Kayaking ~ Exploring Chalkidiki by sea

My friends and their kids from Holland came to visit me here in Olympiada. We made several trips in the area here.

So we went for kayaking, to discover the area of Ierisos, Neo Roda, Komitsa by sea.

We had a personal tour guide, mister Pantelis, also named Pandos. He is also our guide for mountain bike tours. With kids from the age of 6 and 8 it is better to go for sea kayaking, mlountainbiking is a little too difficult for that age.

In one kayak 2 persons go in, so a parent and a child goes together in a kayak. We have to wear a life jacket to stay safe.

Before we started the tour, he explained to us how to step in and out of the kayak, so we won’t fall in the cold sea.

Pandos had one extra person, so we are all by 2 in the kayak. Tjerry is his help and I went with him in the kyak. Tjerry is from france, kayaking was his profession there.

We went to the left side, because the right side belongs to the holy mount Athos, this is a place you can’t go without permission or a visa. Also the sea is aprotected area that belongs to the Monasteries.

It was a nice and sunny day, not too warm, sometimes a little chilly, but we had warm sweaters with us to stay warm.

From the beach we went straight to the first point, the end of the rocks. I was glad to be with Tjerry in the kayak, he had the rhythm and we went very quick together.

After the first point we went closer to the rocks, we saw all small beaches around there. Only by sea or bike through the forest you can reach these points, we stopped quick on a beach to put on our sweaters because it got a little cold.
The kids found a skeleton, probably of a dolphin.

After we continued to go future beside the rocks to another small beach. The sea water was cristal clear, we can see fishes and other sea life under us. The nature here in Chalkidiki keeps on suprising me. Every time I think I saw everything I discover new places, where not many people will come.

The view from the sea is so beautiful, the sea is making these nice twinkles and we have a lot of fun together.

At the beach there is a small turtle lake, they were sunbathing on a small island in the lake, but too far away to make a picture of them.

We had a small snack, lentil salad, bread with some fruit and cookies. A nice break before we headed back.

After a little while we packed our stuff and went back. The way back went much quicker.

The sun started to go down and the temperature went so quickly down, we had to keep on moving to stay warm. We were the first kayak that came back.

Together we packed the kayaks on the trailers, packed our stuff and headed back to Ierisos.

It was a fantastic experience and a very nice day in the sea together with my friends from Holland. Even we are not experts for kayaking, it went very well. Proud of the kids, who all did their best.

For sure worth doing.

Nature is my Church, she heals my heart and calms my mind.

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Beside all the garden jobs, I am also organizing holiday here in Chalkidiki. I work together with Moniek Bos, from ‘de reisverrijker.nl’
After a silence of 2,5 years with corona, we are glad to get moving again.
Our first new trip is a 15-day active holiday tour here in Chalkidiki.

You can think about hiking, historical, cultural and nature tours, around the area. Diving or snorkeling, jeep safari, mountainbike tour, a cruise around the holy mount Athos and a kayak tour like we did.

We work together with locals, who know the places and cultures better than we do and have the same idea; Leaving an experience to the people.
Experiences combined with good food, local products and active movements, out of the seasons. So before the heat and after the heat period, From mid September till mid May.

This area is not so overcrowded with tourists, a lot of green during the whole summer and many undiscovered places. Even for me I still don’t know many places and it was a blessing to go off road on the bike in the mountains.

Ierisos
Ierissos is a small town on the east coast of the Akti peninsula in Chalkidiki, Greece. It is located 115 km from Thessaloniki, and 10 km from the border of the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain, or Mount Athos.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ierissos

All in all, a beautiful green place, friendly people, not overcrowded during the summer and still a little life during the autumn and winter.

To be continued,