On Sunday, March 23, the first cruise ship of 2025 dropped anchor in the caldera of Santorini, with the island’s officials declaring that Santorini is safe and ready for the summer tourist season.

Since January 26, Santorini and the nearby islands of Amorgos and Anafi have experienced over 25,000 earthquakes, mostly of low magnitudes, although one tremor was of 5.3 magnitude. Most locals left the islands as a state of emergency was declared by officials, leaving mostly only first responders and medics who remained on standby for emergencies.

The earthquakes, which were caused by the release of pressure in the local tectonic plates and intensified by magma rising up from chambers deep below the seabed, caused minor damage but significantly impacted the islands’ infrastructure. Since the beginning of March, seismic activity has been subsiding, although weak tremors of below 2 on the Richter scale continue to plague the area between the islands of Santorini and Amorgos on a daily basis. However, locals have been returning to prepare for what they hope will be a good summer tourist season.

On Sunday, Celestyal Cruises’ cruise ship Discovery arrived with around 1,700 tourists, mostly Americans, who expressed excitement about the visit. Santorini’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism, so the arrival of the first cruise ship is hopefully a sign of recovery.