Round the Western Cape by kayak

Giorgos Kontargiris or one of our guides meets you at Athens Airport or Kalamata Airport. From Athens the van transfer to Kalamata takes about three hours; from Kalamata Airport it is a short drive.

You reach the seaside guesthouse in Kalamata in the afternoon, with time to unpack and swim. Dinner is the briefing: at a restaurant near the guesthouse, Giorgos goes through the route, the kayaks and how the six paddling days work. Keep swim kit and a sun hat in your hand luggage, because the first paddle is tomorrow morning.

A short drive west reaches Marathopoli, where the morning starts with strokes and safety on the beach. The day covers 12 km: a 2 km crossing to Proti, a loop around the island, then south along the shore to Vromoneri. Proti was a refuge for pirates, and its coves still read like hiding places. Lunch is a picnic on shore, and the afternoon at Vromoneri is for swimming and snorkelling. Dinner is cooked by the guides at the beach camp if you have asked for it, or eaten near the guesthouse. Bring a mask of your own if you prefer it to a borrowed one.

Paddling 11 km down the open Ionian coast, with turtles or dolphins possible, brings you to the sand at Voidokilia, the omega-shaped bay beside Gialova Lagoon. A path behind the dunes climbs to Nestor’s Cave, where Hermes hid Apollo’s stolen cattle in the myth. After the picnic the kayaks pass under the walls of Palaiokastro and turn into Navarino Bay. Tonight is a guesthouse on the beach at Gialova, with dinner on its patio. Keep a pair of trainers in the kayak: the cave path is sand, then rock.

Navarino Bay is crossed today, part of a 19 km paddle that ends in Methoni. At Fanari, the rock at the bay’s southern edge, the kayaks thread sea caves and tunnels and pass under a natural stone arch, with birds nesting on the ledges. Next comes a landing on Sphacteria, uninhabited, for a short walk, a swim and a picnic. South past the walls of Niokastro, the day closes below Methoni castle, with a seaside guesthouse and dinner at a taverna. Reapply sun cream at the Sphacteria landing: the afternoon is long on open water.

Giorgos leads the morning under Methoni’s castle walls and across the channel to Sapienza, an 18 km day in all. Off the island the group snorkels over shipwreck remains, then lands on a beach for a swim and lunch. Sapienza is covered in arbutus forest and holds mouflon, wild goats, partridges and pheasants. In the afternoon the paddle turns east to Foinikounda, where the night is a guesthouse or, on request, a beach camp with dinner from the guides. Leave valuables in the minivan, which meets us at the end of the day.

Calm water matters most today, because at 20 km this is the longest paddle. The route goes south through the channel past uninhabited Venetiko to Cape Akritas, then north-east along a chain of coves to Kalamaki. Around the cape the Messinian Gulf opens and Taygetos rises on the far side, with snow on it early in the season. Lunch is a picnic in one of the coves, and the night is at Amoudi, in a guesthouse or at the beach camp. If wind shuts the cape, the guides switch the day to a walk.

North from Amoudi, the last 18 km cross rock gardens and reefs, with Caretta caretta turtles a possibility in the clear water. White limestone cliffs and small coves line the shore all morning. The landing is at Koroni, below the walls of its Venetian fortress, where the kayaks go onto the trailer. The minivan drives back to Kalamata for a shower at the guesthouse. Dinner tonight is the farewell, booked by us in Kalamata, so plan the evening around it.

Breakfast is at the guesthouse in Kalamata, the seventh of the trip. Afterwards the van takes you to Kalamata Airport, a short drive, or back to Athens Airport, about three hours on the road. No paddling today, so the kayaking kit can be packed away the night before. Lunch is not included on the drive. If you are flying from Athens, book an afternoon or evening flight to leave room for the three-hour transfer.