Boat trips
Day trips
The island
A Kos ferry is transport, not a day out. It carries you one way, does not stop for swims, and runs to a timetable that changes with the season. This page explains how the system works, which routes exist, and where to look up today's sailings.
Bookable now
What you're seeing: real departures for the coming weeks, pulled from GetYourGuide. Note that most of these are excursion boats rather than scheduled ferries — the difference is explained below, and it matters.
Quick summary
One deliberate omission on this page: no timetables and no fares. Both change by season and by operator, and a stale number here would cost you a boat.
| Fares | We do not publish them. They vary by route, vessel type, season and passenger category. Check the ferry line's own site or a licensed agency. |
|---|---|
| Timetables | Also not published here. Greek ferry schedules are revised seasonally and can change at short notice for weather or maintenance. |
| Ports on Kos | Kos Town (main port and the Bodrum link), Mastichari (the Kalymnos gateway) and Kardamena (Nisyros). |
| Main routes | Rhodes, Kalymnos, Leros, Patmos, Nisyros and mainland Piraeus, plus international Bodrum. |
| Shortest crossing | Kos Town to Bodrum, roughly 20 minutes. Mastichari to Kalymnos is the shortest domestic hop. |
| Advance booking needed? | Yes for cars, and for August foot passengers. Off-season, a foot passenger can usually buy on the day at a port agency. |
| Time to allow | Be at the port 30–45 minutes early as a foot passenger and 60 minutes with a vehicle. Ferries do not wait. |
| Conventional or catamaran? | Conventional ferries are slower, cheaper and steadier. Catamarans are faster, pricier and the first to be cancelled in wind. |
| Winter service | Reduced but not absent on the main lines. Seasonal and excursion services stop entirely from roughly November to April. |
| If a sailing is cancelled | EU maritime passenger rights give you re-routing or a refund in outline. Ask the operator, in writing, at the port. |
Structural details reflect the shape of the Dodecanese network rather than any single operator's current programme. Verify routes, times and fares with the ferry line or a licensed ticket agency before you travel. How we source information.
A ferry is not an excursion
A scheduled ferry sells you a seat from A to B. No swim stops, no lunch, no guide, and the return is a separate decision you have to plan around the timetable. People book a ferry expecting a boat trip and are disappointed by a perfectly good ship.
Choose the right boat
Three different products leave the same harbour. Picking the wrong one is the most common mistake visitors make with Kos sea travel.
Option 1
Cheapest per mile slowest
Pick this if you get seasick, you have a car, you are travelling with luggage or a pram, or the wind forecast looks unfriendly.
Option 2
Premium fare fastest
Pick this if the journey time is the point — a day in Rhodes or Patmos only works on a fast boat.
Option 3
Day-ticket price return included
Pick this if you want a day on the water rather than a journey. See the 3-island cruise guide.
The wind rule that saves your day
When the meltemi is blowing hard, the conventional ferry often sails while the catamaran on the same route is cancelled. If you have a fixed date and a flight to catch, the slower ship is the safer booking — not the tighter connection.
The network
Kos sits mid-chain in the Dodecanese, so it is a natural stop on the Rhodes–Patmos line as well as a hub for short local hops. These are the connections worth knowing.
The big one, and the route where vessel choice decides everything. On a fast boat Rhodes is a long day trip; on a conventional overnight ship it is a night's travel with a cabin. Verify the return before committing to a single day.
The best genuine island day from Kos. Small ferries cross from Mastichari on the north coast in well under an hour, and Pothia's sponge-diving harbour and the climbing walls above Massouri are a real change of scene.
Served both by small scheduled ferries and by excursion boats, which confuses people. The ferry lets you stay overnight and see the caldera rim villages; the excursion gives you the crater and a coach and gets you home for dinner. The volcano guide compares them properly.
Both sit north of Kos on the same line. Leros is quiet, Italian-built and underrated; Patmos carries the Cave of the Apocalypse and the monastery of Saint John. Patmos as a day trip needs a fast boat and a firm eye on the return.
The odd one out: an international crossing of about twenty minutes from Kos Town, with passport control at both ends. It is also the only Kos crossing routinely sold as a bookable same-day return day ticket. Read the Bodrum day trip guide before you book — the border rules matter more than the timetable.
A long crossing, usually overnight, and only worth it if you are travelling on rather than visiting. For a holiday from Kos, fly or stay in the Dodecanese.
Timing
From roughly May to October the network runs at full strength: more sailings, more operators, seasonal routes open. From November to April the main lines continue on a reduced timetable, but seasonal links and every excursion boat stop. Never assume a summer connection exists in March.
The meltemi is the northerly summer wind that builds through the afternoon and peaks in July and August. It is the single biggest cause of cancelled or delayed sailings in the Aegean, and it hits fast craft hardest. Morning departures are statistically the calmest crossings of the day.
If a day trip depends on a ferry, put it in the first half of your holiday. A cancelled sailing on your last full day leaves nothing to rebook into, and ferry tickets are not excursion vouchers with a friendly rebooking desk.
Mid-week departures are calmer than weekend ones, which carry the week's arrivals and departures. Mid-August is the peak of Greek domestic travel as well as foreign tourism — book vehicle space well ahead.
Practical access
Two reliable channels: the ferry line's own website, and a licensed ticket agency at the port or in town. Agencies are genuinely useful on Greek islands — they know which boat is actually running today, which no aggregator does as well.
Some Greek domestic operators still require an online booking reference to be exchanged for a boarding pass before you board. Read what your confirmation says. Turning up at the ramp with only a phone screenshot is the classic way to watch a ferry leave.
Foot tickets are cheap and flexible. A vehicle is a separate, much more expensive ticket that must usually be booked ahead in summer, and you board earlier and disembark later. For a day trip, leave the car on Kos and take the bus at the other end.
In Kos Town the large ferries and the Bodrum boat use the commercial quay by the castle, while excursion boats board along the inner harbour front. They are minutes apart and easy to confuse. Mastichari and Kardamena are separate ports entirely — a wrong assumption there costs you the day, not ten minutes.
Weather cancellations are normal here, and the port authority can suspend sailings outright. EU maritime passenger rights cover scheduled sea services and, in outline, give you the choice of re-routing on the next available sailing or a refund, plus assistance in some delay situations. Ask at the operator's desk, get it in writing, and keep your ticket.
A missed flight at the far end is your problem, not the ferry line's. Which is the real argument for never planning a ferry connection on the same day as a flight.
Insider: ask which boat, not which time
When you buy at an agency, ask the vessel name and type as well as the departure time. Knowing whether you are on a big ro-pax or a small fast craft tells you more about your crossing — comfort, seasickness, cancellation odds — than the timetable ever will.
How to save
On any route served by both, the conventional ferry undercuts the catamaran, sometimes substantially. If the extra hours cost you no hotel night, that is the easiest saving here.
Greek ferry lines commonly reduce fares for children, students and seniors, and islanders travel cheaper still. Bands and evidence requirements differ by operator — ask at the agency and carry ID, because it is checked.
Taking a car across is the single biggest line on a ferry bill. Local buses and taxis at the other end almost always cost less than the vehicle ticket for a short visit.
For a single day on Kalymnos or Nisyros, price both. An excursion day ticket includes the return and often lunch; two ferry singles plus food and local transport can add up to more. The excursions overview puts the formats side by side.
No Dodecanese ferry pass or island-hopping card saves you money on Kos routes — ignore anything marketed as one. Savings come from vessel choice, fare category and avoiding the first three weeks of August.
| Factor | Effect on price |
|---|---|
| Conventional versus catamaran | Large |
| Foot passenger versus vehicle | Very large |
| Route distance | Large |
| Season and demand | Moderate |
| Child, student or senior category | Moderate |
| Cabin versus deck on overnight ships | Large |
Relative, not absolute: we publish no ferry fares because they are set per operator, per route and per season. Get the current figure from the ferry line or a licensed agency.
Where to check schedules
Use the ferry lines' own websites for the routes you need, cross-check at a licensed port agency on the day, and confirm your return before you leave Kos. On the day itself, the port authority has the final word on whether anything sails.
How to get there
Kos is 40 km long, and its ports are not near each other. Read the port name on your ticket before you plan the morning.
The main harbour, beside Neratzia Castle, handling the large ferries and the Bodrum crossing. Walkable from the town centre; a short taxi from Lambi or Psalidi. Free parking nearby is gone by 08:30 in summer, so use a paid waterfront lot.
North-coast village about 25 km from Kos Town — allow 30 minutes by road — and the gateway to Kalymnos. Convenient from Marmari and Mastichari itself, and reachable from Kos Town by KTEL bus or taxi.
South-coast resort roughly 30 km from Kos Town, 40 minutes by road, and the closest port to Nisyros. Convenient if you are staying on the south coast or near the airport.
KTEL buses connect the resorts with Kos Town, but early services can start later than a morning ferry needs. Taxis are metered. If you are arriving on the island the same day, note that the airport is at Antimachia, mid-island, about 24 km from Kos Town.
Context
The Dodecanese is a chain of a dozen substantial islands strung along the Turkish coast, from Patmos in the north to Rhodes in the south-east. Only a handful have airports. The ferry is therefore not a tourist attraction here but the road network, carrying school children, building materials and hospital appointments alongside holidaymakers.
That explains the shape of the timetable. Sailings are built around what the islands need — hence connections at inconvenient hours, boats that do not exist for your day trip, and services that thin out but never vanish in winter. It also explains the culture at the ramp: crews load fast, ferries leave on time, nobody waits.
Kos benefits from its position. Mid-chain, it is a natural call on the long Rhodes-to-Patmos line while sitting close enough to Kalymnos, Pserimos and Nisyros for short local links. Add the twenty-minute hop to Bodrum and Kos has more sea options than most Greek islands its size.
The islands reward the effort. Kalymnos made its money from sponge diving and now draws sport climbers to its limestone. Patmos holds the cave where the Book of Revelation is traditionally said to have been written. Leros carries the architecture of the Italian occupation. None of these is a day-trip approximation of somewhere better — they are the point.
One caution for a hopping itinerary: build in slack. Two islands in a week is comfortable; four is a schedule one windy afternoon can destroy. If you want islands without the risk, the 3-island cruise visits three in a day and removes the timetable problem. For the rest of the island, see things to do on Kos or the Kos boat trips home page.
FAQ
A scheduled ferry is transport: it sells a one-way seat from A to B, makes no swim stops and includes no lunch or guide. An excursion boat sells a day out, with stops, food and a return the same evening, and cannot be used as one-way travel. Ferries run all year on the main routes; excursion boats are seasonal.
From the ferry line's own website, or from a licensed ticket agency at the port or in town. We do not publish schedules or fares here because both are revised seasonally and can change at short notice, and a stale timetable on a guide page is how people miss boats. Confirm your return before you leave Kos.
The routes that matter are Rhodes, Kalymnos, Leros, Patmos and Nisyros, plus mainland Piraeus on a long overnight crossing and the international hop to Bodrum in Turkey. Some smaller Dodecanese islands are served seasonally. Kalymnos from Mastichari is the easiest genuine island day out.
The catamaran is faster and dearer; the conventional ferry is slower, cheaper, steadier in a swell and takes vehicles. The decisive point is wind: when the meltemi blows hard, fast craft are cancelled first while the big ship often sails. On a fixed date, book the conventional ferry.
For a vehicle, yes, and well ahead in summer. For a foot passenger in July and August it is strongly advisable, especially in mid-August when Greek domestic travel peaks. Outside the peak you can usually buy on the day at a port agency, which has the advantage that the agent knows what is actually sailing.
It is the shortest domestic crossing from Kos, well under an hour on the small ferries that work the route. Mastichari is on the north coast, about 25 km from Kos Town, so allow 30 minutes by road plus time at the port. Check the current schedule with the operator before you set off.
Cancellations are routine in strong meltemi conditions and the port authority can suspend sailings entirely. EU maritime passenger rights give you, in outline, the choice of re-routing on the next available sailing or a refund. Ask at the operator's desk, get the decision in writing and keep your ticket. A missed onward flight is not covered.
Yes, on the main lines, but on a reduced timetable with fewer sailings each week. Seasonal routes and every excursion boat stop from roughly November to April. If you are planning winter travel, confirm the specific connection exists rather than assuming a summer schedule.
Bookable ferry, water-taxi and island tickets for Kos are listed on GetYourGuide — the authorised reseller we link to throughout this guide. Domestic Greek ferry schedules come from the ferry lines themselves.
