Where are best ship spotting places in Greece?

[Oldkayaker]

Got family and friends going to visit Greece later this year.  Do any members have a favorite place in Greece for spotting ships.  With all the islands, I imagine there are probably many places; but, I was hoping there might be places that are easily reached, that have visitor accommodations nearby and are where ships can be readily spotted.Thanks for any help.    My visitors will drink  a toast or two for you if they use your recommendation. :pint:

[Dmitry Rostopshin]

There was a lot of vessels around Piraeus, especially passenger liners.

[Gerolf Drebes]

Hi Oldkayaker,
I know the islands of
Mykonos: you can sit in a restaurant and see all the ships entering and leaving (about 15-20 ships a day, mainly ferries and cruise vessels)
Santorini: From Thira you have a fantastic view on the water and the passenger vessel lying there and the ferries passing (5 to 15 ships a day)
Paros: you can see all the ships entering and leaving from the promenade in the main city (10-15 ships a day mainly ferries)
Naxos: same as Paros
The place with most of the ships is Pireaus. In summer there is a ferry running from the ferry port to Salamina. On that trip about 40 minutes one way you can see lots of ships lying in the port. On the entrance of the ferry port (side where the cruise ships are lying, ther is a sony beach, from where you can take all the ferries coming an leaving and as well some of the cargo vessels.
To see the ships on the anchorage of Pireaus you have to hire a private boat, I never tried, maybe some other shipspotter.
Gerolf

[Oldkayaker]

Thanks very much Gerolf and Dmitry.. your comments are most helpful and appreciated.  I will pass them along to my visiting friends and family.

Oldkayaker

[Anton Heuff]

Hi Oldkayaker,

I can't recommend Naxos. It doesn't have a bay or a proper port, only a pier where the ferries dock stern-first and disappear in the distance without manoeuvring, so in most cases all you can see is the stern (in my time the pier head was forbidden terrain, and I never managed to take a satisfactory picture).

Paros on the other hand has a deep bay where the ships can be seen arriving and departing while at reduced speed. Good light conditions untill well after midday. It's one of my favourite spots. When on the boulevard you will see a little church high above, you can take pictures there from a different perspective. Take care of your shutter speed or pan your camera when photographing catamarans, they're moving really fast here.

Syros, or rather its capital Ermoupolis, to be precise, offers many possibilities around its harbour basin and along the seaside. Ferries will make a pirouette to dock stern-first. The larger and high-speed ferries which tend to pass over Paros and Naxos usually call at Syros. Also ferries coming from mainland Rafina will dock at Syros, while Paros and Naxos are on the route from Piraeus.

I wish your family and friends "good light" when in Greece!

Regards, Anton

[Nicholas Gerardis]

In the Athens area, you can visit the commercial port of elefsina (elefsis) where you will find relics and many bulk carriers, along with a small breaking yard and a repair facility nearby (easily visible from the commercial port). You can also drive down towards "megalo pefko", on the road to which you are going to find many great viewing spots overseeing the elefsis shipyards and the bay of elefsis, and also the shipwreck of i think Ionian Star (?) The whole area is filled with relics, layed up ships, ships under repair and a few small commercial ports. The area of perama is also very interesting (shipyards), accessible, and easy to photo, as it's on the footing of a mountain. The passing from Perama to Salamina is interesting too as you can clearly see moored ships and the naval base in salamina on arival.

Regards
Nick.

[peter j. fitzpatrick]

hi i hope you enjoy your trip to beautifull greece and will be able to take lots of photos of the shipping in the areas mentioned
i tend to go to piraeus area as its the busiest port and last year went to syros which is a lovely port
a word of warning though please please ask permission to take photos from the port authorities as you could get in trouble if you dont
they do have rules and as you are a visitor in greece its polite to do so
with my best regards
peter j.fitzpatrick

[Oldkayaker]

Thanks Very Much Anton, Nick and Peter
your additional comments are very helpful and I have passed them on to my traveling friends and family.

Very considerate and helpful info, thanks.\
John (Oldkayaker)

[Nick Karampakakis]

Dear Oldkayaker,

There sure are a lot of interesting places for shipspotters in Grecce. I wont suggest anything different from the previous spotters. Since I live in Athens, I would too, reccomend the port of Piraeus and the surounding ports (Eleusis, Perama, Keratsini, Salamina) for great shipspotting. On the other hand, if you or your friends are interested in Cruise ships, the best time of the year to come to Piraeus would be between May and October, which is the cruising season for the region. Durind these months you can spot great and large cruise ships :-D, of Celebrity, Costa, MSC, NCL, RCI, Cunard, Aida and much more. Unfortunately,:cry: , during the rest of the year cruise ship visits are minimum with the exception of Louis Cruise Line ships.

Regards Nick K.

[Oldkayaker]

Thanks Nick K... most helpful.

 :-)

[Nicholas Gerardis]

If any help is needed in order to take pictures at the elefsis port, let me know, i'll be happy to help, as i'm a good customer of the port and have direct access and good relations with the authorities.
Regards, Nick.

[Oldkayaker]

Thanks Nick.. good to know. :-)