Kos and Patmos sit at opposite ends of a stretch of the Dodecanese that ferries have worked for decades, and the route still feels like a proper island-hopping leg rather than a shuttle. You leave from Kos town, where the ferry quay sits close enough to the old harbour and the castle walls that you can walk to it with luggage rather than needing a taxi, and you arrive at Skala, the low white harbour that serves as Patmos's only real port and doubles as its main village. Depending on which sailing you catch and how many stops the boat makes along the way, the crossing can be a brisk hop or a longer, more scenic passage -- check the schedule box above to see which of that day's departures suits your plans.
Frequency swings with the season, as it does across the Dodecanese: expect a single daily connection to hold things together outside summer, then extra sailings to appear as demand builds. The table below breaks this down month by month so you can see at a glance when the extra capacity kicks in, but for the exact current picture always work from the panel and schedule above rather than these general patterns.
The spread in journey times comes down to the type of vessel rather than the distance covered. The high-speed catamarans cut straight across and get you there in under two hours, which suits anyone who would rather spend the extra time on Patmos itself than at sea. The larger conventional ferries take longer but tend to be steadier in a breeze, carry vehicles, and are the more comfortable option if you are prone to seasickness or simply prefer being able to walk around on deck during the crossing.
Both harbours are compact and easy to navigate on foot, so this is not a route where you need to worry about long transfers once you are off the boat. In Kos, the quay is a short stroll from the town's hotels and restaurants, and in Patmos, Skala itself is where most visitors base themselves, so you can step off the boat and be at your accommodation within minutes. The Aegean between the two islands can pick up a swell when the meltemi is blowing in summer, so if you are a nervous sailor it is worth choosing one of the larger conventional ferries over the faster catamarans on breezier days.
Useful Resources for Your Greek Island Trip
- Find accommodation in Greece – hotels, apartments and villas on Booking.com
- Book tours and activities in Greece via Viator
- Find guided experiences and day trips via GetYourGuide
- Compare car hire prices in Greece via DiscoverCars