Agathonisi - Dodecanese islands in the eastern Aegaean sea

The island of Agathonisi is about 15 nm from Leros-Panteli, 10-15 nm from the westerly located islands of Lipsi, Arki and Patmos. In the north, the island of Samos with it´s high mountains is seen, next port is Pythagoreion. As one can imagine, there are not many people living on Agathonisi, which is pretty close to the turkish border. Often sailors from Turkey come in to stopover for the night, but sometimes the Coast Guard and Port Police checks papers and sends boats out, which do not have appropriate clearance for Greece. If you come in to the small bay with the little village consisting of some small houses, 3 Tavernas, some holiday-homes, there you´ll see a quai on the starboard side. This is used for the ferryboat, which comes 3-4 times a week. The first 15m of that quia are always reserved for the Coast Guard boat. If no ferry is expected, one can go alongside behind them, it has space for 3-4 boats. The inner area behind the quai can be used as well.

As seen above, some boats only dropped their anchor, but space is limited (very shallow close to the beach), and falling gusts can be strong, especially in summertime July/August/September. Mooring as the two boats on the left is possible, but note the buoys that distinguish the bathing/swimming area (greek law) in summer time (these buoys are not out yet, the picture was taken in May)
Nevertheless a policeman passed by (in private clothes) and "gave a friendly but official order" to "take the backlines away, they would be dangerous..."
A complaint at his officer helped, but sometimes these island-policemen can be strict.

If the bay is too full in summertime it is possible to find a small bay nearby to drop the anchor and come with the dinghi to "town".

The Glaros Restaurant has a nice ambiance, garden-like, a nice terrace (below the yellow sun-umbrella). Food is made from natural products and prices are reasonable. The typical greek Taverna named "Georges" is close to the quai and owner George has a german wife. Food is basic greek, specials are "goat in lemon sauce" (very good!)

From Agathonoisi, you can sail with the wind to the southern island Kalymnos with it´s bays (10-15 nm) or Kalymnos maintown in the south (22 nm), a short trip to  Leros-Lakki (14 nm), which has a little architectural flair of Italy, to Arki (10 nm) or Lipsi (10 nm) or Patmos (15 nm). Samos (20 nm) in the north is a nice trip upwind

The turkish coast is nearby as well, but to leave Greece, one should visit Kalymnos (Port of Entry) first and sail to Turgut Reis or Bodrum-City, which are both turkish Ports of entry. It is no problem to visit Turkey, but it is  not allowed to cross border without appropriate formal pocedures. With a greek charteryacht you must leave Turkey after the first Port of call or pay an extremely high Transitlog-charge!

Check other available sailor information about greek islands and turkish ports in the area

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