Exploration Tour – Symi and Rhodes Islands
A sailing and climbing exploration in the Dodecanese, Greece
Last May we sailed south from Kos with a clear but open intention: to explore, aiming to reach and understand Karpathos Island.
Not to deliver a finished itinerary, and not to confirm expectations, but to read a section of the Aegean through sailing, climbing, and time spent together on the boat.
This approach lies at the core of our sailing and climbing tours in Greece: experiences shaped by conditions, decisions, and shared responsibility rather than fixed outcomes.
This Exploration Tour was not a commercial trip. Everyone on board had already sailed with Vertical Sailing Tour before — some twice, others many more times. Over the years, clients had become friends. This continuity says more than any description: people return because they trust the way decisions are made, and because exploration here is not treated as a product, but as a shared process.
Night sailing and arrival at Panormitis
We left the harbour at sunset and set course toward Symi, sailing through the night along the Turkish coastline. Night navigation immediately establishes a rhythm: clear roles, attention, and a calm focus shaped by darkness rather than scenery.
At around 3 a.m. we entered Panormitis Bay. Ahead of us, fully illuminated in the night, stood the Holy Monastery of the Taxiarch Michael Panormitis. At first light, church bells woke us. From the pier — shared only with two small fishing boats — we watched crowds gathering. We had unknowingly arrived on one of the monastery’s main celebration days.
After breakfast on board, we joined the ceremony. No tourists, only locals. Singing, incense, and a dense, focused atmosphere filled the old building. Afterwards, we were welcomed with homemade biscuits and local drinks, and before leaving, the local priest offered a blessing. It was not planned, and it could not have been scheduled — a reminder that meaningful experiences often emerge from timing rather than design.
Reading the island and committing to the rock
Later that day, we trekked to the high ground of Symi. From above, the island became legible: bays, cliffs, access lines, and the complex relationship between sea and rock. This overview shaped the days that followed.
The next morning we sailed toward Saint George Bay (Agios Georgios Dysalonas) under a strong north-westerly. Our objective was climbing, but the priority was securing the boat. Powerful downdrafts fall from the 300-metre cliffs above the bay, creating sudden gusts and heavy loads.
We took time to assess wind behaviour, seabed, and shoreline, then set a proven shoreline-anchoring system refined over years of sailing in windy Greek islands. The catamaran was placed close to the rock, tensioned, and stable. Only once the boat was secure did we go ashore.
The crew naturally split. Some headed to the crag rising directly from the beach, where around twenty pitches from 5a to 7a allowed relaxed climbing, alternating routes with swims in the sea. Two rope teams committed to the highest section of the cliff, aiming for long multi-pitch lines rising directly from the water.
Selina (Switzerland) and Catie (California) climbed Nireas, a 250-metre route on the far left of the wall. Lorenzo and Theo from the VST staff chose the more demanding Paydos, a 280-metre line. The two teams climbed side by side, sharing the unusual experience of being alone in a remote bay, on an immense cliff rising straight from the sea, with our boat moored below, seemingly floating in the deep blue.
The attempt itself mattered more than the outcome. By the end of the day, the potential of the place was clear.
That evening, despite the wind building even further outside the bay, there was a sense of quiet balance. Dinner on deck, stars overhead, and the boat steady beneath the cliffs we had just climbed.
Sailing and climbing in Rhodes
The following day, a reassessment was necessary. With the strong northerly forecast to persist, continuing south toward Karpathos no longer made sense. The return would have meant long miles directly into wind and waves. Experience in the outdoors teaches that a plan B, and sometimes C or D, is not a failure, but part of sound decision-making.
We changed course toward Rhodes, sailing downwind in rough seas that we could manage safely. The conditions turned the day into an excellent fishing opportunity. Tuna were caught, prepared on board, and shared as fresh sashimi, followed later by tuna steaks. Simple food, directly connected to movement and sea state.
After rounding the easternmost cape of Rhodes, we entered flatter water on the south side of the island. The wind remained strong, but manageable, and we continued west, using the land itself as shelter. We chose an anchorage that worked with the wind rather than hiding from it: almost in open water, stern to the breeze, stable and quiet through the night. This became our base, positioned directly below the crags we planned to explore the following day.
From the boat, a short hike led us to the Ladiko climbing area. We began a first systematic exploration of the sectors. Easier, technical lines in the School and Birds sectors showed excellent potential for progression, while the steeper Cave sector hinted at harder objectives, with sustained three-dimensional climbing on tufas and stalactites.
The next day we sailed west again under flat seas and strong wind, a perfect beam reach, where the catamaran could fully express its performance. On the way to the next crag we stopped at Lindos, an empty blue bay, quiet and undeveloped.
After swimming and a simple lunch, we went ashore to climb at Guns of Navarone. From the sea, access was direct. The route began low on a vertical grey wall, technical and precise, then moved inward through a natural arch before exiting onto the main headwall. Climbing inside the rock and emerging into light and wind, with deep blue water below, created a strong sense of presence, a state that only arises through full contact with nature and the elements.
A repeatable format for guided sailing and climbing tours in Greece
Although this journey began as an exploration, it defines a format that Vertical Sailing Tour continues to develop. These are guided sailing and climbing tours in Greece, led by certified professionals, designed to evolve over time rather than follow fixed itineraries.
Each Exploration Tour remains open by nature, shaped by weather, access, and group dynamics. What is repeatable is not the route, but the approach: sailing as a means of access, climbing sea cliffs directly from the boat, and making decisions in real conditions. This format allows us to return to the same areas with deeper understanding, or to extend exploration toward new sections of the Mediterranean when conditions allow.
Closing the loop
By the end of the week, we were back in a familiar rhythm: sailing, climbing, cooking, waiting, moving again. What remained strongest was the human continuity. Sailing with people who first came as guests and returned often enough to become friends. People who trust the process, accept uncertainty, and value decisions made together over predefined outcomes.
This Exploration Tour did not aim to conclude anything. Its role was to open a line, understanding access, conditions, and potential, and to confirm, once again, that exploration grows through time, presence, and responsibility.
Future sailing and climbing exploration tours in Greece will follow when conditions and people align. And when they do, they will likely involve many of the same faces, gathered over years of shared journeys.
This is how Vertical Sailing Tour develops: slowly, deliberately, and in direct relationship with the sea and the rock.
