Spetses 

Ports in southern Peloponnese are all too often smaller comapred to the seasonal traffic they should support. The port of Spetses, a picturesque island located just opposite Port Heli, is no exception. The island itself certainly deserves a visit but we advise you to avoid it in high season.

Under Venetian, Albanian and Ottoman dominations in the past, the island of Spetses became famous over the centuries for the builders of warships living here. The local fleet also played an important role during the War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. The old shipyards have been restored over the years and one among them hosts a musuem today.

That said, the small island is covered by pine trees and it is almost uninhabited, except for a small village located on the south-eastern coast. There are no paved roads and people here still use horse-drawn carriages.

The only port of the island is located juts at the foot of the small inhabited village. It was built inside a very deep well-sheltered tiny natural bay, where it's practically impossible to find a place at summer weekends and during all high season. Moreover, Spetses is touched by several ferries which carry tourists from Athens and surrounding islands. Hence, the intense traffic within the port must be taken into account.

Getting Spetses by boat is rather simple. Only yachtsmen coming from East must pay attention to some rocks near Cape Emilianos.

Once you've got Spetses, you have to enter the bay hosting the old port. In the outermost area, the largest one, you can choose to moor at a short dock on the right or drop the anchor about 4-5 m from the shore and throw a rope to land.

The innermost part of the port is the real port, provided with a long but always very crowded quay. The seabottom can be insidious because of the high number of anchors, chains and even some small wrecks. So be careful when you drop your anchor.

Weekends can be even more problematic given the intense traffic generated by tourist ferries; you risk to get stuck in the harbour until Sunday night or Monday morning.

So, for a fast stop on the island, you'd better to moor near the gas station prior authorisation; if you want to spend a night here you have to pay 25 euros. Anyway, always ask the harbour staff for information.

The port offers very essential services: just some water and fuel on the quay. There aren't any electric charging colums. However, the structure offers some excellent repair services for wooden boats and a well-equipped chandler's shop. In the surroundings, you can easily find some shops, dumpsters, cafeterias, restaurants and taverns.

As an alternative, you can set course to the large beautiful bay of Zoyoryia, on the opposite (north-western) edge of the island. Rather crowded in summer, it offers a good and deep seabottom (sand and seaweeds) and an excellent Greek restaurant (closed from October to May)