Donousa and Koufonisia are the two ends of the quiet eastern chain of islets between Naxos and Amorgos, and many people who fall for one end up visiting the other. Donousa is the remote one: a single small harbour village, hiking paths over bare hills and a handful of beaches you reach on foot. Koufonisia is flatter, busier and famous for turquoise coves within walking distance of its only village. Going from Donousa to Koufonisia usually means trading solitude for a little more life.
What decides this trip is the timetable, not the distance. There is no everyday boat. The link depends mainly on Small Cyclades Lines, the local company whose small ferry, the Express Skopelitis, threads these islands together, and it covers this leg on roughly three or four days a week. Blue Star Ferries sometimes calls on its way through, but in last year's data that happened only once a week, and only in February and October.
In practice, you plan your Donousa stay around the sailing days rather than the other way round. Pick your departure date first, then book your last nights on Donousa to match. If the day you want has no boat, the cleaner alternative is often to go via Naxos, which has direct sailings from Donousa and daily boats on to Koufonisia.
The good news is the price. At €6.99 for one adult when we checked, this is one of the cheapest crossings in the Cyclades, and there is little reason to book far ahead outside August. What matters more is being flexible, keeping an eye on the wind, and arriving at the quay in good time, since a small ferry on a tight island loop does not wait.
