Santorini Sunset Cruise

On the advice of our tour director we signed up for the sunset cruise even thought we had seen a beautiful sunset in Oia.  This was different because we cruised around the caldera and could see Fira and Oia from the water, and we also cruised close by the volcano crater.  We also had a great view of the sediment layers in the cliffs facing the caldera and we could easily see how the island was formed from many deposites over the centuries.  Below are a few photos of the cliffs from the water before sunset.  The first is a small collection of buildings, the second is Fira on the rim.

We also had a great view of the cable car running from the water to the rim, shown below on the far left, and the walking/donkey trail zig zaggin down the side of the cliffs, on the right.  We never made it down to the bottom there and did not get to ride the cable car or the donkeys as we had intended as we just ran out of time.

They served a nice dinner on the cruise as we made our way across the caldera.  Below is a shot of our boat the dinner setup.  We had to eat with our plates in our lap, but that was no problem.

 We eventually cruised into the harbor of the island that borders the far west side of the caldera where no card or vehicles are allowed and there is only a small village of inhabitants.  Some tourists may visit here if they want a more quiet, laid back experience.  Below is one photo if that area.

The sunset was very nice from this perspective and we enjoyed the cruise.  We also we close to some other boats, which provided a nice opportunity for some more interesting photos.  Following are a few of my favorites.  All will be posted later to the photo library here.

Finally, I have to include one sunset photo from this cruise and a nice shot of Fira from the caldera after dark.