Our first full day, we have breakfast on the terrace of our hotel overlooking the pool and bay. In the distance is Sami, a lovely place we’ve been twice before and will revisit during the week.
Hubby walks down to the harbour with me, but then we split, he’s off on a cross-country walk to Myrtos beach whilst I’m diving. Filling out the regulation form, without my proper glasses, is a challenge but the Dive Masters are both very patient, years of dealing with tourists no doubt, and it then takes a good half hour to get kitted up, carry stuff to the dive boat (yes, I had to carry my own stuff!) and then hand-ball the gear onto the rib. Note - in the Maldives the staff do all this, even helping with dress and kit-up, here it’s do-it-yourself, quite a different perspective.
Chatting with a family of Brits, and another who’s family are not divers, it’s clear they consider this to be a very relaxed operation, my engagement with Albert, the manager would certainly confirm this, but that’s not to say they are not professional, it’s just a different style. Being in a rib, we have to do the back-flip to enter, so I’m soon falling backwards into the drink, gosh it’s colder than I expected. We soon descend and head off round the rocky headland. A red light catches my eye and it’s clear to me that my camera is not happy. Minutes later I see the internals drown, later I descover a failure in the seal, possibly a small bit of coral that I didn’t notice when servicing the case only a couple of days ago, sadly there will be no dive photos until I buy a new camera, sob sob.
The dive otherwise goes well and we see many amphorae alongside the fish and an eel. It’s not anything like the Maldives, the colours and the vast quantities of fish are not present, yet it’s still a very relaxing and enjoyable dive. We surface, de-kit in the water and pass everything back up into the rig, before eventually getting back on and driving to the next bay, where we do it all again. The second dive was against a smallish current, so outwards was a little bit slower, but we return to our starting point as there’s no one on board, it’s just at anchor. The water is mid 20’s so it’s a lot colder than I’m used to and I’m regretting only bringing my 3mm wetsuit, but what with weight issues I made that decision and of course I will cope.
Hubby meanwhile has route-marched across the island to the opposite coast and back, some 19km, and still made it back to the harbour before me, he was sat nearby our berth waiting patiently. Once I’ve washed my kit we go for a club sandwich and beer at one of the many harbour side restaurants.
After a quick change we head out of the town and head North to Fiskardo, a lovely picturesque port. Although it is now very touristy and attracts expensive yachts, it’s a beautiful little place with up-market restaurants right at the water’s edge, and expensive shops. For example, we’d seen some flip-fops, admittedly a brand, and decided not to buy, at €20 in Agia Effimia, here in Fiskardo the same ones were €35.
Walking to the two close-by lighthouses before wandering around the popular harbour-side mean we circumnavigate as much as we can, before the walking back through the town a second time enjoying the cute little areas. For the drive back we choose the scenic route which entails a few very narrow lane, countless hairpin bends and some stunning vistas, including approaching Agia Effimia from high up the hill above our hotel looking down over the harbour.
It’s a dash back to shower and change for dinner, although I don’t think many others bother with this level of dedication, but we’re sticklers for decorum, then head back to the harbour to select a different taverna from the twenty or more available.
Tiredness prevents me from attempting photos yet, but another day may well see them start to appear in FB.
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