Kalamos 

The stretch of coast between the Greek peninsula and the islands of Leucade, Cephalonia and Zante is also known as "inner sea". Here, there are some islands and islets very popular in summer among all yachtsmen who look for a safe shelter at night and a good starting point to continue sailing in this charming archipelago.

Kalamos is one among these islands; located south-east of Leucade, it's very crowded at summer weekends by foreign and Greek tourists, like Meganisi and Kastos.

As usual in this area, the island itself doesn't offer many tourist attractions, such as museums, churches and historical buildings, but it enjoys a wonderful rich nature characterised by pine and eucalyptus trees and crossed by many picturesque paths. Some of these pine trees are autochthonous and can be found only here.

The two villages of Kalamos are tiny and count just 560 inhabitants in total. They're called Kalamos and Episkopi, while Porto Leone was abandoned after the terrible earthquake which devastated the island last century.

So, if you're planning a visit here, bring some comfortable shoes, a book and relax enjoying the magical nature and atmosphere of the island. The little village of Kalamos offers a supermarket, a bakery, some cafés and tavers. Among them, George's tavern is particularly appreciated by yachtsmen especially because it provides them with a shower and a very affordable pay laundry service, in addition to some generous tasty fish dishes, of course.

South of the village, there's a beautiful sandy beach, located near a well-preserved windmill, while some picturesque small cafés are at the top of Kalamos, still far from mass tourism.

Getting Kalamos by boat is quite easy. The island raises about 800 metres over the sea level, so it's very easy to see it. If you come from South, pay attention to the islet of Nisis Formikoula, since the seabottom is very low. If you come from North, there are no particular dangers, except from some rocks near the coast. So, we suggest to keep a 100-metre-distance from it. The channel between Kalamos and Kastos can be insidious in case of strong winds.

The entrance of the port is located in the northern side of the structure, after a long breakwater which extends towards North-East and a small western dock: depth here varies from 3.5-4 metres. The port offers about 30 mooring places between the inner side of the breakwater and the quay on the promenade of Kalamos. Depths inside the port are about 2.5-3.5 metres and become very low in the external part of the breakwater (just 1 m) because of some big rocks which are part of the structure: boats shall drop the anchor keeping a certain distance and trow one or two ropes to the breakwater.

The port offers no services but it offers a good shelter from all winds, except from southern and south-eastern ones which can cause a very insidious stream inside the port.

As an alternative, especially in summer when Kalamos is very crowded, you can choose the small port of Episkopi, on the northern side of the island, offering just 5-6 mooring places (the area is generally reserved for fishing boats and ferries) or Porto Leone, once the main harbour of the island but abandoned after the earthquake in 1953. This offers a good shelter from all winds in two coves, respectively south and north of the abandoned village, and two wooden piers which can receive 2 boats.

In Porto Leone, the seabottom, composed by sand and seaweeds, is a good holding ground but the shelter offered is only from western and north-western winds. Depths reach 10-12 metres in the northern cove, 6-7 metres in the southern one