The Kos glass bottom boat cruise is a short sea trip from the harbour of Kos town on a boat that lets passengers look down at the sea floor. Anyone planning other days on the islands can find them through the tours in Greece hub.
Below are the boats, the route, the times, the order of the cruise, the sea life and the answers to the questions visitors raise.
What is the Kos glass bottom boat cruise?
Boarding the Kos glass bottom boat cruise means joining a short boat trip that starts in Kos harbour. The vessel lets guests look at the sea floor through a glass bottom or in an underwater cabin. Operators differ.
Operators describe the Kos glass bottom boat cruise in two ways. One listing presents a glass-bottom boat whose thick glass bottom works as a window to the sea floor. One operator runs a yellow vessel with an underwater cabin instead. Another page simply invites visitors to join a cruise on a glass-bottom boat in Kos town.
Wikipedia explains that a glass-bottom boat has clear panels in the bottom, below the waterline. Passengers see the sea beneath them from inside the boat. Seen through the glass, the sea is clearer than when seen from above, as surface disturbances do not distort it. Wikipedia likens the experience to wearing a diving mask, and passengers stay dry.
Kos belongs to Greece and lies in the Aegean Sea. The Dodecanese group counts it as a member. Wikipedia places that group in the sea’s south-east. Only Rhodes and Karpathos are larger, according to Wikipedia. It gives the size as 42.1 by 11.5 kilometres. Wikipedia says tourism is the main industry, with the beaches the primary attraction.
Kos town is the municipal seat of the island and also its main port. Wikipedia describes the town as a centre for tourism and culture. Ancient writers, it notes, named the town a well-fortified port. Wikivoyage puts the marina of Kos at its old harbour. Listings place the Kos glass bottom boat cruise in this harbour area.
Visitors choose the Kos glass bottom boat cruise for a look at the sea floor while they stay dry. Wikipedia says tour boats of this type are designed to give a large group a view. One tour title reads Kos: Glass-Bottom Boat Cruise with Mermaid Show. The operator’s own page tells what the show holds.
What does the Kos glass bottom boat cruise include?
Listings for the Kos glass bottom boat cruise describe shaded decks, a bar, a safety briefing and an audio commentary. One operator adds a certified diver and a crew of three. Each operator lists its own set, so the details differ.
The layout of the Kos glass bottom boat cruise depends on the operator. One listing describes a glass-bottom boat with two decks and shaded areas. It adds a top deck for the sun. A second listing says guests watch marine life through the glass bottom on the shaded deck.
One listing says guests get a safety briefing and a welcome as the trip starts. An audio commentary gives facts and information through the boat’s speakers during the trip. Another listing names five languages for the commentary: English, Italian, French, German and Dutch. One listing adds that Wi-Fi is not available aboard in the open sea.
One listing mentions an onboard bar and lists drinks as excluded, so guests buy drinks on board. Another operator’s vessel has a bar that serves snacks, ice creams, coffees and refreshments. That operator also lists a certified diver, and guests can take photos with the diver during the voyage.
One operator runs its Kos glass bottom boat cruise on a yellow vessel, 17 metres long, for 49 guests. The operator lists a crew of three and one toilet on board. The vessel is 4.82 metres wide and 3.18 metres high, says the same list. The operator calls it a specialised construction with an underwater cabin.
Operators of the Kos glass bottom boat cruise differ on size and extras. One listing says its tour runs with between fifteen and seventy guests. The yellow vessel holds forty-nine guests, as its operator lists. Both operators list a stop for swimming. That operator also offers the vessel for private tours and school trips, with notice in advance.
Where does the Kos glass bottom boat cruise go?
The Kos glass bottom boat cruise begins in Kos town, at the harbour. Operators differ on the route. One lists a coastal sailing with a shipwreck stop and a swim stop. Another lists a glass-bottom trip towards the island of Pserimos.
In every listing, a Kos glass bottom boat cruise starts at the main port of Kos. One operator gives the Old Harbour. One listing spells the street Akti Kountouriotou, and that operator’s page spells it Akti Kountourioti. A second listing says only the port of Kos.
Wikipedia names Kos town as the island’s principal town and its port. Wikivoyage places the marina at the old harbour. It says the castle of Neratzia dominates the port, and the Avenue of the Palms begins at the castle. Wikivoyage dates the castle to the Knights Hospitaller, in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries.
One Kos glass bottom boat cruise sails a short coastal route on a yellow vessel. Its operator lists two stops: one close to a shipwreck, and one at a sandy coast where guests swim. The page says the vessel sails along the coast.
A second Kos glass bottom boat cruise goes to Pserimos. One listing says the glass-bottom boat stops at the island for a swim. It then sails to an old shipwreck that guests see through the glass bottom, and returns to Kos. A different listing says guests see the shipwreck during the swim stop.
Wikipedia says Pserimos belongs to the Dodecanese. Kalymnos is its neighbour to the north, Kos its neighbour to the south, and the coast of Turkey is near. A daily ferry runs there from Pothia on Kalymnos. Kalymnos lies 12 kilometres north of Kos.
Each route of a Kos glass bottom boat cruise runs over the Aegean Sea. Wikipedia calls it an elongated embayment that the Mediterranean forms, with the Balkans and Anatolia on its shores. The Dodecanese lie in its southeast, with Rhodes, Kos and Patmos. Boats reach Kos from Bodrum, in Turkey, across 20 kilometres of the Aegean.
When can visitors join the Kos glass bottom boat cruise?
One operator’s page lists five departures daily. The earliest leaves at 10 in the morning. The final one leaves at 8 in the evening. Each takes ninety to a hundred minutes. Visitors join the Kos glass bottom boat cruise at the Old Harbour of Kos.
The three others leave at noon, 2 and 4 in the afternoon. A desk in front of the boat sells last-minute tickets. It opens daily, from 10 in the morning to 10 at night. The page advises reserving tickets online earlier. That desk is the place to ask for a same-day Kos glass bottom boat cruise.
The same page describes an evening sailing with music, along the shore at sunset. The operator says its boat reaches Kos at the end of April. Official cruises start right after, at the start of late spring. The site of another operator says its captains take a winter break.
That second site gives two and a half hours for its glass-bottom cruise in Kos town. A listing for the Kos glass bottom boat cruise to Pserimos asks guests to reach the dock twenty minutes early.
That trip runs with a minimum of 15 guests. Guests receive a refund if the group stays under that number. A full refund applies when a guest cancels a day before the start at the latest. A second listing says a new date or a refund follows if the weather forces a cancellation.
A sailing of the yellow vessel takes ninety to a hundred minutes. At that length, a Kos glass bottom boat cruise stays a short outing and fills only part of a day. Wikipedia describes the climate of Kos as Mediterranean, with hot summers. Its article on that climate says summers bring clear skies and high temperatures.
The Etesian winds, called meltemi in Greek, blow dry and strong from the north across the Aegean. Wikipedia says their season opens in late spring and closes around the middle of September. In the south Aegean they come as northwesterlies. A clear sky gives no warning: the winds can rise to force seven to eight on the Beaufort scale.
How does the Kos glass bottom boat cruise work?
The Kos glass bottom boat cruise starts at the port of Kos. Guests board and hear a welcome and a safety briefing. Then the boat sails along the coast, and the glass shows the sea floor. One operator adds a swim stop.
Wikipedia defines the glass-bottom boat as a vessel fitted with glass or other clear material under the waterline. From within the hull, passengers observe the sea. Wikipedia says this beats peering over the side, since ripples on the surface distort the view. The listings for the Kos glass bottom boat cruise show two designs.
One operator lists a glass-bottom boat with a thick glass floor and two decks that have shaded areas. Another operator names a maximum speed of 9 knots for its yellow vessel. The effect, Wikipedia says, resembles wearing a diving mask without getting wet.
One listing sets out the course in three steps. Guests arrive at the starting point in Kos, take the tour, and sail back to the start. The same listing adds an audio commentary through the boat’s speakers.
Arrival times differ by page. One listing says to meet the operator’s team at the dock beside the boat, 20 minutes ahead of the trip. Another page for the same boat asks for arrival at the port 60 minutes before departure. It lists swimwear, sunscreen, a hat and a towel.
The yellow vessel adds an extra to the Kos glass bottom boat cruise. Its operator says guests can jump in and swim around the vessel, so friends can film them under the surface. The operator also lists a bar with snacks, ice creams and coffees.
Two operators describe the Kos glass bottom boat cruise as family friendly. One page says children are welcome on every cruise and names a swim bay with floaters for the little ones. The yellow vessel’s operator treats children aged 4 to 12 as a group of their own.
What do visitors see on the Kos glass bottom boat cruise?
Visitors look down through the glass at the seabed. Operators list fish, reefs and an old shipwreck below the boat, and one listing mentions dolphins. The Kos glass bottom boat cruise shows what swimmers see, and guests stay dry.
One listing says the thick glass lets guests see the sea bottom, where guests watch colourful sea creatures. Another page for the same boat names reefs, fish and the seabed passing right beneath the guests’ feet. Wikipedia says tours on glass-bottom boats take in plant and animal life, reefs and wrecks.
Both kinds of vessel go near a shipwreck. One listing says the old wreck lies underwater and guests view it straight through the glass bottom. The yellow vessel’s operator says one stop lies close to a shipwreck near the coast. On the Kos glass bottom boat cruise, guests look at the wreck while they stay dry.
One listing tells guests to keep an eye out for dolphins and says they frequent the area. That is a mention, not a promise, because wild animals choose where they swim.
The listings and another page for the same boat all call the water crystal clear. The Kos glass bottom boat cruise sails on the Aegean Sea, which Wikipedia calls an embayment of the Mediterranean Sea. Wikipedia names a seagrass, Posidonia oceanica, native to that sea. Its meadows lie 1 to 35 metres down, and clearer water lets them reach deeper.
Wikipedia calls the meadows a home for animal and plant life, which finds food and shelter there. It also describes sea urchins, slow crawlers that eat mainly algae. It names the Aegean Sea as a key site for the Mediterranean monk seal, which is endangered.
Wikivoyage lists a castle of the Knights Hospitaller, from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, that dominates the port. Wikipedia gives Kos two neighbours to the north, Kalymnos and Pserimos, and Nisyros to the south. The Kos glass bottom boat cruise offers a view above the waterline too.
What else do visitors ask about the Kos glass bottom boat cruise?
Who was Hippocrates, the physician tied to the island of the Kos glass bottom boat cruise?
Hippocrates was a Greek physician of the classical period, traditionally known as the Father of Medicine. Wikipedia reports that historians agree on his birth at Kos, around 460 BC. The same article credits him with the Hippocratic Oath, the base of the oaths that medical graduates take today.
Wikivoyage calls the Asclepieion on Kos an ancient healing centre and says Hippocrates is believed to have taught there. It lists the Tree of Hippocrates and puts the age of the present tree at about 500 years. Legend has him teaching pupils beneath a Platanus tree.
What can visitors see on land around Kos town before or after a Kos glass bottom boat cruise?
Wikivoyage places the Archaeological Museum in central Kos town and describes the building as Italian in style. It says the museum holds statues found at the Roman Odeion, including a statue of Hippocrates. The first floor holds a mosaic from the Casa Romana and a well-preserved statue of Hygieia.
Wikivoyage adds that Hygieia was a daughter of Asclepius and gave English the word hygiene. It also names a large museum and garden dedicated to Hippocrates, lying between the town and the Asclepieion. Wikipedia says the Italian city plan, drawn after a ruinous earthquake, converted the old districts into an archaeological park.
What size is the group on a Kos glass bottom boat cruise, and is there Wi-Fi on board?
One listing sets group limits of 15 and 70 guests for its Kos glass bottom boat cruise. If the minimum is not reached, that listing promises guests a refund. Guests find the tour operator at the dock 20 minutes ahead of departure.
That listing says there is no Wi-Fi on the vessel once it reaches open water. On that trip, a phone cannot rely on the boat for maps or messages in the open sea. Another operator lists a lower guest limit for its vessel with an underwater cabin.
Can a school or private group arrange a Kos glass bottom boat cruise?
One operator offers its yellow vessel for school trips, private tours, engagements and weddings. The operator asks groups to make contact in advance to schedule the event. Groups on a Kos glass bottom boat cruise must fit that vessel’s capacity of 49 people.
One operator’s online terms add a note about photos taken during the cruise. They say guests consent to being photographed or recorded by the crew or company staff for promotion and documentation. Guests who do not wish this must tell the crew before departure.
What is the sea floor like under a Kos glass bottom boat cruise?
Wikipedia describes the Aegean floor as mainly limestone, with rocks altered by volcanic activity in recent geologic times. Wikivoyage says Kos was separated from a mountain chain by earthquakes and subsidence in ancient times.
An underwater chasm about 70 metres deep separates Kalymnos from Kappari, two remnants of that chain, says Wikivoyage. The Aegean Sea article puts the upper water layer at 40 to 50 metres deep. Summer temperatures in that layer run from 19 to 24 degrees Celsius.