It’s sunbed and day trip question season again on some social media, so let’s put the Q&A to (sun) bed. Yes, there are beaches on Symi, yes, they have sunbeds, no, they are not likely to be free. Do you have time to visit the beaches and ‘coves’ when on a day trip? That depends. What is there to do here on a day trip? Lots. For some ideas, see this page: https://symidream.com/symi-in-three-hours/
How long you have here depends on what boat you get across. If you want an all-day experience and have some spare cash, then take the Dodecanese Seaways as it sets off at 8.00 gets here at 8.50, returns at 16.30 (or just after 17.00 depending on the day), and gives you roughly seven hours here. Other boats are available. The Sebeco, for example, does Rhodes direct to Yialos (Symi main town), and there are several day-trip boats from Mandraki, but they only give you a few hours in Yialos after stopping en route.
I love it when someone writes into social media seeking ‘advise’ (ahem), and asks something like, ‘Is there a beach where we can go swimming?’ It’s at times like these that things become antisocial media. You get the diehard Symi-two-weeks-a-year regulars ignoring the question and answering with things like, ‘Why go swimming?’ like that’s helpful. Then you have those who have missed the point entirely: ‘A day is not long enough, stay for a week at So-kai-So Apartments’, again missing the point that the enquirer only has a day. Then, you have the helpfuls who set out a complete itinerary starting from where and when you get off the boat, how to catch a bus to the village, which café to stop in for your coffee, how long it will take you to walk down the steps and you must make sure you visit edo, eki and pantou (here, there and everywhere) along the way. Things get even hotter under the virtual collar when someone dares ask, ‘Are there any hotels with pools?’ The answer is either yes or no. The answer shouldn’t be a diatribe about why that person wants a pool, how the Aegean is on your doorstep, and how this isn’t Benidorm. My answer to many such queries is rather unhelpful, so I keep it to myself. Apart from this once: Do your own research. I spend hours researching for my books and I learn while doing so. It’s much more rewarding than simply asking someone (which is, admittedly, also research, but…).
Anyway, that’s something to contemplate while you decide whether you want to pay €7.50, €10.00 or even more for one sunbed for a few hours, or whether you just want to spread out a towel and lie on a beach like we did in the black and white days.
(Today’s photos are from Neil.)
