Thólos Naftílos

New dawn and our first stop was the nearby volcano, Nea Kameni. We took a boat from old port (yes we went down those 600 stairs again) and sailed to the volcano. On arrival we took a 20 minute hike to the summit and walked around the active crater, which aside from a slight Sulfur smell looked like nothing more than black rocks.

I'm gonna get my geek on and give you a geology lesson on the Cyclades islands. Santorini was once a large circular island that included nearby Thiraisa (which is on the other side of the Caldera).

About 3600 years ago a massive volcanic eruption occurred. The ancient society which inhabited Santorini was wiped out and the power from the eruption created a giant a sink whole. This sink whole is known as the caldera and is the large depression which separates the islands.

Within the depression is Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni, two volcanic formations created from the 6 eruptions over the last 3600 years. The last eruption was in 1950 and was considered minor with no damage to Santorini.

We got back on the boat and headed for the hot springs, located on the shores of Palea Kameni. The waters have a high mineral content including magnesium and iron which means they have historically consider to have therapeutic benefits. I'm not convinced, I could certainly smell Sulfur, which had also turned the water brown but didn't feel healed after my swim. However somewhere deep below. a magma chamber assisted in heating the water to a pleasant 28°C, so not complaining at all.

All in all a fantastic tour that is informative, fun and affords spectacular views of the Santorini coastline.Read more