Katapola

Just under two thousand inhabitants, a chilling sea, relaxing views and picturesque villages: welcome to Amorgo, the easternmost island of the Cyclades, a stone’s throw from Naxos. And if you don’t know what we are talking about, perhaps you know instead the film “Le grand bleu,” Luc Besson’s little masterpiece set and filmed on this very island.

It is a small island (about 126000 square kilometers in area) and one that-perhaps unluckily-cannot count on major tourist-commercial attractions; an island that is rather bare even as vegetation and quite arid, so much so that in some summer periods it is forced to import water from neighboring islands. Nevertheless, Amorgo has a charm all its own that is impossible to deny.

The northern coast is characterized by small bays with beautiful sandy beaches; the southern coast, in contrast, is steep and full of high cliffs. Right here is perhaps the best-known tourist site on the entire island, the monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa, literally carved and “set” into the rock, visible almost more from the sea than from the mainland.

The island of Amorgo has been inhabited since ancient times (3,000 years before Christ) and has suffered alternating fortunes, passing under Roman and Ottoman rule, being used as a place of confinement, and often being prey to pirates. It is no coincidence, in fact, that the island’s capital, Chora, is 400 meters inland, favorably situated to guard both sides of the island.

Other population centers are Egiali, a commercial port in the northeast of the island, and Katapola, where the port usually used by boaters approaching the island is located.
But it is certainly not the population centers that attract Tourists to Amorgo. Amorgo is a magical and wild island: windy, very (we will talk about this in a moment), barren, mountainous, with an atmosphere out of time, it envelops you in its enchantment and infects you with its magic.

Getting to the narrow and elongated Amorgo by boat presents no practical difficulties. Be careful, however: as mentioned, Amorgo is very windy, especially in summer, and it is not uncommon to catch strong meltemi coming from the north. Therefore, exercise great caution as gusts and currents can be all-consuming.
The ports to head to is Katapola, which is located west on the island’s northern coast, in the deep bay of the same name open to the west.

This characteristic of it makes it an ideal port to shelter from the meltemi, and in general really from all winds; it offers a good shelter and a good seabed made of sand and seaweed. Actually talking about “port” may seem misleading since there is no real structure; it is a part of the banked shore, the southwestern part of the bay.

Once in Katapola, it is best to seek berths at the west or south pier, taking care not to occupy The seats reserved for the ferries that shuttle from Piraeus. Depths here are around 3-5 meters. The ferry “issue” is crucial, especially on weekends: some of them, in fact, arrive on Saturday and leave on Monday; if you have your anchor nearby you have to wait until Monday morning to set sail!

On the services front, we are below the bare minimum. There is no possibility of refueling, there are no columns with electricity, and there is very very little water, especially in July and August. Anyway at the pier you can find the coast guard office and ask there for all the information you need. In the town of Katapola, on the other hand, there is almost nothing lacking: bars, restaurants, Internet cafes, laundromat, car and motorcycle mooring.
And if you can’t find room in the ports, there is always the possibility of anchoring in Katapola Bay, in the northern part, opposite the beach. The village is just a tender’s throw away.