Santorini Hot Spring
Palea and Nea Kameni are two uninhabited islets near the caldera. Legend holds that they were vampire purgatories where the Santorinian "ghost-busters" banished them.
Hot springs gush near the coast of those two islets. Those springs used to be called Vourkano, but as tourism became a major part of Santorini's economy, that name was changed to "Hot Springs".
How will you get there?By asking around. It's that simple and that complicated at the same time. There are boatmen who sail to the Kameni islets from the Firi harbor. The prices are debatable. The boatmen usually take you to spots where the waters are shallow and they know their boats run no danger of crashing on the sharp rocks of the volcano. Then there are offices that organize trips with tourist crafts; those usually follow a specific route, Crater - Hot Springs.
Where will you stay?Better stay in Santorini. If you decide to stay in any of the Kameni islets though, you'll need water, food, a sleeping bag and. courage.
So, here's how it goes.The waters are very lovely. The temperature is 95o F in Nea Kameni and 101o F in Palea Kameni. The color of the water is dark blue-green, while the rocks around it are red and copper-yellow. The tourist crafts usually stop around 50 meters away from the spot where the springs gush and you have to swim your way there. After ten minutes, a hooter rings and everyone has to swim back to the craft.
Plaka
Plaka's springs had always been the most popular springs of the island. That, of course, was before the island's tourism developed and the inhabitant's habits changed. Since then, the visitors are limited and most of them are usually professors from the island's University along with their students, studying the volcano.
How will you get there?There's a bus stop in Megalochori. You follow the dirt road to "Hotel Artemis" - there's a sign, don't worry. On the right side of the hotel there's a column; that's where you turn left, heading towards the caldera. You follow the path to Agios Nikolaos, you come down the slope and you reach the little church of Mother Virgin. From there you will be able to notice eight rooms, one next to the other. Those rooms consist the Plaka hot springs.
So, here it goes.Don't even sweat it for a moment; the springs may be somewhat. ancient, but they're lovely. The water temperature is about 93o F - 95o F. In order to take a bath, you have to empty the basin and wait for about ten minutes for it to fill up by itself again.
