Hydra Island - Greece 2024 - (Part 8)
We woke up on anchor off Paralia Agios Nikolaos beach on Hydra/Idra Island, after our overnight voyage from Adamas/Adamantas, on Milos Island. It was another stunning blue sky day and the sea was so calm that swimming was the first thing on our “to do” list.
We spent the whole morning in and out of the sea, although we did have to move a little further out from the harbour/beach to allow the various fast moving passenger ferries go in and out to the beach. After a late lunch on board, the captains felt well rested and ready to move onto our next destination on Hydra Island - Mandraki. Lovely scenery all the way.
Mandraki is located just North of the charming town of Hydra/Idra on Hydra island. The marina/port in Hydra is chaotic to say the least! There are so many boats moored there (including super yachts) and a constant stream of rental boats, water taxis and passenger ferries going in and out, we even saw a few collisions between boats. So for us, staying in Mandraki was the better and much quieter option (thank you to our captains for their excellent planning once again).
When we arrived in Mandraki, once we had the anchor dropped and shore ropes secured, we settled on deck for a group chat and some refreshments while we enjoyed our new surroundings. We decided to book a taxi boat to take us into Hydra town for dinner so we quickly got organised and we were on our way! There was a great view of Kavos Castle from the taxi boat:
We were treated to another beautiful sunset in Hydra. In the photos you can see some water taxis, big/super yachts and get an idea of just how busy it was at the Hydra marina/port:
Wheeled vehicles are not permitted in Hydra (excluding the usual emergency, delivery, rubbish collection etc, vehicles) so this makes it a really enjoyable town to walk around. You will also see cats all over the place and this seems to be the norm on any/all of the Greek islands that we have visited.
For dinner we headed for Veranda Restaurant which came highly recommended and promised amazing views of Hydra. But of course, with a view comes climbing/steps to said view so up and up we went on foot and boy was it hot! As expected, the cute streets were mainly cobbed and narrow:
Finally, dripping in sweat (and admittedly slightly short of breath) we arrived at Varanda Restaurant and thankfully we got a table. You can see the pretty entrance to the restaurant in the photo below:
I loved everything about Veranda Restaurant; it was worth every drop of sweat to get there. The service, food and overall atmosphere and view - everything was perfect. Highly recommend!
After dinner we made our way back down to the marina and later got a taxi boat back to our catamaran.
Waking the following morning, we once again took in our surroundings, this time in the day light:
One member of our group went for a walk and another went for a run and both got some great photos!
The arrow below is pointing to our catamaran:
Next you can see the walking/running route which follows the coast line from Mandraki to Hydra town. The metal golden sun (Apollo?) statue/sculpture (pictured below) marks the location of the DESTE’s Project Space, essentially an art exhibition/event space in Hydra:
A little further along you will come to the previously mentioned Kavos Castle:
Hydra town/marina view from the castle walls/walking path:
A final view from further South (and uphill) of Hydra town, the arrow in the second photo is pointing to Kavos Castle:
After breakfast on board we hopped into a water taxi and headed back to Hydra town for more exploring, some shopping, ice-cream, lunch and later drinks and people watching. If its not obvious from the photos it was really hot, at least 30C. Below is the “water taxi view”:
Donkeys/mules waiting at the marina to help people arriving to get their luggage to their accommodation:
The donkeys in action and actually being recorded by a TV crew at the time:
Later while I wandered around Hydra town I spotted some donkeys in a shaded spot taking a well deserved break:
We all spread out and spent some time walking around Hydra. When we met up later for a group lunch, we all agreed that we loved Hydra. It is so picturesque, full of lovely boutiques and cute sunbathing cats! Here is a selection of photos from Hydra town:
There are a lot of shops and restaurants, bars etc. located along the marina and so it is the perfect place to sit, have a drink or something to eat and take it all in - especially the never ending drama with boats in the marina!
After a late lunch and some refreshing cold drinks in The Pirate Bar (which was a great find) it was already nearly 5pm and time to get back to the boat, so we hopped into another water taxi. Back on board, we had a quick swim and then it was time to leave Mankraki and make our way to our next destination - Ermioni.
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