Spinalonga

Spinalonga is certainly one of the main tourist attractions on the island of Crete. A small fortified island, almost entirely built by the Venetians during their long rule, it later passed ibreve into Ottoman hands and sadly became, until the early twentieth century, a kind of island-lazaretto for The lepers.

That’s right: on the island lived, confined, about three hundred leprosy patients, at first segregated in anonymous cottages or in the fortress itself and later housed in no less anonymous purpose-built “hospitals.” They are the only buildings, these, that spoil the atmosphere of the island, which otherwise retains a truly unique appearance, with the imposing Venetian fortifications reaching down to the sea and the fortress dominating it all.

The island-which is actually called Kalidon, while Spinalonga is properly the peninsula to the south of the islet, connected to the mainland by a sandy isthmus-is now uninhabited and has something ghostly about it (and could it be otherwise, considering its history?), but it is still a must-visit place, if only for the stupendous views it offers and the unique atmosphere there.

To visit the island one can take one of the many boats that depart several times a day from St. Nicholas, Plaha or Elounda; but certainly getting there by one’s own boat is much more impressive. To visit the island you are allowed to moor temporarily on the northeast side of the islet, taking care to put yourself as close to the coast as possible.

Between the islet and the mainland is the Spinalonga lagoon, a narrow, shallow stretch of sea (5 meters average depth) enclosed between Crete to the east and the peninsula to the west. The lagoon is a very quiet place and excellently sheltered from all winds; it is not without its pitfalls, however, for strong breezes develop from the mountains on the Cretan coast, causing currents that are sometimes quite annoying. This is also the only problem concerning the approach to the islet of Spinalgona.

In the lagoon there is an excellent anchorage opportunity in the largest bend of the Spinalonga peninsula on the western side: here a rather wide and sheltered bay can count on a 5 to 7-meter deep, discrete keeper. Beware that depths in the lagoon are rarely more than 5 meters and approach 2 near the coast.

With strong northerly and northwesterly winds there is a risk of a bit of a dance, in which case it is better to move to the southern part of the lagoon, north of Elounda Beach, where it is possible to drop anchor and find better ridge