A Kos 3 island cruise is a full-day boat trip from Kos to three islands of the Dodecanese. You sail, swim and eat on board. This post covers the ports, the three islands, the meal, the weather and the booking rules. The homepage lists more Greece Tours like this one.
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What is a Kos 3 island cruise and who books it?
A Kos 3 island cruise is a full-day boat trip that starts and ends on Kos. The boat stops at Pserimos, Plati and Kalymnos. Families, couples and friends travelling together book it. The boat and the extras change from one format to the next.
A Kos 3 island cruise follows a loop. The boat leaves Kos and calls at Pserimos, Plati and Kalymnos. It comes back to Kos on the same day. The route has one stop at each island. On the wooden vessel, that stop is either a swim or a chance to explore ashore.
If you plan to cross into Turkey as well, the homepage also lists Turkey tours.
The boat behind a Kos 3 island cruise changes with the format. One format sails on a wooden vessel that measures 24 metres. Another is sold as a sailing tour. Both visit Pserimos, Plati and Kalymnos. Two other boats work the same waters on smaller trips: a catamaran and a diving boat.
The catamaran trip sails from Kos to Pserimos alone, then returns to Kos. It anchors in two secluded bays. The crew either sails or runs the engine, depending on the weather and the wind. The diving boat is 25 metres long and runs a half-day snorkelling cruise to Pserimos.
Group size changes the feel of a Kos 3 island cruise. The sailing tour is a group day trip with a lively, social mood. The catamaran trip is pitched at a small, friendly group, with honeymooners and couples in mind. The diving boat trip is pitched at families, beginners and small groups.
A private trip is a smaller cousin of the Kos 3 island cruise. One private boat sails from Kos with a skipper to Pserimos and Plati. A private boat carries only your own party. Its description calls the day ideal for couples, families or friends.
Extras split the formats further. One trip is sold as a three-island boat trip with a water slide and a barbecue. A cruise on a wooden boat includes a transfer from your hotel to the port and back. A sailing tour offers pickup as an option. The catamaran trip has no hotel transfer.
The audience is wide. The barbecue-and-slide trip is pitched at families, couples and friends. The sailing tour is pitched at families, singles and groups. The cruise on the wooden vessel also suits first-time visitors and is tagged “Everybody welcome”.
Guests who want a more intimate day have two choices. They are the private boat and the small-group catamaran. The sailing tour is less ideal for them, because it is a lively group outing. One tour site files the wooden-boat cruise as an island-hopping tour.
A ferry crossing is a different thing from a Kos 3 island cruise. A ferry links two ports, and the quickest ferry from Kos to Kalymnos takes 35 minutes. The cruise works differently. It makes three island stops and returns to Kos on the same day.
Another full-day outing from Kos is the island highlights bus tour, which keeps to the roads. It visits the Asklepion, the village of Zia, a honey factory and Kefalos, a hilltop village. Hotel pickup and a drop-off after the tour come with the ticket. A Kos 3 island cruise trades those road stops for the sea and three islands.
Where does a Kos 3 island cruise leave from and how is the day timed?
A Kos 3 island cruise leaves from Kos town harbour at 9:30 or 10:00 and returns at about 17:00. Other sailings start from the port of Lambi or the port of Mastichari. The full day lasts between 7 and 8 hours.
Kos town harbour is the boarding point for a Kos 3 island cruise on the main-port sailings. One meeting address is Akti Kountouriotou 27 in Kos. Another sailing asks guests to walk up the pier past the large ships and find a wooden ship. A third places its boat opposite the Port Police.
The port of Lambi starts a separate Kos 3 island cruise. The boat departs promptly at 10:00 and returns to Lambi at 17:00 on a 7-hour excursion. Hotel transfers cover Marmari, Tigaki and Lambi, and a ticket without transfer is offered too. Tigaki lies about 10 kilometres west of Kos town.
Mastichari is a fishing village and tourist resort, 7 kilometres from Kos International Airport. Its port sends boats to Kalymnos regularly. One Kos 3 island cruise boards at the port of Mastichari and lasts 8 hours. Hotel pickup and return are included on that sailing.
Kardamena lies midway along the south coast of Kos, and the boat leaves from Kos town. One sailing runs a coach from Kardamena to Kos port on request. Another includes pickup in Kardamena, Mastichari, Marmari and Tigaki. After the cruise, a bus waits in Kos to take guests back to their accommodation.
On one Kos 3 island cruise, the day begins at 8:00 with hotel pickup. The hotels sit in Kefalos, Kardamena, Mastichari, Marmari, Tigaki, Lampi and Kos. The same programme returns guests to those spots. On the Kos harbour sailing with transfer, the voucher states the meeting point and the exact pickup time.
Check-in margins differ between sailings. One asks guests to arrive 15 minutes before departure. Two ask for 30 minutes, one of them as a latest limit. A fourth recommends 45 minutes. Another harbour sailing from Kos fixes check-in at 9:30 itself.
A Kos 3 island cruise follows one of two island orders. One order opens at Kalymnos, calls at Plati and finishes at Pserimos. The Lambi and Mastichari sailings follow it. The other order opens at Pserimos, calls at Kalymnos and finishes at Plati. Plati is the middle stop in the first order and the last in the second.
The Lambi sailing shows how a Kos 3 island cruise splits its hours. The boat sails for about one hour to Kalymnos. Lunch on board follows the Kalymnos stop. Plati comes next, and Pserimos is the last stop of the day. The boat leaves Pserimos at 16:00 and is back in port at 17:00.
The 10:00 sailing from Kos harbour works to a clock. The boat leaves Pserimos at 12:00 and Kalymnos at 14:30. It reaches Kos harbour at 17:00. Every sailing with a stated return lands at about 17:00 at its boarding point. Where a transfer is included, it then takes guests back to their hotel.
Two sailings state their schedule as daily. A third, from Kos harbour with hotel transfer, gives its availability window as late spring to October. Each sailing sets its own figures, so the ticket confirms the departure time, the return time and the meeting point.
What do you see on Pserimos during a Kos 3 island cruise?
A Kos 3 island cruise stops at Pserimos, a small Dodecanese island between Kos and Kalymnos. Visitors find a sandy beach in front of a harbour village, rocky walking trails and no roads. The island belongs to the municipality of Kalymnos.
Pserimos lies north of Kos and south-east of Kalymnos, in the Dodecanese island group. Its distance from the port of Kos is 7.3 nautical miles. Boat sellers pair Pserimos with Kalymnos and Plati to make one Kos 3 island cruise.
The island has an old name on record. The Roman writer Pliny the Elder lists it as Pserema, among the islands of the Ceramic Gulf. A second name, Kapari, is also in use. It comes from the caper plants that grow among the island’s rocks.
The Kos 3 island cruise reaches an island of low hills. Rock covers much of the ground, and the highest point stands 268 metres above the sea. The small valleys between the hills are planted with olive groves. Sandy and pebbly coves lie around the island, and locals offer boat rides to certain ones.
On the west coast, a bay cuts into the land, and the island’s village stands at its head. A second bay, called Vasiliki, forms on the east side. Boat passengers meet Avlakia, the only settlement, around the harbour. Fragments of Hellenistic pottery lie in the sand there, and remains of ancient houses stand around it.
The main beach of Pserimos is Avlakia. It is a sandy beach, and the water over it is shallow and clear. Of all the beaches here, Avlakia alone is organised, and it lies in front of the village. Local dishes on the island include fresh fish with capers and braised lamb with pasta.
On one seven-hour Kos 3 island cruise, the stop on Pserimos lasts one hour. Passengers can visit the local café, relax on the sandy beaches or stroll along the walking trails. A walk from the port leads to a beach with small tavernas. The island also has a primary school.
Stop length changes with the sailing. A different format spends 45 minutes on Pserimos for a walk around the port and beach and a first swim. The same boat returns to Pserimos for a second swim stop of 30 minutes. Route, boat and order of stops differ from one sailing to the next.
Another Kos 3 island cruise itinerary makes Pserimos its last stop. It lists a Greek coffee and a walk to the island’s church and the school. A climb up stairs gives a panoramic view of the island. Local sellers offer sponges, spices and flavourings.
Walking is the way to see the island on a Kos 3 island cruise, because Pserimos has no roads. Walks to its other beaches take from 10 minutes to one hour. Vathi is a beach of sand and gravel. It is not organised, so visitors need to bring their own water.
A path leads to Marathousta, which has very clear water and a beach of fine gravel. Another route reaches Panagia Grafiotissa, a beach named after a small church that stands right on the coast. Remains of early Christian buildings from the fifth century AD lie in that area.
What is Kalymnos like on a Kos 3 island cruise?
Kalymnos is the largest stop on a Kos 3 island cruise, with mountains, a harbour town and a sponge-diving past. Boats land at the capital, Pothia, or at the village of Vathy, and the time ashore depends on the sailing.
The island measures 21 kilometres in length and 13 kilometres across at its widest. Leros lies to the north of it and Kos to the south. Telendos, a small neighbour, was once joined to Kalymnos until earthquakes split the two in the sixth century. On a Kos 3 island cruise, Pserimos and Plati are small islets by comparison.
The landscape is barren and rocky. Only 18 percent of the land can be farmed, so farming plays a minor part in the economy. Olives, oranges and vines grow in two fertile valleys, Vathys and Pothia. The limestone rock draws climbers, and the climate allows climbing all year round.
Pothia, the capital of the island, is a landing point of the Kos 3 island cruise. The town climbs the slopes of two hills in the shape of an amphitheatre. Its bay is horseshoe-shaped, with calm water. Imposing captains’ houses line the seafront beside the port.
Pothia dates from the middle of the nineteenth century, when falling pirate raids let islanders settle by the sea. The old capital, Chora, stands close by and has a medieval castle. Venetian-style houses went up during Italian rule, and narrow streets still hold single-room homes of sponge divers. The archaeological museum shows a statue known as the Lady of Kalymnos.
One wooden-boat sailing of the Kos 3 island cruise builds the Kalymnos stop around sponges. Passengers visit a local sponge factory and hear about the hard life of the fishermen. There is a chance to watch, or even join, a sponge-diving demonstration. The programme also gives free time to visit Pothia.
Time ashore on Kalymnos varies from one Kos 3 island cruise to the next. The Kalymnos stop lasts an hour and a half on one sailing. A second gives two hours and a third gives two and a half. One sailing lists independent exploring of the harbour area and local shops. Another adds museums and an optional 20-minute train ride.
A different wooden-vessel sailing of the Kos 3 island cruise lands at Vathy on the east coast. A fjord-like bay ends at the village, and a valley of orange and mandarin groves leads to it. The quiet harbour at Rina holds caiques and leisure craft. Passengers learn about sponge diving and taste honey and orange juice.
Kalymnos is billed as the sponge-divers’ island. Early divers used one tool, a diving rock called a skandalopetra. Crews of four to seven sailed in boats six to eight metres long. They left in late spring and came home in early September. Kalymnians took sponges from the sea-bed as close as Pserimos and as far as North Africa.
In the nineteenth century divers moved to a rubber suit. Air reached them through a pipe from a hand pump on the boat. The work stayed dangerous, and divers were disabled or died of decompression sickness and air embolism. The local folk dance, the Mihanikos, shows the crippling effects of that illness. Sponge Week follows a week after Easter.
Sponges are still fished by hand, and a disease has cut the harvest. A workshop at the port of Pothia, near the area called Lafassi, is open to the public. It processes 30,000 sponges a year. Cleaning includes trampling, battering and rinsing in seawater, and workers then sort the sponges by kind, size and quality.
Which swim and snorkel stops does a Kos 3 island cruise make at Plati?
A Kos 3 island cruise anchors close to Plati, a tiny islet next to Pserimos, for a swim stop. Passengers jump in from the boat, and the sea is clear enough to show the sandy bottom. Snorkelling is part of the stop on sailings that list it.
Plati is a tiny, green islet opposite Pserimos, and it belongs to the municipality of Kalymnos. Summer excursion boats go there from Kos, and small boats also cross from Pserimos. The islet has small but very clean beaches and hidden coves. A Kos 3 island cruise calls at Plati to swim.
At Plati, the boat anchors close to the land. Once the engines stop, passengers jump in and swim around the boat. On one full-day sailing, the anchor goes down close to a sandy beach, and guests are invited to swim. Another sailing states that the captain drops anchor for a swimming and snorkelling stop.
On a Kos 3 island cruise, the sea at Plati shows its sandy bottom through blue and turquoise water. The islet’s waters rank among the clearest in the Dodecanese. One sailing calls the Plati bay small, with calm, shallow water. That water suits families and swimmers who prefer gentle waves.
The Plati stop of a Kos 3 island cruise has no single length. A full-day sailing that ends at Plati gives around 45 minutes for swimming, lounging or a drink on board. A wooden sailing boat lists a final one-hour stop. Another sailing calls it short, with time to swim from the boat to the islet.
Snorkel gear also depends on the sailing. A wooden sailboat with room for 125 passengers includes the equipment. Another sailing puts snorkelling equipment on the list of things to bring. A third states that gear is not included and suggests bringing your own. Read the gear line before you book a Kos 3 island cruise.
Swimming is optional on the 125-passenger sailboat. Guests who do not want to swim stay on board and use the bar. That timetable labels the Plati stop swimming and snorkelling, with a variable length.
For marine life, the itineraries name dolphins. Before Plati, one route calls at nearby fish farms and lists dolphin spotting there. That timetable promises no sighting. Another wooden sailing boat ties a dolphin sighting to luck. On a Kos 3 island cruise that lists them, the fish farms are a stop of their own.
A snorkelling cruise by dive boat uses a different spot. The boat anchors in a calm, sheltered bay of Pserimos with clear, shallow water. Snorkellers swim at their own pace from the anchored boat and keep full freedom through the day. The boat stays in that one bay for the whole session.
Two German ships loaded with munitions were sunk at Plati in nineteen forty-four. One lies off the northern end and one off the southern end. The wrecks make the islet a diving spot, with a short underwater exploration for divers. A small chapel also stands on Plati.
What happens on board a Kos 3 island cruise?
A Kos 3 island cruise includes lunch in the ticket, and the barbecue sailings serve it on board. Drinks are extra on those sailings. A restroom, snorkelling gear and an audio guide are on board where the sailing lists them.
The barbecue lunch of a Kos 3 island cruise is served on board on the sailings that say so. One sailing names chicken, souvlaki, Greek salad and bread. Another sailing names pork or chicken souvlaki with salad, tzatziki and bread. Each of these sailings counts the lunch in the ticket.
Meat-free choices appear on the barbecue sailings. One sailing lists vegetarian and vegan meals on request. Another asks for vegetarian and vegan requests in advance. A third adds gluten-free meals on request. A fourth offers beans and dolmades to vegetarian guests.
Drinks sit outside the ticket on a Kos 3 island cruise with a barbecue. The bar on board sells them. One sailing has two bars that serve drinks, cocktails, slushies and snacks. Alcohol is for passengers aged 18 and over on that sailing, and a second sailing sets the same limit.
The catamaran sailing works differently from the barbecue sailings. Its Greek lunch is prepared on board. Bottled water, soft drinks, white wine and beer are free on that sailing. The barbecue sailings sell drinks at the bar instead, and one of them lists personal expenses as extra too.
Facilities differ between sailings of a Kos 3 island cruise. Two full-day sailings list a restroom and Wi-Fi on board. A third sailing lists a restroom with two bars on board. Where a sailing lists no restroom, ask the seller before you book.
Gear differs too on a Kos 3 island cruise. One full-day sailing lists the use of snorkelling equipment in the ticket. The catamaran crew supplies masks, fins and goggles for free. The barbecue sailings describe swimming by diving, sliding or stepping off the boat, and they name no gear.
Safety rests on the crew and the kit. A full-day sailing from the Kos port puts safety and comfort in the hands of its crew and captain. Another lists life jackets with the onboard facilities. The diving-boat snorkelling cruise adds a basic briefing from certified instructors, lasting 20 to 30 minutes. Its gear is a mask, snorkel, fins and wetsuit.
Deck space shapes the day on a Kos 3 island cruise. The catamaran deck gives room for lounging, sunbathing and the sea breeze. The diving boat has a shaded deck and a large sun deck. One full-day cruiser has three spacious decks. Another full-day sailing lists open decks and soft music.
Music is part of the day. The catamaran crew plays music, and one full-day sailing lists music and dancing for its lively atmosphere. The sailing sold with a barbecue and a water slide adds the slide and a diving platform on board. Guests there can also laze on deck.
Extras belong to single formats on a Kos 3 island cruise. One wooden-boat sailing lists a free audio guide that works through your smartphone, with Wi-Fi on board. The glass-bottom boat has two glass-bottom viewing areas for watching fish and a shipwreck. Snorkelling equipment there goes on a first-come, first-served basis.
When does a Kos 3 island cruise sail and which rules apply?
A Kos 3 island cruise depends on the weather, and Kos has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. Two sellers promise a refund or a new date when bad weather cancels a sailing. Group size depends on the boat.
A weather station on Kos records a mean daily maximum of 30.4 °C in July and 31 °C in August. Both months record 0 mm of rain. The mean daily minimum in August is 24 °C. January is the wettest month at 214.7 mm, with a mean daily maximum of 14.3 °C.
Summer in the Aegean brings the meltemi, a dry northerly wind with real strength. Its season stretches from late spring to the middle of September. The wind peaks in the afternoon. At night it can fall away, yet a spell sometimes runs for days non-stop.
At force 7 on the Beaufort scale the wind blows at 50 to 61 km/h. At force 8 it blows at 62 to 74 km/h. The meltemi can blow at either force. Sailors treat the wind as dangerous, because it appears when the sky is clear and gives no warning.
The itinerary of one Kos 3 island cruise can change depending on sea conditions. When bad weather cancels a sailing, one seller offers a refund or the chance to reschedule. Another seller gives a choice of a different date or the money back in full. The second seller adds that the tour is subject to favourable weather.
Cancelling by choice follows a time limit on a Kos 3 island cruise. A motor boat trip with a barbecue refunds in full when you cancel a day or more ahead. A private boat to Pserimos and Plati sets the same limit and does not refund service fees and commission.
A Kos 3 island cruise can get quite full in peak seasons. Booking early is recommended for one seven-hour cruise. The booking form of a three-island boat tour has a calendar and a Check availability button. The same form shows instant confirmation.
Group size on a Kos 3 island cruise depends on the boat. A boat tour with a captain and a buffet takes up to 100 passengers. A motor boat trip with a barbecue has a capacity of 200. Both trips list Greek and English as spoken languages. A private boat to Pserimos and Plati holds 6 people, children included.
Age rules on a Kos 3 island cruise differ by boat. The boat tour with a captain and a buffet asks that every child is accompanied by an adult. The motor boat trip with a barbecue sets no minimum age and welcomes pets. It is not accessible to pregnant women. Outside food and drinks are not allowed on that boat.
Access differs between trips. The motor boat trip with a barbecue is accessible to wheelchair users and allows manual wheelchairs and strollers. Another three-island trip allows only folding chairs and wants this stated in the reservation. A third trip is not suitable for people with severe mobility issues.
The packing list for a Kos 3 island cruise is short. The motor boat trip with a barbecue names cash or a card for any extras. One boat tour adds comfortable clothing and footwear, a camera and snorkelling equipment. Towels are not included on another trip, so pack your own.
- Swimsuit and towel
- Sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat
- Comfortable clothing and footwear
- Camera and snorkelling equipment
- Cash or a card for extras