Astipalea (or Stampalia, translated into Italian), is the westernmost island of the Dodecanese archipelago, located about 30 km from the nearest islands, it represents somewhat the western “gateway” to this very busy area of Greece.
Characterized by a curious butterfly shape, the island appears to be precisely composed of two parts joined together by a very narrow isthmus full of deep bays; thus, two deep gulfs are formed to the north and south, St. Andrew and Maltesana, which offer opposite characteristics of shelter from the winds, as one can easily imagine.

Astipalea is a mountainous island-although the maximum elevation is just over 500 meters-and its coastline is very rugged: it is full of bays, gulfs, and coves, although not all of them offer ideal sheltering features from the winds. It is certainly not one of the busiest isople in the archipelago, and this has allowed some of its traditional features to remain intact.

During its history it changed hands, like all the islands in the area, from the Venetians to the Byzantines, then undergoing a long Ottoman domination and ending with an “Italian” period during the first half of the twentieth century; architectural traces remain of these dominations, worth mentioning (and visiting) is the Venetian fortress that dominates the settlement of Chora, and also the port of Skala, at its foot, which we will now discuss.

Skala is located on the southern coast of the island, and like all ports and anchorages in this area, it offers good shelter from the meltemi but still suffers from even violent gusts of wind. In the past the situation was borderline impassable; recently a long breakwater was built and then modernized, which now characterizes the ports, and allows for a quiet night inside. The bay is open to the east and offers shelter from all winds except from the east and southeast.

Reaching Skala Bay presents no difficulty and entering is difficult only with southeast winds: in this case it may be wise to give up and seek safer shelter in Maltesana Bay, although the coves and creeks are all more or less south-facing. Beware of gusts especially when approaching the coast: for this reason many local fishermen suggest avoiding entering the bay in strong winds.

Once inside, the mooring options are the inner dock at the breakwater or at the anchor in the northern end of the bay itself: here there is room for a couple of boats at most, the bottom is good holding, a mix of sand mud and seaweed. Be careful, however, not to cross the chains of boats moored by the dock.
At the breakwater you moor aft and there is room for a dozen or so boats (but in high season you can also moor in double rows… and even in triples!); good depths, from 4 to 6 meters. One could also moor at the quay outside the breakwater, on the side, but the shelter from the meltemi here is very limited and there is always a considerable coming and going of ferries.
The quay in front of the village of Skala, on the other hand, is always occupied by local fishermen’s boats; you can find room only in the very high season when, in order not to be turned away, the coast guard allows you to stop there.

As far as services are concerned, there are water and electricity columns on the breakwater; the coast guard collects tourist tax and for services, you can also contact them to order fuel, which is delivered to the ports by a small tanker truck.
If you should find no place in Skala, alternatively a little further south (1.5 nautical miles) is Livadia Bay, just on the other side of the promontory on which Chora with its castle towers. In front of the sandy beach one anchors in sandy seabed with seaweed, depth 5 to 10 meters. The bay offers the same kind of shelter as Skala, that is, it is open to the southeast, but suffers less from gusts and currents

Livadia Bay.