Open water swimming from Nafplio

We meet you at Athens Airport. A morning flight is best, and anything landing before 17:00 works. The private transfer takes you to the hotel near Nafplio’s old town.

The afternoon is free to unpack and walk the harbour front. The welcome dinner is at a taverna in Nafplio, where the guides brief you on the five swims, the kayak escort and what each day asks of you. The table is booked for the whole group, so tell us about any dietary needs before you fly.

A 3.5 km acclimatisation swim leaves straight from Nafplio, with guides alongside and safety kayaks on the seaward side. The route follows the foot of the Akronafplia cliffs, where the limestone drops sheer into the water, and ends on the sand at Karathona. Lunch is the guides’ picnic on the beach: bread, cheeses, vegetables, dips and fruit. You walk back to town on the coastal path. Dinner is free tonight, and we book a table if you ask. Pack trainers in the dry bag for the walk back.

The minibus runs east from Nafplio to the coast near Epidaurus. Today’s 3 km swim crosses shallow water above the Sunken City, with the guides pointing out submerged walls and the lines of old streets below you. The swim is unhurried, because the point is to look down. A picnic lunch follows on shore. A visit to the theatre at Ancient Epidaurus is possible on request on the way back. The evening is free in Nafplio. Bring a mask: the stonework is hard to read through goggles.

Koronisi is the small island off Tolo, and today it is the target of a 3 km crossing from the Tolo shore. Guides and safety kayaks stay with the group the whole way. The bottom is sand for much of the route, which keeps the water pale and easy to read. The picnic lunch is on Koronisi itself. Back in Nafplio, the evening is free. Leave a dry layer in the minibus for the ride back, because the afternoon breeze on the beach is cool.

Nothing is scheduled today: no minibus and no swim. Breakfast at the hotel is the only fixed point. The guides suggest where to go, and the two obvious walks are up to the Palamidi castle above the town and through the old town’s neoclassical streets. Lunch and dinner are your own, and we book a table on request. Your shoulders get a full day off before the two longest outings, to Methana and Spetses. The Palamidi climb is best done early, before the day warms up.

Methana is a volcanic peninsula on the Saronic side, and the rock changes colour as you swim along it. The swim is 3.5 km with guides and safety kayaks. Afterwards there is a dip in the thermal springs, where the water is warmer than the sea and smells of sulphur. A picnic lunch comes before the drive back to Nafplio, and the evening is free. Leave silver jewellery at the hotel, because sulphur water tarnishes it.

Pine comes right down to the water on Spetses, and the last swim runs along that green shore. Guides swim with you and a support boat covers the open crossing. Lunch is the final picnic. There is time in Spetses town afterwards, and we are back in Nafplio in the late afternoon. The farewell dinner is in Nafplio tonight, with the group and the guides. Bring a change of clothes for town, because there is no stop at the hotel before you walk around Spetses.

Breakfast is the last meal at the hotel, with hot and cold options. The private transfer then leaves Nafplio for Athens Airport. There is no swim today, so pack the wet kit the night before and let it dry on the balcony. Send us your flight time when you book, so the transfer can be set around it. Keep a light layer to hand for the drive, because the minibus air conditioning runs cold.