Symi from Rhodes: Speedboat or Cruise Ship – Which Day Trip, and Is St George's Bay Included?
Updated October 8, 2026 · 6 min read
The short answer: book the trip that names the swim stop and the free time in its title, and ignore the headline price. Most boats to Symi sail from Rhodes Town, take people to the same colourful harbour and give them roughly the same three hours on the island. What differs is how long you sit on the boat, whether you also get a swim in St George’s Bay, and what the price includes. Those three things explain nearly all of the gap between €31.50 and €55.
What the day actually is
Symi is a small island north of Rhodes, known for its pastel neoclassical houses stacked around the harbour, its fishing boats, its sponge-diving history and the Monastery of Panormitis. Every trip below ends up in the same place, the harbour town. What you choose is the way there and back.
The crossing is where the boats differ. The tour listings rarely state the crossing time, so read the total duration as the clue. The fast boats that name it promise a crossing of about an hour, and the ferry-style Panormitis day trip says about 1 hour 45 minutes. A trip that lasts six hours with three hours on Symi has a short crossing. One that lasts eight to nine hours with the same free time spends the difference at sea.
The fast ones
The most-reviewed trip of all, the speedboat trip to Symi with free time to explore, is €32 per person, 7 to 8 hours, 4.5 stars from 5,744 reviews. It is a modern speedboat with an air-conditioned indoor area and a sundeck. The listing mentions free time on the island but not a swim stop, so if the bay matters to you, check the booking page.
The high-speed boat to Symi and Saint George’s Bay costs €55.20, runs 6 to 9 hours and has 4.7 stars from 4,127 reviews. It includes 3 hours of free time on the island and a 30-minute swim stop in the bay. The cruise with hotel transfer is the same price, 6 hours, 4.7 stars from 3,189 reviews, with departures at 9:00 am, 11:00 am and 3:15 pm and returns at 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm or 9:00 pm. It lists an afternoon departure and an evening return, which most of the other trips here do not. The hotel transfer is an option from Faliraki, Ixia, Kremasti and Kolymbia, which saves a taxi to the harbour if you stay there.
There is also a fast boat described as a one-hour crossing with around 4 hours of free time on Symi: €53, 7 to 10 hours, 4.6 stars from 467 reviews. Fewer reviews, so take the rating with a little care.
The slower, cheaper ones
The cruise from Mandraki Harbour is €34.20 for 8.5 hours, and it is the lowest-rated of the popular options, 4 stars from 3,121 reviews. The cruise on the vessel Doll is €55 for 8 hours with 3 hours of free time and the bay swim, 4.2 stars from 2,293 reviews. The Symi cruise with a swim stop at St George Bay is €31.50 for 8 hours, 4.3 stars from 649 reviews.
A longer day is not a flaw if you like being on a boat. If you do not, the lower ratings of the 8-hour trips are worth reading as information: the day is longer. The 6-hour versions cost €20 or so more, and that is the price of getting 2 or 3 hours back.
Panormitis, the yacht and other departure points
If the monastery is the reason you want to go, the day trip to Symi and the Panormitis Monastery is €45 for 9 hours, 4.5 stars from 1,952 reviews, and the speedboat trip to Symi Town and Panormitis is €40 for 7.5 hours, 4.4 stars from 404 reviews. The other trips mostly stay in Symi harbour, so a monastery visit is a reason to choose one of these two. The day trip lists one hour at the monastery; the speedboat listing does not say how its time is split between the monastery and the harbour, so look at the programme on the booking page.
At the top end, the yacht trip with unlimited drinks and lunch is €130 for 8 hours, with swim stops at St George’s Bay and Seskli Island and 4.8 stars from 433 reviews. It is a different kind of day, not a more expensive version of the same one.
You do not have to leave from Rhodes Town. A boat from Faliraki Beach costs €79 for 8 hours and mentions free parking at the Amada Colossos stop, and a trip from Lindos combines Rhodes Old Town in the morning with a speedboat to Symi in the afternoon for €37.60 and 12 hours. All the other Symi options are collected on the Symi day trips page, including a plain ferry crossing from €20.
The honest part
Symi in July and August is busy, and a harbour that looks like a postcard in the photos is crowded when several boats arrive at the same hour. The 9:00 am departure puts you there with the first boats; the 11:00 am and 3:15 pm departures arrive later. Only two listings state a capacity, 25 passengers on the yacht and 420 on the ferry, and review summaries of three of the 8-hour cruises mention crowding and limited seating, so the rating and reviews are the best guide.
A speedboat is quicker but can be bumpier when there is wind. For anyone who gets seasick, the quick crossing and the calm one are not the same thing, and the pharmacy is the place to ask before you go. If the sea is rough, sailings can be changed or cancelled, so check the terms on the booking page and avoid putting Symi on your last day.
Which one, for whom
| Trip | Total | From | Rating | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speedboat to Symi, free time | 7–8 hours | €32 | 4.5 (5,744) | the budget fast boat, no swim stop in the title |
| High-speed boat with St George’s Bay | 6–9 hours | €55.20 | 4.7 (4,127) | most people: swim stop and 3 hours free |
| Cruise with hotel transfer | 6 hours | €55.20 | 4.7 (3,189) | late start or evening return |
| Cruise from Mandraki Harbour | 8.5 hours | €34.20 | 4.0 (3,121) | those who do not mind a long day |
| Day trip with Panormitis | 9 hours | €45 | 4.5 (1,952) | the monastery |
| Yacht with unlimited drinks | 8 hours | €130 | 4.8 (433) | a special day |
For most people we would book the high-speed boat with the bay stop: it is one of the best-rated options with thousands of reviews, the swim stop is in the title, and you are not on the water all day. The cheap speedboat is the sensible choice if the bay does not matter to you. If you would rather stay on the water than go to Symi, the Rhodes boat trips page lists the rest, and the island’s other big day out is compared in Lindos from Rhodes.
