Greece: Cruisin’ to Cave Papanikolis, Kastos Island and a Swimming Dip

So this is a bit of a very delayed Greek holiday post going back to our summer holiday in Lefkada (Lefkas) in the Ionian Islands in 2016.

Sailing trip, and this is Kastos Island.

In Lefkada, we joined a cruise (boat tour) called “The Forgotten Islands Tour” by the Nikolaos boat. We sailed off in Nydri harbour, where most of the trips start. It was a whole-day affair, and for the sake of this blog post and the so many pictures I took, I will divide my report into 2 parts.

This is the coast of Nydri… where a harbour, a marina, a bustling promenade with cafes and restaurants and a lazy, busy beach are located side by side.

Waving a temporary goodbye to Lefkada. See you later at the end of the day!

This is our captain.

The boat leaves at 08:00 so we had to wake up early for this trip.

The first thing on the agenda of the captain was to bring us to the Cave of Papanikolis. The cave is big enough to accommodate the boat inside and when we arrived, a family of bats bolted away into the daylight. The boat was able to fit in, but it also managed to turn around inside the cave, a feat that the captain was very proud of. We were told that he is the only captain (and one else) who can do this. He’s a show-off but we’ll give him the credit.

Next up is some swimming! The captain brought us to this group of uninhabited little islets and those who want to take a dip can jump off the boat and enjoy the sparkling clear blue-green waters. It was a hot day in the Greek Islands and the waters were obviously very tempting. Dutchman was excited, he wants to jump into the water, whereas the mother in law and I were content enough to watch.

The exact location of Kastos Island in Greece:

Kastos is not too far away from mainland Greece.

After the needed cooling off, the boat sailed forward down south of the Ionian Sea. We were told that we are going to a small island called Kastos. There are only 30-something people living here permanently, which is why it is called, perhaps, as one of the forgotten islands.

I guess during the summer months, the island gets a boost of holiday-goers and temporary residents. I do wonder though. What it is like to live on such a small island? Especially during winter.

Stay tuned for the second part of the cruise.