Santorini Volcano Hike & Hot Springs: Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni
Twenty minutes uphill on bare gravel, a 5 EUR cash ticket almost nobody includes, and water only a few degrees warmer than the sea.
The day these seven trips sell is short and specific. A boat drops you at a concrete jetty on Nea Kameni. You walk up a gravel path for fifteen to twenty minutes, stand on the rim of a crater that last erupted in 1950, come back down and get back on the boat. The boat then anchors off Palea Kameni, and you swim thirty to forty metres into a bay where warm water leaks out of the rock and stains the sea orange. That is the whole product. It is worth doing. It is also worth knowing exactly what it is not.
How the caldera came to look like this, when it last erupted and what the bands in the cliff mean is set out on the Santorini page above. This page is about the two hours that actually differ between operators: what the walk is like underfoot, what the ticket costs on top of the ticket, what the water does to a pale swimsuit, and which of these seven trips is selling you a boat rather than a volcano.
Discover Scuba Diving in the Caldera, from Akrotiri Beach
A first dive inside the caldera, off Caldera beach at Akrotiri, with a bus from Fira at 08:30. First name, height, weight and shoe size are sent ahead.
Mouzakia Beach, Reachable Only by Boat, and the Hot Springs
A private boat to Mouzakia, which no road or path reaches, and to the Nea Kameni springs at 30 to 35 degrees. Swimming lasts as long as you want it to.
Private Catamaran from Vlychada, Hot Springs and BBQ Aboard
A private catamaran out of Vlychada with hotel pick-up, the Nea Kameni hot springs, and a BBQ at anchor off Mesa Pigadia with unlimited wine and beer.
Private Cruise from Ammoudi to the Volcano and Agios Nikolaos Islet
A 10-metre private boat from Ammoudi to the volcano and the hot springs, finishing at the Agios Nikolaos islet, which nothing but a boat reaches easily.
Riding the Minoan Trails to Eros Beach, 45 Minutes on the Sand
Volcanic canyons cut by the Minoan eruption, then about 45 minutes riding the black sand at Eros Beach. Quiet horses, no experience needed, café afterwards.
Santorini by Private Boat to Thirassia, Lunch Ready After the Swim
Five hours on a private charter around the caldera: the hot springs at around 100°F, Thirassia for the swim, and a meal made only with local products.
Santorini Catamaran in a Small Group: Snorkel Gear and Dessert
Hotel pick-up, snorkelling gear provided and a BBQ with dessert and local wine at Mesa Pigadia. Morning or sunset, in a small group rather than a charter.
Ratings collected by Viator and Tripadvisor
The walk up Nea Kameni
The jetty is on the east side of the island. From it a graded path switches back up the cone, and the operators who quote a time say about fifteen minutes to the top and an hour to wander the vents once you are up there. The stop as a whole usually runs ninety minutes.
The surface is loose reddish-black lapilli, which behaves like coarse gravel: fine going up, unstable coming down. Trainers are enough. Sandals are not, because the small stones get into them and stay there. There is no shade anywhere on Nea Kameni. No trees, nothing at the summit, nothing at the jetty. In July and August the rock throws the heat back at you and the last stretch is genuinely hard for anyone not used to it.
Published figures for the island's high point disagree, running from 114 m to 130 m depending on the source, so treat it as a little over a hundred metres of ascent. That is not much. What makes it tiring is the surface, the sun, and the fact that you are doing it in the middle of the day because that is when the boats run.
At the top there is a crater, several vents and an active sulphur fumarole that the islanders call Jorgo. You smell it before you see it, and the ground near the vents is warm through the soles of your shoes. There is nothing to buy up there: no water, no toilet, no shelter. That is why every operator tells you to bring water, and why they mean it.
At the top
What you actually see from the rim
The reason to climb is not the crater. The crater is a grey and rust-coloured hollow with steam coming out of one side, and ten minutes covers it.
The reason is the view back. From the top of Nea Kameni you are standing in the middle of the caldera looking outward at the wall from the inside. Fira and Imerovigli sit along the rim opposite like a line of snow on the cliff edge. Thirassia closes the west. The basin that reads as scenery from a hotel terrace reads from up here as the inside of a crater, which is what it is.
That change of vantage is the argument for the 5 EUR and the walk, and it is the reason the trips that skip the landing are selling you less than they think, even when they cost more.
Bring a hat and half a litre of water per person. Neither is sold on the island.
| Item | Cost | Included in the ticket? |
|---|---|---|
| Shared catamaran, 4 hours, meal on board | 85 EUR | Yes, this is the ticket |
| Private motorboat, 3 hours, up to 10 people | from 300 EUR | Yes, this is the ticket |
| Private charter, 5 hours | 800 to 820 EUR | Yes, this is the ticket |
| Nea Kameni volcano park entrance | 5 EUR | No: cash, paid as you land |
| Guide on the walk up | Varies | On group boats usually; on private boats the crew stays aboard |
| Cable car, if you sail from the Old Port | 10 EUR each way | No |
| Water and a hat | Bring them | No: nothing is sold on the island |
| Towel | Bring one | Usually not. Check the listing |
The hot springs are not hot
This is the part of the day that disappoints people, and it disappoints them because of the way it is sold.
The springs sit in the bay of Agios Nikolaos on the west side of Palea Kameni. Water warmed by the volcano seeps up through the seabed and the rocks carrying dissolved iron, and where it meets the sea it turns rusty orange. That orange is the photograph you have already seen.
Two things about it. The temperature first. The spring water is a few degrees warmer than the surrounding sea, not hot. In June, with the Aegean at 22 or 23 degrees, the difference is obvious and pleasant. In late August, with the sea already at 25, you will swim into the orange and feel almost nothing. No listing puts it that way.
Then the access. Boats do not enter the bay, because there is no landing and the water shallows. They anchor thirty to forty metres out and you swim in. One operator here hands out foam floats for anyone who wants them, and its own listing says the stop suits confident swimmers. There is no ladder at the far end, no shallow entry and nowhere to stand. If open water without a floor under you is not your thing, this is the moment to stay on board.
And then the swimsuit. The iron oxide that colours the water also colours fabric, and on pale material it frequently does not come out. The standard stop is thirty minutes, which is roughly twenty-five minutes longer than most people last in the orange.
Wear the oldest dark swimsuit you own. Do not wear white.
What is actually in this group
Seven products carry this label, and they are not seven versions of one thing.
Two are shared and cheap. A small-group catamaran out of Vlychada at 85 EUR runs four hours with a BBQ on board, carries up to fifteen people and is rated 4.7 from 111 reviews. Read its itinerary closely: it swims at the warm water but it does not put you ashore on Nea Kameni. If the walk is why you booked, that is the wrong ticket.
One is a private motorboat from Ammoudi, three hours, up to ten people, 4.8 from 35 reviews. It lands, and its exclusions are unusually frank: the volcano admission is cash and not included, and the crew stay on the boat while you walk. You are buying the island, not a guide.
Two are full private charters at 800 and 820 EUR for five hours, rated 5.0 from 306 and 77 reviews. At that price you are chartering a boat, and the volcano is one stop on it.
The last two are here because they touch volcanic ground rather than because they are volcano trips: an introductory scuba dive inside the caldera at 90 EUR, 4.9 from 115 reviews, and a horse ride over volcanic trails to Eros Beach at 85 EUR, 4.5 from 124 reviews. Both are good at what they are. Neither goes up the crater.
There is a quick test for any listing on this island. Look for the words "entrance" or "admission" in the exclusions. A trip that does not land on Nea Kameni has no 5 EUR fee to exclude, so it will not mention one.
Who should book something else
Some people should not do this day, and no operator is going to say so.
If you cannot walk twenty minutes uphill on loose gravel in direct sun, the landing is not for you. The boat will wait, but you will spend an hour and a half on a jetty with nothing over your head.
If you are not a confident swimmer in deep water, the springs are not for you either, and that takes away half the reason for the trip.
Small children usually manage the walk better than their parents expect and the swim worse. Pushchairs are useless on the path. The listings say infants may sit on an adult's lap, which tells you nothing about the hill.
If you have a respiratory condition, the sulphur at the vents is noticeable, though the exposure is short and the path keeps you away from the strongest emissions.
And if what you actually want is a boat, a meal and a sunset, book a caldera cruise instead. It costs about the same, and you will not spend the hottest ninety minutes of the day climbing a cinder cone to look into a hole.
Questions people actually ask
How long is the walk up Nea Kameni?
Fifteen to twenty minutes up a graded gravel path, roughly a hundred metres of ascent. Operators typically allow ninety minutes ashore in total, which leaves an hour at the top. There is no shade at any point.
Is the Nea Kameni entrance fee included in the tour?
Almost never. It is 5 EUR per person, paid as you land, in cash. Two products in this catalogue list it explicitly as an exclusion. The others do not mention it, which usually means they do not land at all.
How hot are the Santorini hot springs?
Only a few degrees above the surrounding sea. Warm rather than hot, and much more noticeable in May and June than in late August, when the Aegean has already caught up.
Will the hot springs stain my swimsuit?
If it is pale, yes. The orange comes from iron oxide suspended in the water, and on white or light fabric it often does not wash out. Wear something dark that you would not mind losing.
Do I have to swim to reach the springs?
On almost every trip, yes. Boats anchor thirty to forty metres from the bay because there is nowhere to tie up and the water shallows. One operator provides foam floats and states in its own listing that the stop suits confident swimmers.
Can I visit the volcano without booking a tour?
Not really. There is no scheduled public boat to Nea Kameni. The island is reached only by excursion boat or private charter, and the 5 EUR park ticket is bought on arrival, on the island.
What should I take with me?
Water, a hat, closed shoes, a dark swimsuit, a towel and a 5 EUR note. Nothing is sold on Nea Kameni: no water, no shade, no toilet.
Data verified on. Walk times, exclusions, prices and swim distances read from the operators' own listings; the 5 EUR entrance is confirmed in two products' exclusion lists.