A Mykonos catamaran cruise sails a twin-hulled boat along the coast of Mykonos in the Cyclades. The tour is one of the Greece Tours on Greece Ville, listed with the other Mykonos tours and Greece boat tours.
This post covers the island seen from the sea, its rocks, the films shot on its coast, tourism, seasickness and the sun at sea.
Beach names, the best months and common questions come last. The sections include Mykonos catamaran cruises that can be booked online.
What is a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A Mykonos catamaran cruise sails around a small island. William Smith’s 1854 dictionary gave Mykonos a length of about 10 miles and a greatest breadth of 6. The ancient geographer Scylax placed it 40 stadia from Rhenia.
On a Mykonos catamaran cruise, old jokes come with the view. Strabo wrote that bald men were called Myconians, because baldness was common there. Mykonians also had a name for greed, behind the proverb a Mykonian neighbour.
Ancient tradition says Hippocles, of the Neleid family, settled Mykonos from Athens. The Roman poet Ovid called the island humilis, low, in his Metamorphoses.
Klouvas counted 1,273 residents in the 2021 census, the largest settlement after Mykonos town and Ano Mera.
- Plintri: It counted 299 residents in 2021.
- Agios Stefanos: The village counted 171.
- Faros Armenistis: The lighthouse area counted 120.
- Georgoulis: Mayor Kouzis Georgoulis, first elected in 1951, died in office on 21 November 1964.
Which rocks line the coast on a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A Mykonos catamaran cruise passes the Mykonos pluton, a granite body formed from melted igneous rock. It pushed into a dome of migmatite, a partly melted gneiss. Its long axis points N70°E. Hill summits on Mykonos are strewn with immense blocks of granite.
Successive pulses of magma of different make-up built this laccolith inside the Cycladic Blueschist Unit. It is lopsided, with its root zone to the south-west and its main body to the north-east.
On a Mykonos catamaran cruise, Rhenia belongs to the same story. The dome’s gneiss core runs from Rhenia to the Apollonia peninsula on Mykonos. A shear zone about 500 m thick caps that core.
As the dome rose, blocks of the upper crust turned by about 60° around a vertical axis. Barite veins on Mykonos run north-west to south-east and formed about 11 to 10 million years ago.
Beachrock around Mykonos, Delos and Rhenia marks a sea level about 3.6 m lower around 2000 BC.
- Detachment: The North Cycladic Detachment System runs more than 200 km, with branches on Andros, Tinos and Mykonos.
- Livada: The lower Livada detachment, a ductile shear zone, continues across Tinos.
- Tinos granite: Zircon dates the Tinos granites to 14.6 million years ago.
- Tafoni: The word for honeycomb holes in rock possibly comes from Greek taphos, meaning tomb.
Which films were shot along a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A Mykonos catamaran cruise passes coasts known to film crews. John Derek shot Fantasies on Mykonos in 1973, over eight weeks on a very low budget. It starred Bo Derek and came out only in 1981.
On a Mykonos catamaran cruise, a bigger film comes to mind. The Greek Tycoon of 1978, with Anthony Quinn and Jacqueline Bisset, was shot partly on Mykonos.
Greek cinema used the island as well. Giannis Dalianidis’s 1969 comedy The Parisian, starring Rena Vlachopoulou, shot its island scenes on Mykonos.
Two songs of the 2003 Hindi film Chalte Chalte were shot in Athens and on Mykonos. Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji starred.
- Stereo Love: Dragoș Buliga shot this music video on Mykonos in June 2009.
- Sto Para 5: The Mega Channel comedy, aired from 2005 to 2007, was filmed partly on Mykonos.
- Erotas: The ANT1 series, aired from 2005 to 2008, was filmed partly on Mykonos.
- Beach Club: MTV’s Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club, set on Mykonos, ran for 12 episodes in 2019.
How did tourism reach the coast of a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A Mykonos catamaran cruise sails past the old port, where the Hotel Leto opened in 1953. It was one of the first four hotels of the Greek National Tourism Organisation, all designed in 1951. It had 25 rooms and 48 beds.
Three of those first four hotels, the Leto among them, were paid for by the Marshall Plan. In the 1950s the Leto was very popular with wealthy Athenians.
On a Mykonos catamaran cruise, the windmills are the classic view. A 1949 tourism poster already showed a windmill on Mykonos. With the tourism boom of the 1960s, the windmills became a trademark, alongside the church of Paraportiani.
- 1994: Mykonos Airport handled 245,707 passengers, 154,288 of them on domestic routes.
- 2019: It counted 995,268 international and 524,877 domestic passengers.
- 2020: The total fell to 409,060.
- Four levels: The Leto was built on four levels in Chora.
How do passengers avoid seasickness on a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A Mykonos catamaran cruise can bring on seasickness, and medicine helps. A Cochrane review of 14 trials with 1,025 people found scopolamine prevents motion sickness better than a placebo. No trials tested it once symptoms had started.
In real travel, one review found symptoms prevented in 81% of people on scopolamine and 71% on antihistamines. The evidence was very uncertain. Scuba divers wear scopolamine as a skin patch behind the ear.
On a Mykonos catamaran cruise, timing matters. Against seasickness, cinnarizine is taken at least two hours before travelling, then every four hours. Meclizine starts working within about an hour, and its effects last up to a day.
A person who gets carsick can still resist seasickness, and the reverse also happens.
- NASA spray: A NASA nasal spray of scopolamine works faster and more reliably than the tablet.
- Royal Navy: Cinnarizine has been cited as a leading seasickness drug in the British Royal Navy.
- Normandy: Allied soldiers crossing to Normandy took an Aboriginal Australian corkwood medicine against seasickness.
- Breathing: The NHS suggests closing the eyes and breathing slowly, focusing on the breath.
How strong is the sun on a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A Mykonos catamaran cruise spends hours under strong sun, and ultraviolet radiation can neither be seen nor felt. The UV index is linear, so a reading of 12 is twice as intense as 6. Sunburn can start in under 15 minutes.
Skin that burns in 30 minutes at UV index 6 burns in about 15 at index 12. The first signs of damage can take hours to appear.
On a Mykonos catamaran cruise, sunscreen needs care. The NHS advises adults to use around 6 to 8 teaspoons to cover the whole body. The World Health Organization says sunscreen is no reason to stay longer in the sun.
The sun protection factor, or SPF rating, was introduced in 1974. Shelf life after opening shows as an open jar symbol with an M and a number of months.
- Sunglasses: The EU standard requires 95% of radiation filtered, but only up to 380 nm.
- Eyes: About 15 million people are blind from cataracts. About 10% of cases are possibly due to UV.
- Heat stroke: It differs from heat exhaustion by a core temperature above 40 °C and nerve problems.
- Water: Dark yellow, strong-smelling urine signals dehydration, so the NHS advises keeping it pale.
What do beach names mean on a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A Mykonos catamaran cruise passes Ornos, named after ornos, an old Greek word for the wild fig tree. Psarou is a woman’s name form that means the wife of Psaras. Agrari was first the name of a cape.
The name Agrari possibly comes from akrarion, a small cape. On Mykonos, place names taken from women chiefly end in -ou, as they also do on Tinos.
On a Mykonos catamaran cruise, the name Paradisi turns up in old records. It named a slope north of Tourlos, sheltered from the wind but with little plant growth.
The cove name Plintri possibly comes from plyntirion, a washing place, and fresh water flows into the cove.
- Myrichia: This north-side name comes from the myriki, or tamarisk tree.
- Aspa: Near Ornos, it meant a steep rock, and a daredevil was a child of the aspa.
- Platys Gialos: Tinos and Serifos also have a Platys Gialos, and Kalymnos has a Platyalos.
- Foreign names: Only a handful are foreign, such as Kavos and Kanallia.
Which months suit a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A Mykonos catamaran cruise suits the dry summer. From 2009 to 2023, the wettest July at the Mykonos station brought just 0.6 mm of rain. The station belongs to the National Observatory of Athens. In 2016, July, August and September passed with no rain.
Summer rain is rare but possible. A total of 22.2 mm fell in June 2010 and again in August 2022. September 2014 brought 62.8 mm.
On a Mykonos catamaran cruise in summer, heat varies by year. The hottest reading of July 2023 was 35.8 °C, on 26 July. In July 2022, the top reading was only 29.4 °C. Late September can stay hot, with 31.7 °C on 23 September 2023.
- February: HNMS data give Mykonos an average humidity of 71.2% in February.
- March: Humidity averages 70.9% in March.
- July: HNMS statistics show July humidity dropping as low as 11%.
- Wet month: February 2011 alone brought 188 mm of rain to the station.
What do visitors ask about a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A Mykonos catamaran cruise raises questions about jellyfish, sea urchins and glare. Others ask about safety briefings, swimming after meals and sunscreen. Wash a jellyfish sting with seawater, never fresh water. Fresh water can make stinging cells fire again.
How is a jellyfish sting treated on a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A review of European jellyfish advises soaking the sting in 42 to 45 °C water. Soak it for 30 minutes, or until pain fades.
What helps a sea urchin injury on a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
Remedies such as salicylic acid paste, hot candle wax and urine are common, but their benefit is unclear. More than 15 to 20 spines can cause nausea, vomiting, weakness and breathing trouble.
How do polarized sunglasses help on a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
Light striking water at about 53°, called Brewster’s angle, reflects fully polarized. Polarized lenses block horizontally polarized light, which cuts glare off flat water.
What safety rules apply on a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
EU rules for passenger ships on domestic voyages require a safety briefing whenever new passengers board. Every life-saving appliance must be ready for use before leaving port and all through the voyage.
Is swimming after lunch safe on a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A side stitch, a stabbing pain under the ribs, is common in swimming. It is more common after a meal or a sugary drink.
How long does sunscreen last on a Mykonos catamaran cruise?
A 40-minute water claim is tested with two 20-minute bouts in water, split by a 15-minute rest. An EU recommendation warns that half the amount of sunscreen can cut protection by two-thirds.