There is this weird and admittedly dangerous custom on the island of Sikinos in the Aegean Sea: young locals jump into the sea behind departing ships to say “Farewell” to the island’s visitors.
The dangerous custom is decades-old and has gained popularity in the last couple of years. However, this time, authorities launched an action to prevent youngsters jumping into the water behind a departing ferry. The action fell into the water too creating funny images.
After many ships and ferries arrived and departed also in summer 2025, it was only yesterday, August 26, that authorities decided to take measures to protect the “aponeristas” – the “backwashers” so to say in English.
They let lose port officers on the dock who tried with bare hands to prevent the bold youngsters from jumping into the sea. the action turned extremely funny with a bystanders crowd to cheer by every successful or failed effort.
It was a tough hand-to-hand combat, however, as one can see on the video below the port officers did not achieve much…
@fotis_ang Απονεριστες στην Σίκινο #aponeristas #sikinos #kapetanios #greekislands #tik_tok
According to Alpha TV, authorities had deployed officers also from other island.
Video: the action seen from the departing ferry
@thanosaik #sikinos #sikinosgreece #sikinos🇬🇷 #summervibes #summer2025🌴☀️
Much to my knowledge the custom started several decades ago when Sikinos was still considered a remote island with rare ship traffic and the jumping to say Goodbye was taking place for the last ship in summer.
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