Hydra (island) - Transport, Tourism and Leisure

Transport, Tourism and Leisure

Hydra depends upon tourism, and Athenians comprise a sizeable segment of its visitors. High speed hydrofoils and catamarans from Piraeus, some 37 nautical miles (69 km) away, serve Hydra, as do daily island ferry boats. (The ferries take about three hours for the transit; the hydrofoils and catamarans substantially less.) The island also has ferries to Aegina, Poros, Spetses, Nafplion and Monemvasia.

Rubbish trucks are the only motor vehicles on the island, as cars or motorcycles are not allowed by law. Donkeys, bicycles, and water taxis provide public transportation. The inhabited area, however, is so compact that most people walk everywhere.

Hydra benefits from numerous bays and natural harbours, and has a strong maritime culture. The island remains a popular yachting destination, and is the home of the Kamini Yacht Club, an international yacht club based in the port of Kamini.

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