Thursday, February 7, 2013

Dokos: water, rocks and a bbq on Saronic Sailing Day 3!

So when I asked if I should continue with Greece or table it for a while and move on to Granada at New Year's, I got votes for both destinations and a suggestion that I just alternate between the two! So I've decided I'm going to that, and start off with Greece just to start reminding myself about the trip since it was now 7 months ago! :o(

So, when I left off back in October (yikes!) we were enjoying the island of Spetses. We left Spetses right after lunch on our third day in the Saronic Islands and had a delightful 2+h sail to neighbouring Dokos (where we had stopped for lunch the day before en-route to Spetses from Poros).

Dokos
Dokos. Hmmm... when I look it up in the two guidebooks sitting on the shelf next to me (Guide du Routard and Lonely Planet), Dokos doesn't appear in either of them! Not only does it not have a section of its own under the "Saronic Islands", but it doesn't even appear in the index! In fact, you have to know it's there to spot it on the map of the Saronic Islands! Even on Wikipedia it's barely got a couple of paragraphs... Why so little love? Well, it probably has to do with the fact that it's an uninhabited island (except by some goats and a shepherd or two) so none of the tourist boats take you there (you can hire a water taxi from Hydra). It's a pity 'cause the coves are great for swimming and there was some nice hiking up the mountain looking for old ruins! Those ruins are a sign that once upon a time it was inhabited (between 3000 - 5000 years ago), and even housed a Byzantine castle (good lookout spot) whose remains I didn't get a chance to go looking for.