thirassia is 9.3 km² with 249 residents at the 2021 census. Korfos is its harbour. Only the ten-hour private cruise has time to put you on the quay.
€2,400 covers 10, then €100 each · 10:30 - 20:30 · The whole boat
Thirassia is the piece of the caldera rim that broke away from Santorini in the eruption. Boats land at Korfos, a small harbour with tavernas at the water. On our five-hour cruises it stays a shape across the caldera; only the ten-hour private cruise crosses and puts you ashore.
Same eruption, same cliff, other side of the water. Thirassia is 9.3 km² and 249 people at the 2021 census, and almost everyone who sees it sees it from a boat.
Which of our cruises reach Thirassia
| Cruise | Reaches Thirassia | How long you get |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-private day | No — seen across the water | The loop turns for home at the Fira panorama, with the far rim a shape to the west. |
| Private day | No | Five hours holds the loop. If Korfos matters, the full day is the answer. |
| Full-day private | Yes, a stop from around 15:45 | About an hour and a half. Swim off the boat, or go ashore for a coffee. |
| Semi-private sunset | No | This one works the south coast and holds off Akrotiri for the sun. |
| Private sunset | No | It sails the same loop into the evening and takes the sun off the lighthouse. |
| RIB tour | Yes, by arrangement | A taverna lunch at Korfos, sitting down. Private, priced by route. |
Nothing above is fixed. The captain sets the route on the morning, and the far rim needs flatter water than the south coast.
What a stop at Korfos involves
The harbour. A strip of waterfront at the foot of the rim, with most of the island’s seven or so tavernas on it. It is a working harbour, not an open anchorage, so this is the one stop where you step onto a quay.
The swimming. Small stone platforms along the front, deep clear water, rock underfoot rather than sand.
The steps. A stone zigzag climbs to Manolas. Counts disagree — 270, 214 and about 200 all appear in print — so we say a couple of hundred. Steep, uneven, no shade. Mules can be hired for it.
Manolas. The capital, 140 people at the 2021 census, on the rim directly opposite Santorini. From up there you look back at the cliffs of Fira and Imerovigli.
What a boat stop is not
An hour and a half buys a swim and a taverna table, or the climb. Not both, and not the island.
If Thirassia itself is the point of the day, take a ferry rather than a cruise. Boats cross from Ammoudi in about twenty minutes, three or four times a day in season.
Facilities are minimal next to Santorini and the paths are gravelly. Wear something on your feet that is not a flip-flop, and carry water if you are going up.
Want the far rim, not a glimpse of it?
Send a date and a number of guests. We will tell you plainly whether that day has room for Thirassia in it.
Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888
Common questions
How do you get to Thirassia from Santorini?
Small ferries and caiques cross from Ammoudi at Oia in about twenty minutes, three or four times a day in season. Car ferries run from Athinios. Or you take a cruise that calls there, which for us means the ten-hour private cruise or the RIB.
Do the five-hour cruises stop on Thirassia?
No. Five hours holds the loop — the beaches, the crater swim and the Fira panorama — and turns for home under the towns. Landing needs the ten-hour private cruise, or a private RIB built around it.
How many steps go up from Korfos to Manolas?
Nobody agrees. Published counts include 270, 214 and about 200, so we say a couple of hundred and leave it there. It is a stone zigzag up the face of the rim, steep and unshaded. Allow twenty minutes.
Is Thirassia worth a stop?
If you want the caldera rim as it was before the hotels, yes. One harbour, a handful of tavernas, 249 residents. If you want beaches, shops or a museum, no. An hour and a half is honest: lunch or the climb, not both.
Santorini Boat Tour - Water Taxi is a catamaran cruise and water taxi operator based in Fira, Santorini.
Updated August 2026