An Ios boat trip cruises the coast of Ios in the Cyclades, between Naxos and Santorini, to bays and beaches such as Manganari, with private charters on the island and day cruises over from Santorini. The trip is one of the Greece Tours on Greece Ville, listed with the other Cyclades tours.
This post covers the formats on sale, the island, Chora and Mylopotas, the Skarkos settlement, the Homer tradition, Sikinos and the questions that come up before booking.
What is an Ios boat trip?
An Ios boat trip is a sea outing around Ios, a hilly island of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea. Ios sits halfway between Naxos and Santorini, so trips start from its own harbour or arrive as day cruises from Santorini.
Ios carries other names as well. Writers spell it Io or Nio, locals say Nios, and Cycladic islanders use Nio, a form that dates back to the Byzantine era.
The coastline of Ios runs for 86 kilometres, and about 32 kilometres of it is sandy beach. Steep cliffs line much of the rest, a rocky backdrop for an Ios boat trip.
From the prehistoric era, Ios held a safe natural harbour on the sea roads to Crete. That shelter gave the island an important role at sea. Today an organised marina sits in the same harbour.
Summer on an Ios boat trip brings the meltemi, an almost constant breeze from the north that moderates temperatures. Ios has a hot semi-arid climate, coded BSh in the Köppen classification.
Day cruises from Santorini also reach Ios, and one of them sails to Manganari beach on the south coast. Ferries link the island with Santorini and with Naxos, the two neighbours on either side.
- Location: Ios lies in the Cyclades, halfway between Naxos and Santorini.
- Terrain: The island is largely hilly and made almost entirely of metamorphic rock.
- Wind: The meltemi blows from the north during the summer months.
- Name: Plutarch linked the name Ios to the Greek word for violets.
Each sea format in the next section starts from Ios harbour, Santorini or Naxos, and each Ios boat trip crosses the same Cycladic waters.
Which Ios boat trip formats are on sale?
An Ios boat trip on sale takes four sea forms: a private charter with snorkelling, a day cruise from Santorini to Manganari, a private yacht cruise from Santorini, and a small-group catamaran tour. Ferries and land tours complete the list.
The first Ios boat trip format is a private boat charter on Ios itself. One group has the boat alone, and the outing adds stops for snorkelling along the coast of the island.
A day cruise from Santorini crosses to Ios and heads for Manganari beach, also spelt Maganari. That beach lies on the south of the island, where a small cluster of houses stands behind the sand.
A private motor yacht cruise also leaves Santorini for Ios. This Ios boat trip keeps the deck for one party and builds swim stops into the route between the two islands.
The small-group catamaran tour sails from Santorini to Ios and includes lunch. Two ferry routes sit in the same list: one between Santorini and Ios, and a fast ferry between Naxos and Ios.
On land, the list adds e-bike tours, private vehicle tours and a cheese and wine tasting. Ios makes its cheeses mainly in a municipal creamery from goat or sheep milk; skotiri is the best known.
- Charter: A private boat serves one group, with snorkelling stops.
- Catamaran: A small-group tour runs from Santorini to Ios with lunch.
- Yacht: A private motor yacht from Santorini adds stops for a swim.
- Ferry: Crossings run from Santorini and from Naxos.
The tour cards and availability boxes on this page list live dates for each format. Trips that stay close to Santorini appear in the Santorini catamaran cruise post.
What island does an Ios boat trip circle, from Chora to Mylopotas?
An Ios boat trip circles an island about 18 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide. Boats dock at the port in Ormos harbour, below the hill village of Chora, and the settlement of Mylopotas holds the largest beach on Ios.
The island covers 109.024 square kilometres. Its census of 2021 counted 2,299 residents, down from 3,500 in the 20th century, and Ios forms part of the Thira regional unit.
The Port of Ios lies at the northern end of Ormos harbour, the start of every Ios boat trip from the island. A footpath climbs the hillside from there to Chora, the principal village.
Chora is the capital and the largest settlement on Ios. It sits between two small hills on the ruins of the ancient city-state and holds at least 24 small churches.
Whitewashed walls, sea blue doors, narrow alleys and steep stairways define the village, and cars reach little of it. An amphitheatre by the German architect Peter Haupt crowns the top of the village hill.
Mylopotas takes its name from a stream, the river of the mills, which starts at the Mills of Chora. The settlement had 151 residents in 2021, yet summer brings crowds of visitors to its beach.
- Church: Panagia Gremiotissa, or Panagia of the Cliff, is the best known.
- Summit: Kastro, or Pyrgos, rises to 723 metres at the centre.
- Beach: Mylopotas beach sits less than 40 metres from its restaurants and cafes.
- Old name: Older texts call the settlement Mylopotamos.
From the deck of an Ios boat trip, the whitewashed houses of Chora stand out on their hill above the port.
What does Skarkos add to an Ios boat trip?
An Ios boat trip pairs well with Skarkos, an early Bronze Age settlement on a hill near the west coast, just outside Chora. Its good state of preservation ranks it among the leading prehistoric sites in the Aegean and the Cyclades.
Ios holds one of the best sheltered natural harbours in the Cyclades and sits at a crossroads of sea routes. An Ios boat trip leaves from that same sheltered harbour.
Digs ran on the north and east sides of the hill from 1984 to 1997. They uncovered an Early Cycladic settlement of the mid-3rd millennium BC, with a cemetery of the mid-2nd millennium BC above it.
The settlement covers 1.1 hectares. It is the largest and best preserved site of the Keros-Syros culture, and estimates put its population at between 200 and 300 people.
Houses rise on terraces that follow the natural relief of the hill. Each rectangular stone building has a ground floor, a first floor and an enclosed courtyard, and walls survive to three or four metres.
Evidence points to food preparation on the ground floor. The upper floor held living space, storage and at times a workshop. Streets one to two metres wide ran between the houses.
- Finds: Digs yielded marble figurines, obsidian ware, seals, ceramics and stone vessels.
- Plan: The town plan compares with that of Poliochne on Lemnos.
- Display: Finds are on show at the archaeological museum in Chora.
- Award: The conservation work won the 2008 Europa Nostra Top Prize.
The site opened to the public after conservation works from 2002 to 2007, so an Ios boat trip day can end on this hill just outside Chora.
How is an Ios boat trip linked to the tomb of Homer?
An Ios boat trip reaches the island where tradition places the death and burial of Homer. Accounts of his birthplace differ, yet the bulk of accounts of his death name Ios, and a grave there drew a search in 1771.
In the legend recorded by Pausanias, Homer asked the Pythia at Delphi about his origins. The oracle replied that his mother’s home was Ios, an island set to receive him at his death.
The same reply warned him about a riddle of young children. Tradition holds that on Ios he met children fishing by the shore, who said they left what they caught and carried what they missed.
The answer was lice. Homer failed to solve it, recalled the warning and fled in alarm. In the story, he slipped on a muddy road, struck his head and died almost at once.
Other versions say he died of sorrow at the unsolved puzzle, or came to Ios already gravely ill. The story rests on oral tradition rather than historical record, and Pausanias set down a popular narrative.
In 1771 Heinrich Leonard Pasch van Krienen came to Ios to find the grave. With Spyridon Valetas he found three graves, and the last bore a verse naming the sacred head of heroic Homer.
- Doubts: Grammatical mistakes on the gravestone led him to question its authenticity.
- Epigrams: Alcaeus of Messene wrote two epigrams on the burial of Homer on Ios.
- Coins: Coins of Ios show Homer, a palm tree or Athena.
- Plan: The municipal emergency plan for earthquakes and wildfires carries the name Homer.
On 25 January 1884, Theodore and Mabel Bent visited the alleged tomb, and the legend still follows every Ios boat trip to the island.
Where does Sikinos sit in relation to an Ios boat trip?
An Ios boat trip shares its waters with Sikinos, an island and municipality of the Cyclades that lies between Ios and Folegandros. Sikinos is quiet and less developed than Ios, and it also belongs to the Thira regional unit.
In ancient Greece the island bore the name Oenoe, or Oinoe, the Island of Wine. Tradition links that name to vine growing and says the later name came from a son of Thoas and Oenoe.
Allopronia, the port, lies on the south side beside one of two large sandy beaches. The chora sits higher in the hills, with Castro to the west and Chorio to the east.
The 2021 census counted 253 inhabitants on Sikinos. The municipality covers 42.507 square kilometres and takes in the uninhabited island of Kardiotissa as well as other uninhabited islets.
Terraces once used for farming cover nearly all of the land, though only a handful remain in use. Three paved roads and seven mapped footpaths cross the difficult terrain.
Sikinos submitted to Xerxes I in the Greco-Persian Wars and later joined the Athenian maritime empire. The church of Episkopi, once identified as a temple of the Pythian Apollo, is now seen as a Roman mausoleum.
- Award: Work on Episkopi won the Europa Nostra Award in 2022.
- Visitors: Theodore Bent and his wife visited the site in January 1884.
- Tavernas: A handful of tavernas serve the chora and the harbour.
- Roads: One paved road links the heliport with the second sandy beach.
On the other side of Ios, the sea toward Naxos is covered in the Naxos boat trip post, a companion to this Ios boat trip page.
What do travellers ask about an Ios boat trip?
An Ios boat trip raises four common questions: whether a private charter is on sale, whether cruises leave from Santorini, what Skarkos is, and why the island is tied to Homer. Short answers to each one follow below, in the same order.
Is a private charter on sale for an Ios boat trip?
Yes. A private boat charter on Ios appears in the current Ios boat trip list, and it includes snorkelling. A private motor yacht cruise from Santorini to Ios, with swim stops, is a second private option. The tour cards on this page show live dates for both formats.
Does an Ios boat trip leave from Santorini?
Yes. Three sea formats start on Santorini: a day cruise to Manganari beach on Ios, a private motor yacht cruise with swim stops, and a small-group catamaran tour with lunch. Ferries also cross between Santorini and Ios, and a fast ferry links Naxos with Ios.
What is Skarkos, the ancient site on an Ios boat trip island?
Skarkos is an early Bronze Age settlement on a hill just outside Chora. Digs from 1984 to 1997 revealed two-storey houses and walls up to four metres high. The 1.1-hectare site is the largest and best preserved of the Keros-Syros culture.
What links the island of an Ios boat trip to Homer?
Tradition holds that Homer died on Ios. Pausanias recorded the legend of an oracle and a riddle of lice set by children fishing on the shore. Coins of Ios showed Homer, and in 1771 Pasch van Krienen found a grave with an inscription naming him.