ferry advice

Our trip with Sea Jets was great; journey was approximately 1:45, so arrival in Naxos was before noon. I am prone to seasickness, but had absolutely no issues on that ferry. I booked our tickets ahead of time, but there were plenty of passengers booking at the terminal at the time of sailing.

We typically would book our exit when we arrived on an island, but on the larger ferries, you can book right before you leave. The smaller fast ferries might sell out, outside August and Holidays, I doubt the large ones ever do. There is not much, if any price advantage, in booking long ahead.

Of course, the usual other advice for ferries applies...larger slower ferries are more dependable, less sensitive to weather, both for ride comfort and cancellation. As the previous poster mentioned, the SeaJets are fast, smooth ride...when the sea is calm and the weather good. If the wind picks up and the waves start to chop...well, my ride from Naxos to Santorini in one was pure hell, a rough ride, and people getting sick all around you.

In September there will be at least 6 or 7 ferries a day from Santorini to Naxos. That's thousands of seats every day. No need to book and buy in advance, especially since the schedules can be modified a few days before.

Just buy your tickets once in Santorini.

As stated the Seajet ferry departs mid morning and can have you at Naxos around 11am. That gives you time to get to your hotel and start to explore. The Seajet is inside the Caldera for 17 minutes so you do get views. On all of our hops to Naxos there has been an exposed deck at the stern where one can be outside to take in the sights.

The Blue Star is a conventional ferry with lots of outside deck space. It departs and spends a significant time in the Caldera so you views are great. It is less expensive and It is much slower and departs in the afternoon so you don't get into Naxos until late afternoon.

We always choose Seajets to get to Naxos early.

I agree, wait till you are on Santorini to buy your ferry ticket. Any local travel agent can sell you the ticket and the bonus is they will have the latest information on weather and strikes.

Lastly if the sea is bad then both Seajets and Blue Star are going to be bouncy.

I'm jumping onto Pam's question although our dates are different --my husband and I are traveling in April 2023 ( no car). So I assume advice is the same, purchase ferry ticket to Naxos form Santorini once in Santorini?
After looking at the ferries running, the morning ferry from Santorini is Powerjet, not Seajet2 as forum readers suggest taking. Is this a similar boat, is the advice the same?
There is a World Champion Jet mid-day and Seajet 2 in the early afternoon, but my preference is to take the earliest boat.
thanks for sharing your experiences with a newbie to Greece.

My husband and I are traveling in April 2023 (no car). So I guess the
advice is the same, buy a ferry ticket to Naxos from Santorini once in
Santorini?

Yes the advice is the same except if you are traveling between April 14 and 17 which is the Easter period. But according to your other posts, it will be the end of April.

I think the suggestion to take the "Seajet 2" is a mistake. It is one of the 3 small highspeed catamarans with the "Sifnos Jet" and the "Superjet". It's in these 3 that you will be most shaken. Also there is no way to go to an outside deck.

I think of all my Seajet ferry trips, the ones with these little Seajets have been the most unpleasant (and I'm pretty resistant to rough sea travel).

The Power Jet and the World Champion jet are very large high-speed catamarans (1200 / 1300 passengers + cars, trucks..). If I was forced under threat to take a Seajets ferry I would take one of these two.

Otherwise, I would obviously take the Blue Star Delos without any hesitation.

You can see the entire seajets fleet here:
https://www.seajets.com/learn-about-seajets/fleet