Greece port of entry choice

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jaba

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Hi everybody. I will shortly be transferring my boat from Italy to Samos Island through Corinth on a very tight schedule. I would like to chose the easiest-quickest port of entry in Greece between Corfu and Samos. For instance I would not choose Preveza, where check-in takes ages.
Any advice?
thks
j.
 
Kefalonia

Argostoli , on Kefalonia is a useful port of entry for you , as it is directly en route to Corinth from Italy . tie up to the town quay and its 2 mins walk to the Port Police office .
inexpensive municipal mooring stern-to or for a little more, side to . kalo taxidi .
 
argostoli is not speedy to enter. You have to find the tax office in the centre of town and get shuffled from official to official to get a reciept for payment for the cruising permit which is eventually issued by the port police who are capable of charging other fees but not this one. Look out for the large book containing all the names of boats they want to talk to. It is lying around the office labelled 'top secret'
 
In season, probably the easiest place to do it is Gouvia Marina. The marina office will take the fees for your Depka and issue with a receipt, if you ask them to do so - they won't volunteer!

The port police office is in the next door building and has a nice bench outside to sit on whilst you wait your turn. The process of actually issuing the Depka will take about 20 minutes and you get a chair to sit in whilst this is going on.

All of that being said, you're entering a slightly different world. You will get lots of advice from folks on this forum about which port to go to, and all of the advice is correct as of when they entered Greece via that port. However, the following day, the info that they have given you is invalid, as the shift has changed and the folks on duty now do things in a different way which will entail you doing things the last lot didn't want you to do......

So, I'm afraid that I'd suggest that you pick the port of entry that best suits your route and earmark at least a day to chasing meaningless bit of paper round the houses. Oh - and don't forget that the Corinth Canal is shut at least one day a week - think it's Tuesdays but check their website for an up to date situation.
 
Just to prove your point my experience getting a DEKPA in Corfu was frustrating in the extreme - Port office never seems to have them in stock. Sivota/Mourtos on the other hand very efficient! - at least on the day I was there and needed their services.
 
My experience of Levkas in 2010 was good - whole procedure was under 2 hours turning up at the port police at about 10am. Only problem was at the tax office who wanted me to provide a tax number untill a helpful local behind me pointed out to the official that my passport number would do - then no problem. My experince is that if you keep smiling and remain friendly then things go smoothly, but if you show frustration, anoyance or impatience obstacles will be put in your way.With the Greek climate what's the hurry?
Good luck.
 
thks a lot folks!

yes, I am aware the Greek system can be very frustrating and infos obsolete the day after they are gathered. Some more details on my journey might clarify, though. I will leave Brindisi in Italy on a Saturday early morning, which means I will have to rush in order to be able to cross Corinth before tuesday. Moreover I suspect tax offices are shut on w-e, aren't they? In this case I could not get the cruising permit in the Ionian (with the possible exception of Gouvia if they accept the fee at the marina, but would'nt they do it only for berth holders?, and maybe Patrai)

Some more questions/thoughts

1) Is one now compelled to get Depka as soon as one gets into Greece?

or

2) could I officially enter Greece after Corinth (maybe Itea)? Do they want to see Dekpa when you pay the canal fee? (I don't seem to remember, but I am not sure)

3) Or could I get Depka later, somewhere in the Aegean, or even at the end of the journey in Samos? (but I will arrive there on Saturday and I might encounter the same problems with tax office).

Last I was in Greece I paid in Kalamata and another time in Piraeus at the end of my journey from Italy (around Maleas) with no problems, but that was before the tax office chore. In Preveza in 2010 I lost half a day, queing in the tax office.
Thanks again for any help/advice.
yours
j
 
jaba said:
thks a lot folks!

yes, I am aware the Greek system can be very frustrating and infos obsolete the day after they are gathered. Some more details on my journey might clarify, though. I will leave Brindisi in Italy on a Saturday early morning, which means I will have to rush in order to be able to cross Corinth before tuesday. Moreover I suspect tax offices are shut on w-e, aren't they? In this case I could not get the cruising permit in the Ionian (with the possible exception of Gouvia if they accept the fee at the marina, but would'nt they do it only for berth holders?, and maybe Patrai)

Some more questions/thoughts

1) Is one now compelled to get Depka as soon as one gets into Greece?

or

2) could I officially enter Greece after Corinth (maybe Itea)? Do they want to see Dekpa when you pay the canal fee? (I don't seem to remember, but I am not sure)

3) Or could I get Depka later, somewhere in the Aegean, or even at the end of the journey in Samos? (but I will arrive there on Saturday and I might encounter the same problems with tax office).

Last I was in Greece I paid in Kalamata and another time in Piraeus at the end of my journey from Italy (around Maleas) with no problems, but that was before the tax office chore. In Preveza in 2010 I lost half a day, queing in the tax office.
Thanks again for any help/advice.
yours
j
Click to expand...
Assuming your boat is over 10m - you need a DEKPA and you have to pay your €0.88 @ the tax office.
Coming from one EC country to another there are no overriding reasons to rush to get the peice of paper - and you can always claim "in transit" for not having the DEKPA.
So I would suggest you get it in the most convenient place where you have the most time available.
None of these problems arise, of course, if you're sub10m (or claim so on your registration documents).
 
Our experience in Corfu was that it involved multiple journeyts between the port police and the tax office, only to find they had no DEKPA forms (and hadn't for months!) so further visits to get money back.

Tranona advised Sivota/Mourtos, so off we went. 20 minutes later we had done everything.

I have heard that Argostoli is more used to big ships and asks you to fill in forms as if you are 10,000 tons!

So easy at Sivota.

Thanks Tranona!
 
Chris_Robb said:
I have heard that Argostoli is more used to big ships and asks you to fill in forms as if you are 10,000 tons!
Click to expand...
Same at Patras - declare how many cubic metres of rubbish you'll be discharging, how many cubic metres of water, fuel etc . . .

The variablity between shifts is, however, one of the bigger factors in what happens. Excepting the period when the Ionian Islands (and not the mainland!) ran out of empty DEKPA forms for a period.
 
grafozz said:
Argostoli , on Kefalonia is a useful port of entry for you , as it is directly en route to Corinth from Italy . tie up to the town quay and its 2 mins walk to the Port Police office .
inexpensive municipal mooring stern-to or for a little more, side to . kalo taxidi .
Click to expand...

+1. Of course it's probably changed since 2006, but we got ours in Argostoli with no waiting and also fuelled up from a tanker the officer whistled up for us.
IMHO it is pot luck that you take with entry / exit procedures. Each port may / may not have helpful officials, so always best to fit the smile before you go in, and simply be courteous. 99/100 you'll get it returned.
Cheers
JOHN
 
I think it all depends on who you get to see. We've visited the same ports many times and had really helpful people one time and complete Hitlers the next time. You'll probably find it easier if you check-in at a port where they deal with entry requirements a lot rather than at one where they do a couple a year. So Corfu is probably your best option. Just be prepared to be messed about if you get the Hitler shift........
 
Actually, there is a point about social mis-understanding of greetings here.

The Greek way is that when you go into a shop, office, house, restaurant, whatever, all those inside turn to the newcomer and await his greeting "kalimera", or "ti kanete?". At which smiles burst out all round and a chorus of greetings are returned, plus perhaps an "oriste?" - "what is it?" or "wodger want?"

If you go in and join the queue silently, you'll be regarded as rude, which sets the tone for the subsequent interview . . .

Just a thought.
 
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Ay Nikolas

Last October, I arrived in Greece at Ay Nikolas in northern Zakinthos. There was one solitary (young) official in the port office during the day. I thought I would have to go down to Zakinthis Town to clear into Greece. But I was able to obtain a Depka from him with no trouble at all. I didn't even have any cash with me so Dimitris the taverna owner said he would pay the fees and I paid Dimitris by credit card after eating in the taverna that evening. This is why I love Greece!
 
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