Milos Island, Greece: Sun, Warm Turquoise Water, Blue Blue Skies, Cold Beers, 30+

Now, There's A Day And A Half!

Turquoise reflections,

Med's waters warmed by sun's rays,

Gentle ripples spread...

It was just that sort of a day. Very sweetly spent on the water. Late last night after dinner we toured the waterfront looking for a boat to take us around part or all of Milos. This is a major tourism activity on the island and there are all sorts of boats with hawkers in front of each boat, both power and sail trying to attract attention and hook the unwary. We were particular in this search. It had to be a sail boat, within a descent price range and no more than 15 people on board. We asked here and there and finally found the right connection who satisfied our parameters. Deal done, we headed back to our place to get organized for the morning and to find some sleep. 

This morning we wandered down to a small Greek bakery away from the port where it was more locals than tourists and had a light breakfast with the usual beverages. Erin, I had one of those sesame bread rounds...so good! Then at the agreed time we showed up and were led down to 'Jeanneau' a 45' Sun Odyssey. Dad, something quite special. We boarded with the usual suspects, but particularly including a lovely young couple from SE Spain, two fellows from Cyprus, a couple from Dublin (Paul, a nice couple your age) and various odds and ends. And off we went.

We cruised out of port and past a series of catacombs that house some 2,000 bodies, allegedly making it the second largest site of its kind after Rome. 

We then floated past the town of Klima where we'd enjoyed such a fabulous dinner the night before. It looked much different the morning after.

We worked our way up the coast to Cape Arkoudes where we found these interesting volcanic sea stacks, one of which looked surprisingly like a bunny rabbit. 

We pulled into Agathia Bay where we finally were able to dive off the back of the sail boat and swim in the Med!! Brilliantly refreshing! Such clear water with brightly coloured fish!

Continuing southward we passed ever increasingly dramatic scenery. One of the reasons I've long looked for an opportunity to visit Milos is due to its volcanic history. Multiple eruptions have laid down piles and layers of ash interspersed with lava intrusions and cap stone. The result is an astounding landscape, particularly along the Island's coastline. We rounded Cape Vani and then headed south along the inaccessible coast line...at least only accessible by boat. Here are some examples of the early treats laid out for our viewing...

Finally rounding Cape Psalida we found ourselves entering something quite special, Kelftiko Bay.

There are caves aplenty, many of which can be passed through in a small zodiac, which is exactly what we proceeded to do.

We passed through cave after cave. Amazing!

After a good long swim...

...we had a typical Greek lunch and washed it all down with some pretty good Greek beers. Maybe it was just the hot day, but everything tasted great! 

After a couple of hours here we headed back the way we'd come...

...but this time we pulled into Sikia where several amazing caves are located.

In behind one of the caves is a huge sea fed lagoon with towering walls made of Ashe and tufta. Huge sections have collapsed off the walls and sizeable rocks fall each day.  We again took our trusty zodiac through the caves and into the lagoon. 

Apparently many Wolf Eels live in the lagoon. Several of the Greek guests were pleased that they hadn't swam here as they have a reputation for being quite dangerous in these waters. There was considerable discussion about the subject as we putted away from the site! 

Most everyone napped on the way back, having seen the coast on the way out. We did stop for one last swim at a small church which is only accessible from the water. 

Moments From Past Greek Travels:

In my original post about this journey back in July, I made reference to a sailing adventure that Kathy and I experienced in 1975. We'd arrived in Santorini and had taken a small local boat out to the volcanic island in the middle of the caldera to have a look around (more about Santorini in later posts). On the island I looked over the side and there was a sail boat. Being me, I chatted with the skipper about how a sail boat would be an amazing way to see the Greek Islands. He suggested that we join them on their boat for a cold beer once we returned to the main island, which we did. In those days with few coins in our pockets, one rarely passed up a free anything! Especially a cold beer! After a nice chat they advised us that two of their crew were returning to the UK and they asked us if we'd like to take over their places on the boat and sail back up to Athens with them. We immediately abandoned our plan to go on to Crete and and decided that a 3 week journey through the islands would be a very special experience. It was! It's stayed on in our memories for years...that's what a special time it was! In those days it was very difficult to get boats to many of the islands, and the chance to sail to places we'd never had seen was just to good to pass up. The reason I've commented on this now is so that I can post something that's been in the works for a while. Before departing I had some images from both the 1975 trip and our 1981 travels through Greece scanned to share on the blog. Here are the first couple from that time sailing through the islands.