Enjoyed the Greek Island life in Hydra, just a ferry away from Athens

It's been a year since our trip to Turkey and Greece, and while the whole trip was enjoyable, my most favorite leg of our trip was when we went to Hydra, one of the Saronic Islands close enough to Athens that it's accessible with just a short ferry ride.

We attempted to go to Santorini, which requires a local flight, so it was too expensive for just a few days, not to mention I've been there, done that, so I wasn't willing to spend a lot to do it again. Good thing I have Greek friends who were patient enough to give us tips and recommendations.

We bought our ferry tickets online, and they only cost €28 one way, for a journey that takes around two hours. We planned to take the 8:30am ferry from Piraeus Port to give us a full day in Hydra.

Early morning at Piraeus

There is a place where you can buy coffee and food, but it's not really good, so it would be better to bring something with you.

I think there is also an indoor Passenger Lounge.

Since we bought our tickets online, we just needed to go to the ticket office to get the actual tickets.

Hellenic Seaways also have larger vessels

But we were travelling on the catamaran.

It was comfortable inside

and I quickly settled down with my Mama Mia soundtrack.

Hydra was so beautiful... even from the ferry window!

Love at First Sight

Thanks for the ride!

View from the port.

This is actually the Hydra Port.

One of the things unique to Hydra is how eco friendly it is. There are no cars on the island, except for a fire truck I think and a few garbage trucks. Everything else is accessible by boat or donkey, which means tourists don't have any difficulty getting around compared to Santorini where you need to rent a car to fully explore the island.

If you need help with your luggage, the donkey will take care of it.

The waterfront was beautiful.

The left of the port has the museum and a place you can visit to get a better view of the town and the waterfront.

Heading towards the right of the port will bring you directly into the Hydra's town center.

Trade Check in Hydra
You can take the person out of Unilever, but you can never
take Unilever out of there person. Hahaha.

The place we stayed in Glaros Guest House, was not only good value, it was also conveniently located on one of the side streets close enough to the port so we didn't need a donkey to carry our luggage. 

There are several beaches on Hydra, some accessible on foot, with the nicer ones accessible only by boat. On our first day, we decided to explore the Hydra on foot.

ootd for the Greek Island life

Next time I am bring Sofia... to go with the Sofia boat.

Our bed and breakfast host recommended walking to Kamini Beach, but we stopped at the first swimming spot we saw.

The water was quite rough, but some people were jumping and swimming anyway.

We stopped for lunch along the way at Kodylenias, a place recommended by my local friends. Not only was the food exceptional, the view was breathtakingly beautiful too. It was so nice, we stopped by again on our way back to have merienda. Hahaha.

There is a big resort in Kamini Beach where we rented some chairs and swam in the beach. It's nothing compared to the beautiful beaches in the Philippines though.

The walk back at sunset was different because everything was bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

More swimming spots along the way.

One of the landmarks of Hydra is the
windmill overlooking the sea 

The sunset restaurant, aka jumping/swimming spot during the day turns into
this picturesque party place from sunset to night.

The next day, we decided to explore the other beaches. We thought it would be possible to ride a boat and hop off at one beach, then catch the later boat to take us to another beach, but with the language barrier, it seemed as if it was not possible to do this. We opted to go down at San Nikolas, the farther beach instead.

Bisti Beach from the boat

We opted to go to San Nikolas but we stayed away from the crowds and stayed in our own private cove instead. Totally worth it.

You just need to walk through the rocks to get back to the main cove where you can rent a beach chair and the boats are docked.

Since it was our last day on the Hydra, we decided to head back to town once our picnic lunch was gone and we had enough of sea and sand.

I woke up quite early on our last day in Hydra, but instead of trying to go back to sleep, I decided to explore this beautiful Island once again before we left. Again, it looks different in the morning, but not any less beautiful.

Uber, anyone?

I grabbed myself a Feta Pie from the neighborhood bakery beside our hotel, and coffee, and enjoyed the view some more.

Hahaha. That's me in my PJs. Hindi naman halata.

This is the life.

I will definitely plan a trip back with Sofia. Who by the way is named after the Greek Goddess of Wisdom...

and if that's not good enough reason, maybe I can charge the trip as R&D
expense for Wanderlust Sandals... since this is the Island that inspired it all.

"Life is Short. Buy the Damn Shoes!" just saying.

Hellenic Seaways

https://hellenicseaways.gr/en

*Posts on Where to Stay, Where to Eat, Jewellery Shopping and more on the beaches to follow. Drop me a line if you need more information and are planning a visit to Hydra before I get to it.