Sailing Around Milos

We started our morning with breakfast at the hotel. I ordered Greek Strapatsada (scrambled eggs with tomato and feta). Sounds delicious, right? Let me share the photo with you of what I was expecting.

Vs.

I honestly thought I was being served the vomit of my neco friend.

Fortunately, the dish actually tasted pretty good. I could taste the tomatoes (obviously) and the feta. I’m not sure where the scrambled eggs were mixed in?

Let’s move on from breakfast and discuss the day’s beautiful adventure. Today our itinerary included a sailing tour around the west to the south side of Milos island. Here is a map of Milos and Kimolos islands. (Kimolos is where we hiked the day before.)

We set sail from Adamantas. Our first stop was down to Kleftiko to visit the sea cave. Here are a few pictures of the first part of our sail. The pictures include leaving the port of Adamantas. I still cannot get over how clear the water is in a port!!! I attempted several times on the trip to capture the different colors of blue. We decided to add a new color to our color palette- Aegean Sea Blue. It is clear, ever changing and always remarkable. Our first shore approach was Vani rock. Vani rock is where there used to be a mine. It has not been operational for some time.

I took a couple screen shots of Google Maps along the journey to help orientate us on our journey.

After leaving Vani rock, we were served breakfast onboard. It was yummy. We both laughed when they had strapatsada. Neither of us took any! Everything was yummy. The cheese was goat cheese, which I normally don’t enjoy. However, because it was so fresh it wasn’t terrible.

Our sail continued south. It was filled with more amazing views and endless photo opportunities. I probably took 25+ pictures. I’ve selected the best to share.

We made it to Kleftiko about 1.5 hours into the trip. We anchored here for about 30 minutes. The southern winds made the sea state a little rough. I was more than happy to jump in the water for swim call! The water was chilly, super salty, and refreshing.

It is now time for our history lesson about Kleftico. Kelftico Beach is not actually a beach. It is a lot of sea caves where pirates used to hide. They liked the southern exposure because they could see ships approaching the Greek Islands. They would hide in the caves and come out when the ships were close and didn’t have a chance to advert course. The word kleftico comes from the Greek word “kleftis” which means “thief/robbery”. Our English word “kleptomaniac” (an impulse disorder resulting in the irresistible urge to steal) is derived from the Greek language.

We stayed for about 30 minutes. It was plenty because of being anchored in the choppy seas. After leaving the water, I even had to focus on the horizon to maintain equilibrium and not feel nauseous.

Side note: Our driver for Milos, Yiannis, told us in the winter, the seas are too rough to voyage to Kleftiko Beach. He said you must take a 1.5 hour drive and view the seas and caves from above.

Our next stop was to see another entrance to another sea cave. We didn’t have an opportunity to swim. Just pictures.

We continued to sail back along the coast to our second swim spot. The water was much calmer. But, so much COLDER! Mom swam this time and agreed the water was COLD! After 30 minutes of swimming, the crew served us lunch. It was delicious. We had traditional Greek moussaka. It is an eggplant dish that resembles lasagna. Although sometimes vegetarian, onboard it was served with ground meat. The sides included, Greek salad, two types of beans, cabbage salad, and bread. Again, the lunch view didn’t disappoint.

After lunch, we continued along the coast and stopped one final time for a third swim. We stopped off the coast at Plathiena Beach. I took yet another dip. The water was warmer, yet still chilly and an amazing color of turquoise. The rocky coast was amazing. We named the out cropped rock “Mo Rock” – because it resembled Mo, my Mom’s puppy.

As we set sail again, our guide told us this rock is actually called Aekoudes or “Bear Rock”. As we sailed, our perspective changed and we realized why it is called Bear Rock.

As we came back into the port Adamantas, we saw the sea village we hiked through on Thursday. It was fun to see it from the coast. We also had a chance to see the highest point we hiked to that day in the town of Plaka. Look for the highest white building on the mountain. It is a church we hiked to in Plaka.

The crew gave us a departing gift of a Greek donut and a shot of something like Ouzo but better. Cheers!

After showers, we finished the day shopping, dinner, and walking the lovely neighborhood streets. We definitely enjoyed our time in Milos. It is a hidden gem with all the Greek charm and hospitality without too many tourists.

As always, thanks for reading and sharing our experiences.