If you visit the Greek Island of Santorini it is possible to take a boat trip to the volcano there. You will be able to visit and walk on Nea Kameni in the holiday months; from May to October. It is possible to swim in the mineral rich waters of the caldera from the boat on your day trip to Nea Kameni.  This is one of the most dramatic places I have visited on my holidays to Greece.

To visit the volcano you need to book a boat trip, these are arranged from most resorts on the island. A coach will collect you from the resort you are staying in and take you to the port where your boat is waiting to take you for your trip to visit the volcano.

The boats leave for the volcano Nea Kameni from Fira (Old Port) and from Athinios Port. You can book your trip to go on a traditional  (sailing style) boat if you wish. Most of the tours have a commentary on the boat in Greek, English, Spanish and German; some (the smaller boats usually) are only in Greek and English. You will be told how long the boat stops at Nea Kameni for your walk around the volcano. When you get off you boat to take the walk look carefully at it as more than one boat may be there at the same time; notice something memorable about it for when you return to it.

What will visiting Santorini's volcano be like? Very hot, but the place is amazing, like no place you've ever visited. You find yourself thinking I cannot believe it I am actually walking on a volcano. The view across the Caldera is splendid and on the boat you get to see the beauty of the colours of the cliffs formed by the volcanic activity that has taken place there.

It is difficult to describe the way the cliff face rock of the Caldera is coloured and the variations of it; this description by Lawrence Durrell in his book The Greek Islands does it more justice than I can. He says

"where has anyone ever seen such colours, seen rock twisted up like barley-sugar, convoluted and coloured so fancifully? They remind one of the oil marbling on the endpapers of Victorian ledgers. Mauve,green,putty,grey,yellow,scarlet,cobalt...every shade of heat from that of pure molten rock to the tones of metamorphic limestone cooling back into white ash."

Which if you look at the photo you can see is a good way of describing the strange and unexpected colours you see in rock of the cliff face while on the boat on the water of the caldera when you visit the volcano at Santorini.

You will need to plan your day out so that you have enough protection from the sun; plenty of sun cream, a hat something to cover your shoulders,sunglasses. You will also need to wear sensible footwear; some people wear holiday sandals for the walk up the volcano but as the stones beneath your feet are hot and some of the stones are like shale and loose try to wear something more suitable. Freezing a bottle of water the night before your trip and so that you have a cold drink for your walk is a good idea.

Do n't forget to pack your camera as you will want to take photos of your walk up the volcano and of the views you see from it. This trip is probably not a good idea for very small children or anyone who finds walking difficult. The path is quite step and there is no shelter from the sun and being a volcano it is very hot there; well it was when we visited in the summer.

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