Mykonos, Greece
1.Mykonos New Harbour
2.Ornos Bay
Not to be used for navigation
NOTE
At this time we cannot recommend Mykonos new harbour as a destination other than as refuge from weather. See our main website for more information on our visit to Mykonos in 07/2008.OVERVIEW
The New harbour is several miles north of Mykonos Town and the Old town harbour on the west side of Mykonos. The Old harbor is off-limits to sailboats but motor yachts are allowed to tie up there. When we tried to stop in the Old harbour to take on water we were shouted at till we left! We later visited the old harbour by land during a meltemi and could not recommend it even for motor boats.DESCRIPTION
The outer wall of the new harbour is a dock for cruise-ships and ferries. The marina inside this wall is well protected from swell but is unfinished. There is a northern part and a southern part with separate entrances, the two parts are divided by a low bridge so you have to enter at one end or the other according to which part you want. The northern part is small with room for a dozen or so boats and is usually full with permanently moored boats. It has mooring rings, a few laid lines and water and electricity on a meter. The southern part is much larger and will eventually hold several hundred boats. However it remains (after 10 years of 'construction') an unfinished construction site and has no amenities. Although there is no protection here from the wind, the protection from swell is very good inside the harbour even during a full Meltemi.MOORING
Assuming that you find yourself in the southern part, as did we, there are some mooring rings on the inside of the west wall of the harbour which fills up first. It is common to side-tie and to raft up to 3 abreast here. The east (land) side contains no mooring cleats or mooring rings and during our visit had the only available spaces. We put a bow anchor out and moored stern-to. The dockside here is comprised of large concrete blocks, some only just above water-level. There is nothing to tie your lines to. We were able to improvise a mooring by wedging our large fortress anchor down into a hole in one of these concrete blocks and securing one line to that, while the other (less stressed) line we secured to a block of wood that we jammed into another hole in the concrete. We completed our mooring with a line secured to a chain that we put around a large boulder.FACILITIES ASHORE
WIFI: We were unable to pick up an unsecured wifi signal here, although there were a number of secured signals from the many small hotels above the coast road.UTILITIES: There is no infrastructure at the new harbour. No water*, electricity, shops or restaurants.
TRANSPORT/TOWN: It is a 45 minute walk into town along the coast road. There is no footpath for much of the distance and the road is narrow with fast moving traffic. It is not a pleasant walk. There is a bus stop where the harbour road exits onto the coast road. A schedule is posted next to the stop. The buses run every hour into Mykonos town. Although the harbour serves as a ferry terminal we were unable to ever catch a taxi here. Amazingly taxis do not wait for the arriving ferries and generally will only respond to phone bookings. You may be able to hail a taxi on the street but usually they will not stop - even if empty. Additionally we found the taxi phone number constantly busy. Apparently there are only 31 taxis on the island for about 30,000 tourists!
GROCERY STORE
The largest grocery store is at the top of the hill above Mykonos town and is a taxi ride from the new harbour or from town. It has a reasonable selection of groceries and produce but no meat. They will call a taxi for you, but it may take half an hour for them to get through.
ALTERNATIVES
2. ORNOS BAY
Not to be used for navigation
Ornos bay in the south-west corner of the island is the best anchorage we found on Mykonos and is sheltered from the Meltemi. It is a large bay and is popular with the superyacht trade as well as cruisers and charterers. Although it attracts many boats there is plenty of room for all. There is a small-boat quay to the east of the beach where you can leave your dinghy (most of this quay is reserved for local boats, tie up at the south end). There are a number of decent fish restaurants lining a mediocre beach. We saw fresh crab and lobster being unloaded from a fishing boat just before dinner so we knew it was fresh. A 10 minute walk from the beach into Ornos village is a crossroads with a butcher, a bakery, an ATM, a bus stop for the hourly bus into Mykonos town and a small grocery store. We were able to find unsecured wifi while anchored in the bay using our powered external antenna. If you patronize a restaurant you may be able to get them to call you a taxi.
*WATER ALTERNATIVES
Tinos is the closest island to find water if you run low in Mykonos. The main harbour on the south coast of Tinos is about 8 nautical miles away and will supply water from a hose by arrangement with the harbormaster for a fee of €10 or so. Water is not plentiful in Tinos and in the summer you will not be allowed to wash your boat down. Although Heikel describes Tinos water as great tasting this was not our experience. The water was unpleasant to drink and contained small black solids which looked like carbon.To the south of Mykonos and a bit further away is Naxos. This is a much better option. Naxos is blessed with a good clean water supply and has two reservoirs inland. The water supply in the harbour is good and plentiful and it is permitted to use it for washing boats as well as for refilling tanks. Water is included within the docking charge of approx €25 per night.