A Kalymnos boat trip sails the coast of Kalymnos, the sponge divers’ island of the Dodecanese, and the islets around it. It is one of the Greek tours on Greece VIP.
This post covers what a Kalymnos boat trip includes, where it leaves from and which islets it visits. It also covers the sponge history, the caves and coves, and the sea life. Wind and sea, the best season and common questions come last.
Each section ends with a Kalymnos boat trip or a nearby cruise that can be booked online.
What does a Kalymnos boat trip include?
A Kalymnos boat trip can be a sea-taxi hop from Myrties to Telendos, with tickets sold in Myrties. Day boats leave Pothia for Pserimos in the morning and return by afternoon. Greek law also allows fishing tourism on fishing boats.
Kalymnos has 105 km of coastline. Its position suits a Kalymnos boat trip to its islets. It also suits day cruises to Patmos, Lipsi, Leros, Kos and Nisyros.
Among boat trips from Kos, one day tour explores Myrties on Kalymnos. A small boat then crosses to Telendos. The tour returns by bus and ferry.
One Kalymnos boat trip from Kos serves lunch on board, with cocktails mixed by the crew. The Telendos tour leaves lunch to Myrties tavernas facing Telendos.
Law 4070/2012 lets visitors try fishing and sponge-fishing methods. Boats must be in the National Fishing Registry. Fishers or fish farmers hold at least half of each business.
- Swim time: One Kos cruise makes three stops with time to swim.
- Sea taxis: Telendos crossings need no booking ahead.
- Nera feast: Small boats carry islanders there each 13–14 September.
Greek fishing tourism also covers local food and festivals of fishing communities.
Where does a Kalymnos boat trip leave from?
A Kalymnos boat trip leaves from Pothia harbour, the Myrties pier or the quay at Rina. Pothia’s mole runs about 0.2 nautical miles and shields the harbour from the south-east. The Myrties harbour serves local caïques and tripper boats.
Pothia sits on a horseshoe-shaped bay. Its 200 m outer berth takes car ferries. Inner berths of 120 m and 75 m serve cruise and cargo ships.
A Kalymnos boat trip by yacht moors stern-to at Pothia. The south-west quay holds 12 to 15 yachts. A new quay at the north-west end takes nearly 50.
Rina shelters fishing caïques and tourist boats, and a boatyard stands at the harbour’s edge. Depths there run 1.5 to 6 m over sand and mud.
A Kalymnos boat trip from Myrties lands at Telendos village, on the islet’s east coast. Other boats run from Myrties to Emporios and to Xerokampos on Leros.
- Pserimos boats: Sea taxis and caïques run there year-round.
- Harbour radio: Pothia listens on VHF channel 10.
- Masouri: The village lies 2.5 km from Myrties.
Swimmers at Rina enter from concrete steps and leave by metal ladders.
Which islets does a Kalymnos boat trip visit?
A Kalymnos boat trip reaches Telendos, Pserimos and Plati. Smaller islets around Kalymnos include Kalolimnos, Nera and Safonidi. Plati covers 0.726 km² and has two residents. Kalolimnos counted 15 residents in 2021, while Nera has had none since at least 1991.
A Kalymnos boat trip to Telendos reaches the ancient Kelleris. It belonged to the Delian League. Early Christian basilicas and late Roman baths lie near its village.
Pserimos is also called Kapari, after an abundant aromatic plant. Islanders fish and raise livestock. A municipal campsite hosts Scouts, and a primary school runs there.
A Kalymnos boat trip to the north-east meets Kalolimnos, also called Gaidouronisi. It covers 1.192 km² and rises to 115 m. Soldiers man a local outpost there.
Nera lies off the south tip of Kalymnos, opposite Vlychadia. Its Holy Cross church belonged to an old monastery. Safonidi, or Agios Nikolaos, covers 0.155 km² nearby.
- Plati chapel: Agios Nikolaos stands on its south side.
- Plati access: Excursion boats come from Kalymnos and Pserimos.
- Nera bay: Three or four boats fill the eastern bay.
The sheltered bay of Emporios looks out on the islet of Kalavros.
What sponge history lines a Kalymnos boat trip?
A Kalymnos boat trip crosses seas once worked by a sponge fleet. In 1868 the island ran 300 boats with free divers. It also had 70 gagava draggers and 70 spearfishermen. Their yearly catch was worth 2,000,000 gold francs.
Crews spent February and March preparing for the voyage. It then lasted six to seven months. At the trade’s peak, each boat carried up to 15 divers.
Before 1970, the island seen on a Kalymnos boat trip held over 80 percent of Greek sponge fishing. Its share of the sponge trade topped 90 percent.
World War II destroyed the Kalymnos fleet. Over 150 new boats followed from 1945. Other fleets sailed from Paros, Chalkida and Symi, reached on day trips to Symi.
Egypt closed its waters to divers in 1962, Libya in 1972. Sponge disease struck in August 1986. Kalymnos output fell from 30 tons to 3.5 by 1993.
- Fernez set: Divers adopted this breathing apparatus in 1920.
- Gagava: This dragged gear worked at 50 to 110 metres.
- Nargile: This diving method arrived in 1970.
A Kalymnos boat trip passes the home of Greece’s only state diving school.
Which caves and coves does a Kalymnos boat trip reach?
A Kalymnos boat trip reaches the Kefalas cave, sailing from Pothia or Myrties. Its 103-metre corridor holds huge stalactites. Boats also reach Daskalio, a prehistoric cave in the north wall of Vathy Bay. Coves follow at Palionisos and Arginonta.
Kefalas covers 1,000 square metres in six chambers. Oceanographer Anastasios Christomanos explored it in 1961. Its other name is Cave of Zeus, and traces of his worship remain.
Amedeo Maiuri dug Daskalio in 1922, recovering over 700 pieces. Finds include pottery, stone tools, obsidian and loom weights. Deposits span the Late Neolithic to about 1100 BC.
Mario Benzi ties Daskalio to Minoan cave ritual. A Minoan-type worshipper statuette turned up there by chance in 1997. Two Minoan rhyta also came from the cave.
A Kalymnos boat trip into the Vathy fjord meets Rina, named after Saint Irene. Pirates destroyed the old settlement on Resurrection night in the early 15th century.
- Palionisos: A small jetty here shelters pleasure craft.
- Arginonta: This west-facing pebble bay has shallow water.
- Emporios: Ruins there point to Phoenician settlers.
A Kalymnos boat trip to Vathy reaches a valley inhabited since the Neolithic.
What sea life does a Kalymnos boat trip meet?
A Kalymnos boat trip passes grounds where bath sponges regrow at 5 to 15 metres. Greek bathing and honeycomb sponges lead that return. Alien lionfish and silver-cheeked toadfish now live offshore. A bottlenose dolphin was photographed off Telendos.
The Mediterranean has five commercial sponges, among them elephant’s ear, leather sponge and Turkey cap. The Greek bathing sponge is the commonest commercial sponge in the Aegean.
A 2017 study of Kalymnos sponges found disease signs in only 0.6 percent of the harvest. It called the island the last bulwark of the sponge fishery.
The Natura 2000 zone crossed on a Kalymnos boat trip, code GR4210019, spans 18,829 hectares. It wraps Kalymnos and Telendos, yet its record lists no seabed habitat type.
Silver-cheeked toadfish reached the Aegean from the Red Sea after 2003. A Kalymnos boat trip crosses waters where toadfish were logged in August 2012, at 21 metres.
- Elephant’s ear: It is the largest commercial sponge.
- Toadfish: Local fishers say it wrecks longlines and nets.
- Tuna: After the disease, islanders switched to tuna and swordfish.
Lionfish were logged off Telendos in April 2017 and at Vlychadia in 2018.
How do wind and sea shape a Kalymnos boat trip?
A Kalymnos boat trip meets a north-west wind in July, when the airport station averages 11.3 knots. February blows harder, at 12.5 knots. Sea water peaks at 24°C in August and September. Vathy and the lee of Telendos give excellent meltemi shelter.
At the airport station, the July wind blows from 322 degrees, just west of north-west.
In August, only 13 of 1,108 readings at the airport station were force 0 to 1. Kos, home of sunset cruises on Kos, lies just south across the channel.
Long-term sea data put the water around Kalymnos at its coolest, 16°C, in February and March. It warms to 22°C in June and reaches 23°C in July.
On a Kalymnos boat trip into Vathy, very strong gusts can drop down the steep hills. The bottom there is sand and weed, and anchor holding is not always good.
- Storm count: February logged 66 readings at force 7 to 8.
- Autumn wind: September averages 10.1 knots at the airport station.
- Pothia swell: South-south-east gales can raise significant swells in this harbour.
The airport station has logged these wind readings since 1 January 2012.
When is the best season for a Kalymnos boat trip?
A Kalymnos boat trip has its driest window from June to September. Monthly rain at the island station stays at 5.4 mm or less. July is the hottest month, with a 32.2°C mean high and a 25.4°C mean low.
Climate figures come from a National Observatory of Athens station on Kalymnos, with records since 2009. August averages a 31.9°C mean high and a 25.3°C mean low.
A Kalymnos boat trip in October meets 30.3 mm of rain and a 24.4°C mean high. November brings 70.8 mm, and January peaks at 153.4 mm, the wettest month.
In the latest full year of Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority data, Kalymnos airport handled 16,295 commercial passengers. August led with 2,892, while February was the quietest at 402.
Eurostat counts 183,000 sea passengers at Kalymnos port from July to September in its latest full year. January to March falls to 54,000, while April to June reaches 115,000.
- Record heat: The station hit 41.0°C on 4 August 2021.
- Flights: June to September each logged 116 aircraft movements.
- Late year: Port traffic reaches 86,000 from October to December.
Kalymnos airport opened on 10 August 2006 and handles domestic flights only.
What do travelers ask about a Kalymnos boat trip?
A Kalymnos boat trip has backup on shore: a Coast Guard port authority and a hospital. The hospital grew from a bequest by benefactor Nikolaos Vouvalis, and its buildings were finished by 1927. It joined the state system in 1965.
Where is the port authority for a Kalymnos boat trip?
The Hellenic Coast Guard lists the Kalymnos Port Authority at the port of Kalymnos, postcode 85200. It is one of 48 offices on the list ranked as a port authority. That list counts 182 Coast Guard offices, including 44 port stations.
What hospital backs up a Kalymnos boat trip?
The General Hospital and Health Centre of Kalymnos, known as To Vouvaleio, stands at 22 Nikiforou Zervou Street. It has an emergency department, a hyperbaric oxygen therapy unit and a dialysis unit. Surgical care includes orthopaedic and obstetric-gynaecology departments.
Which buses reach Myrties or Vathy for a Kalymnos boat trip?
One municipal bus line runs from Pothia through Chora, Elies, Kantouni and Kamari to Myrties, Massouri and Armeos. A separate line links Pothia with Vathy. Other routes serve Emporio, Argos, Vlychadia and Platy Gialo. In summer, a route also links the airport with Pothia.