The day I've been waiting for finally arrived. Off to Santorini!! Bought the ferry tickets in advance and booked online through Hellenic Seaways. One way tickets were $70 USD from Heraklion and the first ferry is at 9 am. So we took a taxi from Kronos hotel to the port, which was $7.50 euros for three and got there by 8:15 am to board. Every ticket purchased comes with an assigned seat and the ferry doesn't allow you to walk around outside after it passes thru the city port. I thought we were in for a smooth ride when we departed Heraklion but as soon as we reached open water, the boat swayed side to side and everyone on deck was ushered back in. Thankfully it's a short trip, just under two hours to get to Santorini. Also, the ferry was recently upgraded in April 2016 so the Hellenic Seaways 7 was quite nice. The ride was a bit rocky but not too much to get you sick. I fell asleep for most of it and we arrived in Santorini at 11 am.
Hellenic Seaways 7
Port
We were picked up by our hotel, Santorini Princess Spa. I picked this hotel because I wanted to eat in between Fira and Oia and read that this place has great views of the Caldera (where everyone angles to watch the famed sunsets). I also picked this hotel as I know they have their own car service (which you need to pay for but it's less than taking a taxi and apparently there are only 35 taxis on the whole island!).
Here are the views from the hotel:
Picture perfect
Santorini sunset
Had lunch at the nearby town Imerovigli and then went swimming at the pool before heading to dinner in Fira. Feel very relaxed here!
Fira from afar (really took my breath away in person)
Brave to walk out to this point! It's so hot!
The high life
As night falls