Greece Day Four – Sea Salt and Springs

Last night we planned to have dinner on the edge of Fira and watch the sunset. Unfortunately Chantal wasn’t feeling too well and we decided to grab a Gyro and head back to the hotel. Gyro’s are what we call in Australia Souvlakis.

After a great night’s rest and finally feeling like we’d beaten our jetlag, we prepared to go on a catamaran around the islands of Santorini. This five hour sailing tour included lunch, beaches, and a quick dip in the ‘hot springs’.

We got picked up by a courtesy bus not far from our hotel which drove us to Vlichada, at the southern end of Thira. The catamaran was crewed by three people who were extremely lovely and accommodating. We were joined by eight other people, including three other couples. One couple were from China, another from London, and another from Colorado. We felt like a very diverse bunch and everyone was friendly. As we embarked we talked about our experiences and time left in Santorini. It turned out we were the only couple who had more than one day here so we picked up a few tips and interesting facts from the other passengers. Throughout the whole trip we talked about our lives, our counties, and global politics.

The water was quite choppy which meant that the boat was rocking around quite a bit and so Chantal, myself, and the American and Brit couple moved to the front of the boat, getting quite soaked in the process. The water and air were freezing cold. Fortunately we were warmed by some nice Santorini wine (which Chantal consumed A LOT of).

Our first ‘stop’ was the Red Beach, aptly named because of the red cliff face that overlooked the beach. We were unable to stop there due to risk of landslides and the choppy waves. It was at this point we found that the Chinese group were quite seasick but the crew were incredibly supportive and helped them feel better and recover.

We continued our journey to the ‘hot springs’ at Palia Kameni. Rick, one of the Brits jumped off the boat first as we were a bit hesitant. Chantal jumped in afterwards, yelling out that the water was freezing. I wasn’t feeling confident as Chantal can withstand freezing cold water better than I can. So if she considered it cold I knew I was in for a hard time. In any event I jumped in and died. It was the coldest water I had ever swam in but it was good motivation to swim towards the ‘hot springs’.

Something to know about the ‘hot springs’: These are in open waters, not in a natural spring that you would find like a pool. Therefore these springs are mixed with the freezing ocean water and result in there being pockets of warm and freezing cold water. While you search for the warm water, when you finally find it, it moves away so quickly. This results in you moving around aimlessly trying to find the warm pockets of water again.

Apparently the sulphur is quite strong, however neither myself or Chantal could smell anything out of the ordinary. The sulphur from the ‘hot springs’ cause red mud that looks like rust to stick to your skin and clothes. The worst part was having to swim back from the warm pockets of water back to the catamaran through the freezing ocean water. While the boat was maybe only 20 metres away, it felt like 200 metres.

We finally made it back to the boat where we were rinsed off and sat out the front of the boat in the sun to defrost. One of the Americans started to get hypothermia and couldn’t stop shaking. The crew were quick to respond and gave her blankets and a hot drink. She recovered in the end.

Lunch was by far the greatest thing ever. The crew cooked a delicious banquet of various dishes including chicken with dill sauce, flounder, shrimps, spaghetti with marinara sauce, and a Greek salad. I didn’t try any I was feeling a little unwell after the swim (the crew explained that the sulphur can have this effect) but Chantal noted that the shrimps taste very different from Australian prawns. They are more closely flavoured and textured like Moreton Bay bugs rather than prawns.

After lunch we made our way back to the port, by going around Thirassia. We all talked about our lives and adventures while Chantal drank a lot more wine. We made it back to the port safely and were dropped back off at our pickup point near our hotel. Overall it was an amazing experience, spending time with amazing people and seeing the beautiful areas around Santorini. We would highly recommend it to anyone that goes to Santorini.

We rested at our hotel and had dinner in Fira to finally get a glimpse of the famous Santorini sunset. We were still rocking from the ocean while having dinner and towards the end we were able to regain our land legs.

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