2006 - Kayaking around Ionian Island (E)

SEA KAYAKING IN IONIAN ISLANDS, GREECE

JACQUES AND BETSY,

JUNE 27- JULY 12, 2006

Itinerary

Foreword

Since we bought our kayaks two years ago we have been on various excursions mostly with Italian groups, which have been great for discovering new places (Elba, Ponza, Sardinia etc.). Though it is fun to be in those groups they are always large (and noisy) and we have to follow the group. They taught us basic security measures and added to what I picked up with French groups we thought the time had come to try an adventure “à deux”. It was not really our first autonomous experience since we had been alone previously in northern Sardinia.

I had read about French kayakers cruising in the Ionian islands and decided to go there for two weeks. After booking our passage, Betsy was apprehensive about two full weeks on kayak, but was also somewhat reassured by the fact we were going by car and that there was always the possibility to cut the trip short and visit Greece by car! Our timetable imposed a trip in late June early July.

I upgraded the safety and navigation equipment of the kayaks with compass, tow lines, spare oars, maps, and flares, while Betsy got a yellow Chinese-made ukulele which could fit in her kayak.

We drove to Ancona and boarded the ferry; when presenting our boarding passes the steward offered to upgrade us to “de luxe” cabin”, we accepted and found ourselves in a spacious airy light suite. Not having brought celebratory drinks, we bought a bottle of ouzo on board and tasted it immediately, verdict: pretty good! Quiet seas, pleasant afternoon on deck in the sunshine, a relax dinner and a good night in the air-conditioned cabin. Disembarking was quite fast and we drove to Lefkas, noticing how good a deal gas was in Greece: 95 cents versus 1.20 euro in Italy!

We arrived in Lefkas around 11:00 and had some problems finding an adequate beach to put the kayaks in the water. We finally ended up in Nikiana, close to the boat harbor, where there was a beach and where we could park the car right along the beach. I understand that Union des Centres de Plein Air (UCPA) has a center in Nikiana; may-be one could use their facilities next time; park the car too? As always one doubts that all gear can possibly fit in the kayaks but it did though it took over 2 hours; after that we had our first Greek lunch in a “taverna” on the beach. We parked the car on a public street and since the wind was strong we decided to wait till 16:30 to take off.




Lefkas-Nidri (June 27)

Since it was already late in the afternoon we decided to take it easy. We kayaked past Sparti island back to Lefkas island and had some difficulty finding a beach to camp. We found a narrow beach south of Ag. Kiriaki, with a small and steep track which led to a flatter and wider area. We had to push the kayaks (fully loaded!) up the tiny track and settled for dinner and night. A barely adequate campsite, but better than a very narrow beach, and we did not get eaten by bugs during the night. (daily distance 10 km)



Nitri-Meganisi (June 28)

We woke up to a beautiful morning of sun and no wind. It took some time to reload the kayaks (it is always like that at the beginning of a trip since there are too many things and one is not used to where they fit in the compartments), but we were not in any rush.

Calm seas and no wind, we think we started early (in fact we don’t have a clue of timing at the beginning of our trip due to BPL’s watch being out of commission, we used the clock on my phone thereafter), we passed Skorpidi and Skorpio (Niarchos’ island) and went to Vathi on Meganisi island.

Vathi (Meganisi)

Camp site on Meganisi

We stopped for tea and sandwich in this nice little harbor and went along the north-east coast of Meganisi, plenty of very nice bays and isolated beaches. It seems the tourist season does not start until august, and there were not too many yachts. Pleasant lunch on a quiet small beach just south of Akr. Elia.
We kept going along Meganisi’s southern coast past Ormos Dichali, and since we still had time decided to try for Akr. Kefali, at the extreme southern tip of island, hoping to find a camping beach on the way. No beaches whatsoever and since wind and sea were picking up, we back-tracked to Ormos Dichali where we found a good beach for camping. A bit long for our first full day of kayaking but enjoyable nevertheless. (30 km)




Meganisi-Mikros Gialos (June 29)

Back to Akr. Kefali, and then along the western edge of the hook, with plenty of caves, and strange shapes rock formations. We stopped at a tiny cove for a rest where there was already a yacht, kind of noisy: sure enough they were Italians, who even offered to give us a passage to Ithaca and said it was a real nice island with very good beaches.

Typical views of kayakers!

At the level of the island across Papa Nicolis cave, we went due west to reach Poros (also called Mikros Gialos). It was a small village right on the shore with a nice hotel and a good taverna just next to it. We took a room at Dionisos Konidaris, phone: (026450) 95528, with air conditioning for 45 euros. It had been a hot day, around 40° Celsius.
That was the day we realized Bets’ watch was not working! (20 km)



Mikros Gialos- Frikes on Ithaca island (June 30)

To-day is the day of our first “serious” crossing on our own! With quiet conditions we kayaked due south past akr. Trachilos and onwards to Arkoudi island a 6 km crossing. We kept going to Ithaca (another 5 km crossing) where we landed on Ormos Voukendri, a good camping beach where we had lunch and a nap. Two Italian boats stopped by and fortunately were not too noisy! We are now on Ithaca island, Ulysses’ home!
We followed the coast to Friskes, a nice quiet village where we had a beer, found a room above a bar, had a shower and a nap. Posters everywhere informed us that tonight was party night with the live music stand just below our windows!!!!
While walking along the harbor we saw that 2 other kayaks had parked next to ours: Dan and Sandra  are 2 English kayakers, guided by Joanna Dounias (jo@paddle.com.au), an Australian girl of Greek origin, cruising the Ionian islands for a week. She gave us some info about places to stay etc. She works with “trekking Hellas” (http://www.seakayakingreece.com) who organizes trips and rent guides and kayaks; apparently there are some good itineraries on the web site!
We had a pleasant dinner with Dan and Sandra at “taverna Penelope”. (20 kms)






Frikes-Kritami beach (July 1st)

Indeed it was a noisy night! Joanna, the guide suggested visiting the small museum in Stavros, 2 km uphill of Frikes, where we walked and found: a cash machine, and a good view of the western side of Ithaca as well as of Cephalonia island.
We left Frikes around 13:00 and passed Kioni and various beaches on the south-east coast of northern Ithaca. While resting on one of the beaches a very strong surf picked up our kayaks and tossed them around. It was caused by the waves of one of those super fast ferries. We could not do anything and let them be tossed and fill up with water. After the waves receeded we had a hard time dragging them (they were full of water) and emptying them. Lesson learned: always drag the kayaks as high as one can and secure them. The beach at O. Kritami was definitely the best camping site on this coast. (15km)




Kritami beach- Vathi (July 2nd)

Easy day programmed: cruise along the coast till the Ormos Aetou beach at the end of Vathi gulf and go to Vathi. As we reached the end of the bay gusts of wind blew down the mountains, but it was OK since we were close to shore. We had our picnic and a swim on the beach and took off for Vathi. We were now on the far side of the shore and the wind (5 Beaufort) was lifting the sea and causing rough waves. Fortunately we were going with the sea and the wind.
Kayaking in these conditions required our attention but we managed to enter Vathi bay where there was NO place to land a kayak. We had to fight back sea and wind to go to Limin Vathi, a yacht harbor with a concrete ramp, north of Vathi. The owner of the restaurant where we had lunch found us a great flat with fantastic view of the bay, about 10 min. walk from the center of Vathi. Leisurely day and dinner. kayaking distance 15 km for the day.

View of Vathi harbor from our room

Vathi (July 3rd.)

Seas and wind were still too strong to be enjoyable, so we rested in Vathi, had a swim at Ormos Skinos beach and dinner in a “typical” Greek taverna. Conditions were getting quieter in the evening.



Vathi- Pis Aitos (July 4)

Black clouds, thunder and drops of rain. We decided to wait a bit to see what the weather was going to do. It cleared somewhat, enough to make us decide to go out. We kayaked past Akr. Skinos, and saw nice long empty beaches along the way and chose O. Platia Ligia for lunch. We met some French kayakers (UCPA) and many beautiful beaches until Akr. Ay Ioannis. We camped at Pis Aitos, a nice camp site north of the ferry ramp, in spite of the bright lights at the ramp which wake you up, but overall a nice night. The few kernel of corn we dropped down during dinner were a bonanza for the local hungry ants! 30 km

Camp site at Pis Aitos

Hungry Greek ants!

Pis Aitos-O. Voukendri (July 5)

We kept going north between Ithaca and Cephalonia. We had fun playing in, and admiring, the rock formations until Polis, where we stopped and had a delicious fish lunch (“gavros” or small fishes, for me and calamari for Bets, both fresh out of the sea!) and had a nap-stop at O. Amoudi beach.
When we started the wind was definitively coming head-on and gusty. Passing Akr. Oxoi and crossing kolpos Afales was hard and tricky and required attention and concentration because of the well formed sea and strong winds. It got easier only once we cleared akr. Melissa, at the extreme northern point of Ithaca, where the wind became sideway and then from the back.
We coasted until the beach where we had landed when we first arrived on Ithaca. It was occupied by the group of French kayakers we had met 2 days ago! We saluted them and went to a tiny landing just east of the big beach where they were camping; that was a much better camp site. We won’t advertise it too much so it stays nice!
We did well to hoist the kayak all the way to the olive grove as ferries kept passing by during the night and raising huge swells. They were like Christmas trees giving so much light you could nearly read a book!

A great campsite on Ithaca

O. Voukendri –Kalamos (July 6)

To-day is crossing day with three legs to do, each about 5– 6 km. First crossing was over to Arkoudi, with wind and sea picking up half way through and making it hard paddling. As we had done on the way down, we had a rest on the beach on Arkoudi and then crossed to Kithros Island; much less wind and a quieter sea from a better direction. Nevertheless it was hot and we were glad to land at the beach where tourist boats bring their loads of tourists to feed them. It was a welcome rest.
Sitting next to us sat a couple from the Faeroe Islands, he captain on a fishing boat, she a pharmacist. Betsy let him try her kayak, he was insecure but obviously very happy to have been given the opportunity, his wife took a picture of him paddling as proof for the rest of the family!
The next (and last for the day!) crossing to Kalamos Island was with moderate seas and winds but we were getting tired from the work-out. The first decent beach is at Ormos Gerolimnionas but by then we were so close to Kalamos city we decided to go there. In the afternoon, fierce gusts race down the mountains and though we were only 2-300 meters from the shore the wind was force 6 and vicious little waves were already forming with foam blown in stripes by the wind. We found an adequate room in Kalamos where we had a well-deserved rest. Dinner was simple but nice in a taverna on the beach. The overall impression of Kalamos is of an expensive and not too nice place, the least nice place so far! (35 km)



Kalamos-Kastos (July 7)

A welcome rest after the long paddling day of yesterday, and a beautiful morning, cup of coffee at 1,80 euro and a yogurt at 2,60 confirmed our impression of a tourist rip-off! We decided to go to Kastos island, just south of Kalamos. Easy cruising. The tiny village of Kastos was quiet and sleepy, with very few people, not even a garbage can since the island does not have a garbage disposal system. It simply burns rubbish on the beaches, which makes for huge ashes piles and unburned residues spots on the beach, a bit surprising at first! Interesting rock shapes along the coast.

Rock formations on Kastos Island

Kastos has 2 or 3 tavernas by the edge of the water, one of which we sponsored for lunch. It was OK. The owner gave us the phone number of a possible place to rent a room (26460-91138), but that was the only opportunity on the island. We went to the beach we had seen earlier near Prasonisi island for the night.

Good camp site on Kastos Island

Kastos-Mitikas (July 8)

During the night we were awakened by drops of rain, scrambled with only one lamp to move mattresses etc., mount the tent with the rain fly, and pack it all back inside. It did not really rain though, but we could sleep without worries. It was pleasant to kayak under cloudy skies along the east coast of Kalamos, which is beautiful with great rock formations and caves. We crossed over to Mitikas and arrived with the rain to find a hotel. Lunch at a very local taverna, where they did not speak or understand anything but Greek, was fun if not very good. We had a walk along the beach of Mitikas and dinner on the Western side of the town, a much more touristy affair with view of the sunset, somewhat hidden by threatening clouds.



Mitikas-Nikiana (July 9)

The morning cloudy skies cleared up and we had a pleasant ride along the mainland coast. Wind and sea were so calm we crossed over to akr. Variko, it was long (6 kms or more), monotonous and hot. We had a picnic on a beach on the western side of the peninsula at Ormos Variko, where I tried various configuration to provide shade (see below).

Home-made shade shelter on O. Variko beach!

We reached the beacon on Akr. Kefali and went due west to Nikiana where we found the car OK. We unloaded the kayaks, fitted all in the car, had a celebratory beer and went to Lefkas to find a room. We had a relaxed walk in the old part of the center of Lefkas which was interesting to see. That was the end of our kayaking adventure.



Galaxidi (July 10)

We decided to visit Delphi and to stay in Galaxidi, a familiar name, where I thought we had been with Pierre Desjardins on his sailboat. We started from Preveza and drove via Amfilochia along the huge Amvrakikos Kolpos, through Agrinio and along the coast passing Mesolongi, famous because Lord Byron, the British poet, died there in 1824.
We saw the fantastic Rion-Antirion Bridge to Patras. I thought the road to Athens would stay on the mainland and followed the signs to Athens. In fact it directed us to the Peloponnesus and through the bridge (an 11,50 euros affair!). I asked an operator at the gate and he said to go the information desk, who issued a pass allowing us to exit the bridge without crossing it; obviously this is standard procedure and we saw 2 days later a Greek car in exactly the same situation!
The road from the bridge to Galaxidi was all along the coast, without any traffic and with great if barren landscapes. Galaxidi was indeed the place where I had been, and we found (or rather were found by the owner of) an older hotel in the centre, near the harbor, called Poseidon.
The owner, Kostas is a funny bowlegged retired navy guy full of advices, a bit invading but very generous who brought us Greek salad and ouzo the next evening.
Nice fish at the “oraia hellas” (beautiful Greece) restaurant on the harbor.



Galaxidi-Delphi (July 11)

We visited the small and pretty nautical museum in Galaxidi and went to Delphi, which was not yet saturated with tourists, beautiful museum.

Great art pieces!

And more of them!!

The hotel was empty until Kostas came back with two French guys in tow, in fact they were looking for his hotel since it is listed as a top choice in “Guide du Routard”. The guy was speaking pretty good Greek and confirmed it was not that difficult to learn, his girl friend agreed! Rest in the afternoon and dinner at the “albatross taverna” at the suggestion of Kostas; not a very good dinner!



Patras (July 12)

We drove across the bridge to Patras to change our return ticket for to-day instead of to-morrow. They had space and could change our tickets without any problem.

A beautiful bridge (Rion-antirion)

To celebrate the end of our trip we went to a fish restaurant near the ferry terminal and on boarding the boat got upgraded to a “de luxe” cabin again, as for the trip to Greece! It was strange to find oneself on-board one of those big boats the surf of which we worried so much about; the sailboats we saw looked pretty small though they must have been about 40-50 foot long, a kayak would barely be visible in good conditions, in bad conditions not at all!




Next year program:

Decipher the following!

A challenge!

Post-scriptum (July 13)

We could not find the house keys in spite of thoroughly emptying the car, and had to use a spare; 2 days later, the cleaning lady called to say she had found the keys on the door! How long had they stayed there?


General comments:

• An adequate map is the Italian: “Corfu – Isole Ionie” map by Istituto Geografico De Agostini, which shows location of beaches, but not any overall map of the area.
• Another useful map is “Greece – Ionian Sea, The Inland Sea” by Imray, map No. G121, a nautical chart which shows the complete area, also more resistant since printed on water resistant paper
• Weather was checked by Aimée on http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=35 and she sent us SMS messages, however weather followed traditional pattern of quiet wind/sea until 12-ish and then wind and sea picked up until evening. Some stormy weather caused a change in that pattern.
• Kayaks (Prijon Touryak) were rigged for “C” category (i.e. more than 2 miles from land) but maximum crossing we did was about 4 miles, or 2 miles max. from land. Some ship traffic around Eastern shore of Ithaca, heavy at times
• Big waves on beaches due to fast ferry boat impose to always raise the kayaks as high on the beach as possible and tie them up.
• Not knowing on which beach to camp was part of the adventure. We alternated camping and sleeping in hotels, as well as meals on the beach and in tavernas, a good solution. It turned out that we divided our nights evenly between camping and hotel, a good percentage!
• Maximum daily distance was 35-ish kilometers and 3 crossings, it was a bit too much for Betsy, especially since there were strong gusts (force 5-6) at the end of the day!




Some addresses we enjoyed in the Ionian Islands


Poros (Mikros Gialos) Lefkada: nice rooms to let (45 euros)
Dionisos Konidaris phone. : (026450) 95528,

Vathi, Ithaca: rooms to let with great views of harbor 5 min from center (50 euros)
Vasiliki Tritsaroli, phone. (026740) 33389

Galaxidi, near Delphi: nice old style hotel, Kostas owner (50Euros)
Hotel Poseidon, phone. (02650) 41426
Good restaurant: Oraia Hellas on harbor

Patras, good fish restaurant:
“Mare” west of ferries harbor


Beaches which were OK for camping (listed by islands):

Lefkas
There is a good beach a little bit south of Ag. Kiriaki.

Meganisi
Nice bays and isolated beaches on the Eastern edge of the island.
Good camping beach at Ormos Dichali.
There are NO places to camp along the eastern side of the Meganisi south hook
Adequate beach just north of the Kithros island, many other small beaches would be unacceptable for camping due to risk of falling rocks. No beaches on Kithros island either.

Arkoudi
The only beach on Arkoudi is small and dirty, and would not be pleasant for camping, it is at the end of the bay on eastern side of the island, but is good for a rest.

Ithaca North
All along eastern shore of Ithaca, there is powerful surf due to high speed ferries, always drag the kayaks as high as one can and secure them
Good camping beach at Ormos Voukendri, and at O. Kritami.
Beaches south-west of O. .Kritami are too narrow to raise kayaks above surf.
Ormos Aetou beach at the end of Vathi gulf is very narrow and not good for camping.
Large beach at the end of kolpos Afales. Small beach just south of point Ak Melissa.

Ithaca South
Many good beaches along south-east coast of Ithaca. O. Platia Ligia, too narrow to camp. Pera Pigadhi Island not recommended especially for the night, since island is full of rats which come out at sunset.
Beach at Andri is so-so. Pis Aitos, a nice camp site north of the ferry ramp.
Beaches south of Ag. Ioannis, are small for camping, so is O. Amoudi.

Kalamos
Good camping beaches between Ormos Gerolimnionas and the village of Kalamos.
Some good beaches (but no camping authorized!) on the eastern tip of that island.

Kastos
Nice beaches for camping along the south coast, best one is near Prasonisi Island.

Main land
There are some big beaches under the Kandhili Mountains.
Great beaches between the western side of the peninsula at Ormos Variko and the beacon on Akr. Kefali just across Nikiana.