The ‘petit’ neighbour Kastellorizo
The Greek island Kastellorizo is a small island that can be reached from Kaş in about 20 minutes. It is a beautiful, small, postcard place with clear turquoise waters. Although I have been in Kas before it had never appeared to me to pass to this Greek island and I give it a try this time. The boats depart at 10 A.M. in the morning and you need to advise the Police a day before since they register your passport (and yes Turkish citizens need a Schengen Visa even if it’s a day trip). You can go back to Turkey with the 16.30 boat or the 23.00 one as operates some days in High Season. Or you can stay in one of the pensions and really get relaxed in this quiet and calm place.
When you get closer to the island you see a half moon bay surrounded by two floor pastel colour houses lined after one another, a bright sun above shining on the water, no concrete houses on mountains above the bay as in the Turkish side. The main activity on the island is the trip to the Blue Cave that is located at the other side. We take the little boat of Niko’s, on a windy day like this he shows his master by moving along the wild waves and takes us to the Cave. The entrance of the cave is so small and the waters are so high that we need to lie on the boat to enter inside. Once we are there we are shocked about the beauty of the colour, it can be the most beautiful Blue I’ve ever seen in my life, we jump to the water and feel happy like little kids. Niko tells us that in winter the monk seals come here to reproduce ad leave their eggs as it provides protection. As we leave behind the cave and go across now wilder waves we come to a beach called St George; in fact it is not a beach but a little bay surrounded by rocks. It has the most beautiful, clear, calm waters I’ve swam in this vacation.
When we go back to centre we now spend our last hours at the narrow streets lined up with small churches, colourful houses, cats, cloths outside the windows.It is quite picturesque. Indeed, I learn that a movie was shot here; The Italian director Gabriele Salvatore’s 1991 movie Mediterraneo that won the Best Foreign Movie Oscar. I decide to watch the movie as soon as I go back and leave Kastellorizo behind promising to come back whenever I find the occasion.
Yu can reach to Kas from Dalaman Airport (DLM) in Turkey in two and a half hours by shuttle service and then take the boat to Kastellorizo.
