Santorini Kayak Tour

A Santorini kayak tour explores the south coast of Santorini by sea kayak. Small groups paddle past volcanic cliffs, sea caves and coloured beaches. It is one of the paddling trips in Greece on Greece VIP.

This post covers what a Santorini kayak tour includes, where it starts and the caves and coves it reaches. It also covers the volcanic rocks, sea life and safety for beginners. Snorkeling, the best season and common questions come last.

Each section ends with a Santorini kayak tour or sea trip that can be booked online.

What does a Santorini kayak tour include?

A Santorini kayak tour centres on the kayak, the paddle and the open sea. A tour leader sets a route along the outer shores of the island. Official records rate the ecological status of that stretch of coastal water as High.

The coast of the island runs about 36 nautical miles in all. It holds six bays, among them Ammoudi, Armeni, Mouzaki and Athinios. A Santorini kayak tour covers only a short part of that long shoreline.

The municipal website of the island lists kayaking among its water sports. Snorkeling, jet skiing and SUP, short for stand-up paddleboarding, share that list. A Santorini kayak tour pairs well with snorkeling trips on Santorini.

The same website calls the southeast coast ideal for sail and kite sports. Both sports need wind, and wind also shapes the sea for paddlers. A Santorini kayak tour therefore plans each route around the day’s wind.

Rock colour is part of the view from a Santorini kayak tour. On the Kameni islands, the colour of lava depends on how fast it cooled. Black lava cooled very quickly, so it holds a high share of volcanic glass.

The paddle on a Santorini kayak tour is not an oar. A paddler holds and carries the whole paddle. An oar, by contrast, rests on the boat in oarlocks.

A paddle for a Santorini kayak tour can come in two pieces that snap together. The pieces lock in a feathered or an unfeathered setting. Feathered means the blades sit at an angle to each other.

• Rudder: A rudder hangs at the stern, or back end, and foot pedals steer it.
• Skeg: This straight blade drops from the stern and can pull back up.
• Rocker: This front-to-back curve of the hull sets how easily a kayak turns.
• Blade colour: Powerboat drivers can spot white or yellow blades more easily than black or blue ones.

Sit-on-top kayaks come in versions for one to four paddlers. Their open seat area drains itself through scupper holes, which pass through the boat. Water that gets inside the hull, though, does not drain out on its own.

Where does a Santorini kayak tour start on the island?

A Santorini kayak tour starts from a beach on the south or east coast. Beaches at Kamari, Perissa, Vlychada and Monolithos give paddlers room to carry a kayak to the water. Each beach has its own depth and sea floor.

Kamari is an east-facing start point for a Santorini kayak tour. Its beach stretches 4,800 m and averages 30 m wide. It lies 12 km from the port and 4 km from the airport.

At Kamari the water turns deep within the first metres. The 5 m depth line lies about 70 m from the shore. A Santorini kayak tour that starts here meets deep water right away.

In ancient times, Kamari was the harbour of Ancient Thera, under the name Oia. The ruins of that old town now lie in the sea. A Santorini kayak tour from Kamari leaves from that old harbour shore.

The hill between Kamari and Perissa is Mesa Vouno. Vouno is Greek for mountain. Its old name was the mountain of Agios Stefanos, or Saint Stephen. That name came from its early Christian church.

Perissa beach runs 1,500 m, is 40 m wide and faces south-east. It forms part of an open bay 4,300 m long. A Santorini kayak tour there launches from fine, jet-black sand.

The sea floor at Perissa drops steeply. Arms of natural boulders guard it against erosion, the slow loss of sand. Along the same bay, the beach of Agios Georgios runs 1,800 m.

• Vlychada: This south-facing beach is 750 m long and 20 m wide, with sand and pebbles.
• Gentle slope: The sea floor at Vlychada slopes gently, so shallow water reaches far out.
• Marina: South of Vlychada beach, a long breakwater shelters a fishing refuge and a marina.
• Monolithos: This 270 m beach lies 700 m from the airport, with a breakwater at each end.

The water at Monolithos stays shallow at first, close to the shore. A Santorini kayak tour from there lets beginners find their balance in shallow water.

Which sea caves and coves does a Santorini kayak tour reach?

A Santorini kayak tour reaches the coves and sea caves of the Akrotiri cape. Red Beach, White Beach and Mesa Pigadia lie along this rocky shore. White Beach can be reached only from the sea, so a kayak suits it well.

Akrotiri is Greek for cape, and the village stands 120 m above sea level. Its cape juts 3 miles west from the south of the island. A Santorini kayak tour follows its steep coasts.

From a Santorini kayak tour, the cliff above Red Beach looms close. That cliff is made mainly of scoria cones. A scoria cone is a steep heap of loose volcanic bits. The bits pile up around one opening in the ground.

Its slopes dip at up to 80 degrees and rise up to 60 m. Rockfalls feed new material to the beach, while the sea wears it away. Work to stop the rockfalls risks upsetting that balance and the beach itself.

Mesa Pigadia is a seaside spot on the south side of the Akrotiri area. Its name holds pigadia, the Greek word for wells. On land, a dirt road leads down to it. A Santorini kayak tour reaches it from the water instead.

Balos, also called Palos, lies on the caldera side. The caldera is the sunken bowl left by the volcano. This small cove sits north-west of Akrotiri village. In the 19th century, it was the port for the produce of the area.

Nuns once lived in caves in the caldera walls at Balos. The central cave held a church of the Holy Trinity, cut into the rock. Beside the little harbour, the chapel of Agios Nikolaos, or Saint Nicholas, stands on the rocks.

• Exposure: Sea caves whose mouths face the main swell grow larger than caves in sheltered bays.
• Shape: A sea cave tends to be a single passage or chamber.
• Faults: Caves cut along faults, or cracks in the rock, run straight like canyons.
• Extra entrances: Caves with more than one entrance take more wave action, so they can grow faster.

The Akrotiri lighthouse stands 18 km from Fira. It sits on the sea route between Piraeus and Alexandria. It first burned oil and shone 23 nautical miles out. After 1945, a crew of four men ran it, with one flash every 30 seconds.

What volcanic rocks does a Santorini kayak tour paddle past?

A Santorini kayak tour paddles past cliffs of tuff, scoria, pumice and ignimbrite. The island has had more than 100 eruptions in the last 400,000 years. Each eruption left a new band of stone, so the cliffs show the story layer by layer.

Tuff is rock made from volcanic ash. A rock counts as tuff when more than 75% of it is ash. On a Santorini kayak tour, these ash layers form bands in the cliffs.

Scoria is a dark volcanic rock full of gas bubbles. Its colour runs from brown and black to purplish-red. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word skōría, which means rust.

Two rocks on a Santorini kayak tour act in opposite ways. Scoria tends to sink, but pumice floats for years. Tiny crystals of magnetite, a black iron oxide, turn certain pumice dark.

A Santorini kayak tour also passes lapilli, a word that means little stones. These volcanic bits measure 2 to 64 mm across. Bigger lumps are volcanic bombs or blocks, and smaller grains count as ash.

Ignimbrite forms from pyroclastic flows, fast clouds of hot gas and rock. Its name joins the Latin words for fire and rain. This rock can be white, grey, pink, beige, brown or black.

Small volcanoes were once active at Akrotiri, Balos and Red Beach. Meanwhile, the Peristeriou shield volcano grew between Thirassia and northern Thira. A shield volcano is a wide, low cone built by runny lava.

• Minoan eruption: Its first phase threw out 14 to 21 cubic kilometres of magma, about half the total.
• Volcano path: A deep crack, or tectonic line, from the Christiana islets to Amorgos controls where volcanoes form.
• Old base: Old non-volcanic blueschist lies beneath, at the southern tip of the Cycladic blueschist belt.
• Building ash: Santorin earth is a volcanic ash that sets like cement with lime and water.

Each cliff on a Santorini kayak tour records slow change. Major eruptions here come about every 20,000 years. Only a small share of their ash settles on the island as a new layer.

What sea life does a Santorini kayak tour meet?

A Santorini kayak tour can meet seabirds, surface fish, jellyfish and dolphins. Paddlers sit low at the waterline, so they see this upper world up close. The deep caldera floor, the sunken heart of the volcano, keeps its own strange life out of sight.

On a Santorini kayak tour, a fast falcon over the cliffs can be Eleonora’s falcon. It takes its name from Eleanor of Arborea, a ruler of Sardinia. In 1392 she became the first to protect hawk and falcon nests by law.

This falcon breeds in late summer. Its chicks then feed on small birds that migrate across the islands. It winters in Madagascar, a flight of up to 9,000 km.

A Santorini kayak tour can also pass the yelkouan shearwater, a seabird. Its name is a Turkish word for wind chaser. It visits its burrow nest only at night, to keep away from large gulls.

Audouin’s gull has a short, stubby red bill and grey-green legs. In the late 1960s only 1,000 pairs were left. Today it numbers about 10,000 pairs.

Garfish swim near the surface, close to a Santorini kayak tour. They grow to about 50 to 75 cm and have green bones. The yellowmouth barracuda forms summer schools of up to 200 fish where currents run strong.

The fried egg jellyfish reaches 40 cm across. Adults are common from July to November. Their sting has little or no effect on paddlers of a Santorini kayak tour.

• Mediterranean monk seal: It feeds as deep as 250 metres and lifts rock slabs to find prey.
• Risso’s dolphin: At 300 to 500 kg, it is the largest species called a dolphin.
• Striped dolphin: In the early 1990s a virus killed these dolphins and spread to the Aegean Sea.
• Silver-cheeked toadfish: It is very poisonous to eat, since its toxin, tetrodotoxin, can stop breathing.

On the caldera floor near Oia lie white pools 1 to 5 m across. Named Kallisti Limnes, they are rich in carbon dioxide gas. Their acid water holds no shell-building creatures, far below any Santorini kayak tour.

How safe is a Santorini kayak tour for beginners?

A Santorini kayak tour suits beginners best on a calm sea, with a buoyancy aid on every paddler. The real risks are a sudden fall into cold water, rising wind and harsh sun glare. Clear hand signals keep the group in touch on the water.

On a Santorini kayak tour, the boats tip over, or capsize, more easily than bigger craft. They can also swamp, which means they fill with water. Airtight spaces or foam inside the boat help a kayak stay afloat.

After a capsize on a Santorini kayak tour, a paddler stays beside the kayak. A person next to a boat is easier for rescuers to find. A life jacket can serve as a paddle float, a support for climbing back in.

Kayak buoyancy aids hold foam, not air, so they cannot burst. In the European Union, each one must be CE tested and approved. Its label lists chest size, weight range and lifting force.

A fall into cold water during a Santorini kayak tour sets off cold shock. The body gasps, breathes faster and struggles to hold its breath. If the head is under water, that gasp can lead to drowning.

Hypothermia means the core body temperature drops below 35.0 °C. Mild cases bring shivering and confusion, and in moderate cases shivering stops. Alcohol before a Santorini kayak tour raises the risk, as a person feels warm while losing heat.

The Beaufort scale rates wind strength from Force 0 upward. At Force 0 the sea lies flat like a mirror. Force 6, a strong breeze of 39–49 km/h, builds large waves with white foam crests.

• Stop: The paddler stretches both arms out sideways or pumps a level paddle up and down.
• Help: Three long whistle blasts go with arms waved in a cross overhead.
• All okay: A pat on top of the head, elbow out, both asks and answers.
• Distress at sea: Slowly raising and lowering both outstretched arms signals distress worldwide.

Sun glare is a quieter risk on a Santorini kayak tour. Strong light off the water can burn the cornea, the clear front of the eye. This burn, called photokeratitis, brings pain, tears, eyelid twitching and discomfort in bright light.

How does a Santorini kayak tour add snorkeling?

A Santorini kayak tour adds snorkeling by stopping the kayaks in calm, clear water near the shore. Paddlers swim out with a mask, a snorkel tube and fins. The mask gives clear sight under water, and the fins push the body forward with little effort.

On a Santorini kayak tour, the mask matters first. Water and the clear front of the eye, the cornea, share a refractive index of about 1.33. That light-bending score makes the eye lose focus under water. The air inside a mask brings the focus back.

The word snorkel comes from the German Schnorchel. That air pipe let World War II U-boats, German submarines, run diesel engines just under the surface. On a Santorini kayak tour, the tube lets a swimmer breathe face down.

A snorkel tube has a weak point called dead space. Part of each breath out stays in the tube and comes back on the next breath in. Deeper breaths reduce this effect.

Modern swimfins were invented by Louis de Corlieu, a French navy officer. He showed his first test model to navy officers in 1914. The first full-foot fin, the Rondine, followed in 1948. Luigi Ferraro designed it with an Italian firm. Its name is the Italian word for swallow.

In theory, fully pure water allows a view of 74 m. In clear water, fluorescent orange is the easiest colour to see up close. Fluorescent green or yellow-green shows best at long range. Bright gear keeps swimmers easy to spot on a Santorini kayak tour and on boat tours around Santorini.

• Snakelocks anemone: Its green tentacles with purple tips glow from a green fluorescent protein.
• Spotted sea hare: This Mediterranean sea slug grows up to 20 cm, with feelers like rabbit ears.
• Two-banded seabream: This grey-green fish has a dark band behind the head and one around the tail.
• Peacock’s tail: This brown seaweed, up to 10 cm across, has fan-shaped blades with olive and brown bands.

After a day on a Santorini kayak tour, the mask gets a rinse in fresh water. It then dries out of direct sunlight. Ultraviolet light breaks down the skirt, the soft seal on the face, and the frame.

When is the best season for a Santorini kayak tour?

A Santorini kayak tour suits the warm half of the year. In that season, the air and the sea both hold their heat. Midsummer brings the hottest days and the warmest nights. Spring and autumn give milder heat. A strong summer wind can also make the sea rough.

Weather data for a Santorini kayak tour come from a station of the National Observatory of Athens. It stands 183 m above sea level, with monthly records from July 2013. July has a mean temperature of 26.7 °C, counting day and night.

In August, the mean temperature reaches 26.8 °C. Nights stay warm too, with a mean daily low of 23.5 °C. In June the mean daily low is already 21.0 °C. That month also holds a heat record of 38.7 °C.

Late spring brings cooler days for a Santorini kayak tour. In the month before June, the mean daily low is 16.9 °C. Rain in that month totals only 8.2 mm. Its records run from a low of 12.8 °C to a high of 35.3 °C.

Sea records from 8 Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service stations, Thira among them, cover the years 1965 to 1995. Thira is the Greek name for Santorini. The warm sea period begins on 28 April at the earliest stations. It ends between 27 October and 19 November.

Santorini lies at 36°24′ north, between the 36th and 37th parallels. On the 36th parallel, the sun is up for 14 hours 36 minutes on the longest day. On the 37th, the figure is 14 hours 42 minutes.

• Wind speed: The summer meltemi, or Etesian wind, can top 15 metres per second over the Aegean Sea.
• Wind cause: Air flows from high pressure over central Europe and the Balkans to low pressure over Anatolia.
• Calmer summers: In 2014, more blocking, a stuck weather pattern over Europe, made the meltemi less frequent.

For a Santorini kayak tour, the best season balances warm water with a gentle wind. Paddlers who dislike strong heat pick the edges of the season, when the sun feels milder.

What do travelers ask about a Santorini kayak tour?

A Santorini kayak tour raises practical questions before the day starts. Travelers ask where planes land and how local buses work. They also ask how well to swim and how to keep a phone dry. Others ask how to lift a kayak safely.

Which airport serves a Santorini kayak tour?

Travelers flying in land at the airport with the IATA code JTR. Its second code, LGSR, comes from ICAO, the United Nations aviation agency. A redesigned apron, the parking area for planes, lets the airport serve up to nine airliners at once.

Which bus network serves a Santorini kayak tour?

Public buses on Santorini run under KTEL Thiras. KTEL is the main intercity public bus service of Greece. Its name comes from Greek words for Joint Bus Proceeds Fund. Founded in 1952, it unites 62 regional bus companies. Each company takes the name of the area it serves.

What swimming skills help on a Santorini kayak tour?

Treading water helps on a Santorini kayak tour. It keeps the head above the surface in an upright position. It uses less energy than swimming strokes, so a swimmer can rest without leaving the water. Lifeguards favour the eggbeater kick, a circling leg action that leaves both hands free.

Can a phone go on a Santorini kayak tour?

IPX8, a water-resistance rating, lets a phone on a Santorini kayak tour stay under water beyond 1 m. The common limit is 3 m. Over-under photos show half the scene above the surface and half below. Drops on the camera window blur these photos, so a soft chamois cloth wipes it above water.

How do paddlers avoid lifting injuries on a Santorini kayak tour?

Lifting or carrying a kayak alone, or the wrong way, is a major cause of kayaking injuries. On a Santorini kayak tour, sharing the load helps prevent them. Folding kayaks weigh a third to a half less than hard kayaks of similar size.

Featured photo: theilr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.