Getting from Dokos to Antikythera

If you are heading to Antikythera from Dokos you are making your way from an uninhabited rocky island in the Saronic Gulf to one of the most remote islands in Greece, sitting in the strait between Kythira and Crete with around 30 to 40 permanent residents. It is known to the world for the Antikythera Mechanism, a 2,000-year-old bronze analog computer recovered from a shipwreck in 1900 and now considered the most sophisticated device to survive from antiquity.

Take the ferry

There are no scheduled ferries from Dokos. Dokos has no ferry service and is accessible only by water taxi from Hydra, Spetses or Ermioni, with the crossing from Hydra taking around 30 minutes. Antikythera is served by a ferry running from Piraeus through Kythira to Antikythera, continuing to Kissamos in Crete. Getting there means arranging a water taxi from Dokos to Hydra, taking the Saronic ferry from Hydra to Piraeus, which takes around 1 hour 5 minutes to 2 hours, and then boarding the Piraeus to Antikythera ferry, which takes around 8 to 10 hours, or flying to Kythira and taking the short ferry from Kythira to Antikythera, which takes around 1 hour 30 minutes.

Getting there by air

Antikythera has no airport, only a helipad. The nearest airport is Kythira, with connections from Athens. Dokos has no airport. Taking the water taxi from Dokos to Hydra, the Saronic ferry to Piraeus and flying from Athens to Kythira, followed by the short ferry from Kythira to Antikythera, gives a total journey time of around 6 to 7 hours. In Greece, airlines do not operate direct inter island flights.

Your best option

Arrange a water taxi from Dokos to Hydra before leaving the island, take the Saronic ferry to Piraeus and fly from Athens to Kythira, then take the ferry across to Antikythera. Pre-arrange your water taxi departure as you cannot hail a boat once you are on Dokos. Check the ferry schedule before booking your flights as the service runs only a few times per week. Bring everything you need as the island has almost no facilities and that is rather the point of going.