Patmos lies south of Samos, and the crossing between them is one of the few that links the north Aegean group to the Dodecanese. It is short, it is seasonal, and it is the practical way to combine the two.
Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
Which port on Samos
Two, and it matters. Pythagorio on the south coast is the nearer to Patmos and the usual departure. Vathy, also called Samos Town, is the capital and main port on the north-east, and it has sailings too.
They sit far enough apart on a mountainous island that the wrong assumption costs you a morning. Check which port your sailing uses before you book a room on either island.
We print no durations or fares. They are set per season by each operator and they change, and this is a route where seasonality bites hard.
It is seasonal
The most important planning note. Sailings on this crossing run in season and thin out or stop outside it, which makes a spring or autumn trip combining the two islands something to verify rather than assume.
If the connection is central to your itinerary, confirm it before booking flights at either end. When a ferry is cancelled covers what happens when a sailing does not run.
Where it lands
At Skala, the port of Patmos, which sits on the neck of the island below the hilltop Chora. The island is small enough to drive end to end in well under half an hour, and Skala is where everything arrives and most things happen.
The two reasons to come are both above you. The Monastery of Saint John stands over the Chora like a fortress, and the Cave of the Apocalypse sits on the slope between the port and the town, where tradition places the writing of the Book of Revelation.
You can walk up the old path from Skala to the Chora, which is the better way to arrive at them.
The dress code, and what kind of place this is
Worth carrying on the arrival page rather than discovering at the gate. Both the monastery and the cave are working religious sites rather than museums, and there is a dress code: shoulders and knees covered.
Patmos more generally is quiet, upmarket and reverent where Mykonos is loud and Rhodes is busy. It has no airport, and it is a long way from Athens, which is why it stays that way. Plan the trip around the pilgrimage and the ferry rather than around beaches or nightlife.
Where this leaves you
A short seasonal crossing, usually from Pythagorio and sometimes from Vathy, landing at Skala below the Chora. Check which Samos port your boat uses, confirm the sailing is running at all if you are outside high season, and know before you arrive that the monastery and the cave are working religious sites with a dress code. It is worth a night rather than a day.
Quick answers
Which port on Samos does the Patmos ferry leave from?
Usually Pythagorio on the south coast, which is the nearer of the two, though there are sailings from Vathy, the capital, on the north-east as well. They are far apart on a mountainous island, so check which one your boat uses.
Is the Samos to Patmos ferry year-round?
No, it is seasonal and thins out or stops outside the season. If a trip combining the north Aegean and the Dodecanese depends on this crossing, confirm it before booking flights at either end.
Where does the ferry land on Patmos?
At Skala, the port on the neck of the island, below the hilltop Chora. The monastery and the Cave of the Apocalypse are both above it, and the old path up from Skala is the better way to reach them.
Is there a dress code on Patmos?
At the Monastery of Saint John and the Cave of the Apocalypse, yes: shoulders and knees covered. Both are working religious sites rather than museums, and Patmos as a whole is quieter and more reverent than its Dodecanese neighbours.