Milos is spoilt for choices when it comes to beaches and boasts some amazing sceneries because of its unique geology. To fully appreciate the island, a self-drive tour and a boat tour are two activities not to be missed.
Sights visited: Excellent Yachting southern Milos boat tour (Provatas, Gerakas, Kleftiko, Tsigrado), Klima, Mandrakia, Sarakiniko
For our boat tour and scooter rental, local travel agency Travel Me to Milos arranged all our logistics, and they did a good job with the boat tour. Since this activity was weather-dependent, they kept me updated on the weather condition and provided alternative options. We encountered strong northern Meltemi wind during our stay, so my original choice of Round of Milos by Milos Adventures was cancelled. A few companies continued to run tours on the southern part of the island, and Travel Me to Milos rebooked me promptly and saved me a lot of stress.
The agency also arranged all transfers between Tripiti and Adamas port. Adamas water front is full of travel agencies and vehicle rentals, so while not as charming as the other towns, it would be a convenient place to stay at.
The best way to reserve boat tours would be to actually browse through all the boats and their offers the night before and talk to the captains directly.
Our new boating company, Excellent Yachting, picked us up in Adamas and drove us to Provatas, the launching beach on the souther side of the island. It was a beautiful sandy beach with shallow waters that I wished I had spent more time at.
One of the sailors of the yacht used the life raft to transport everyone, and their shoes, onto the yacht.
Captain greeted us and did a quick safety orientation of the yacht. The yacht, named Saint Nicholas, was smaller than I expected, but still fit 16 people easily.
Off we go! The weather was not optimal for boating, but still a bright sunny day.
The wind is moderate on the southern side of the island, so we were quite comfy on the boat. Swimming in this wind was a completely different story! We first reached Gerakas, a secluded beach only reachable by boat. The yacht stopped at about 50 metres away, which doesn't sound like a long distance - but the waves made it very difficult to swim.
I tried swimming for a bit and realized I probably couldn't make it. Even the seemingly good swimmers had trouble coming back and required the sailors to go save them with the raft.
We then sailed straight for Kleftiko, Milos's top sight located on the southwest part of the island. It is often used as cover photos for travel brochures. I don't think my photos taken from water level do it justice. The most beautiful photos of Kleftiko are taken from a higher vantage point, probably from a hiking trail. It is however, only reachable by boat.
Kleftiko means "the pirate's lair", because of the multiple coves that served as wind havens formed by its distinct geological formations. The captain said famous pirates like Babarossa Hayreddin had stayed here (really!?), and unfound treasures were still hidden in the many caves.
One of the sailors led most of the participants on a snorkeling trip into a cave tunnel. There really wasn't much to see in terms of reef or fish, so I opted out of the snorkeling tour and explored some caves on my own. The yacht was well equipped with snorkeling gear, as flippers and life jackets made swimming in the waves much easier.
One of the sailors also took us on a quick tour to some more caves using the life raft.
After leaving Kleftiko, we had some down time to eat lunch. The food could definitely use some improvements, especially when compared to what I've seen other boating company offer!
Our last stop of the day was Tsigrado, another secluded beach surrounded by red and yellow rocks. It is reachable by car, but visitors would have to climb down a ladder to reach the beach. I swam in the naturally formed pools here and checked out a few more caves.
While I highly recommend a Milos boat tour, I would advise to choose an itinerary based on one's interest level in swimming. A half-day tour would be better for non-swimmers. A full-day tour could get tiring towards the end of the trip, and the sailing times also adds up quickly. We were so tired by the afternoon and took a nap during sailing.
We returned to Provatas beach around 6 PM. As much as I wanted to roll in Provatas's soft sand, we were starving and ready for dinner!
Dinner was at Ta glaronisia in Tripiti, not far from our windmill.
We just couldn't resist the owner, dressing the part with this nautical themed restaurant.
I luuuuuuurved their eggplant salad, and many TA reviewers did too! Every restaurant seemed to do this dish differently, and I couldn't stop eating theirs! It was slightly spicy, and tasted more like a dip than a salad.
Grilled mushroom, drizzled in balsamic. Simple but nice.
The vinegar octopuses we had in Greece were a hit and miss, but we could always bank on the grilled octopus to be great.
Chicken gyros was good, but not as good as the souvlaki from Methismeni Politeia mentioned in the previous entry. Come here for the appetizers, and go to Methismeni Politeia for grilled meat.
So far, I've been writing about every restaurant we dined at in Milos, because we simply didn't have one bad meal.
The next day, Travel Me to Milos arranged motorcycle for us to explore the island by land. Most distances between sights on Milos were a few kilometres at most, so a small car, buggy or motorcycles were cheap, convenient mode of transportation.
Here was when the mishap happened. The scooters were supposed to be delivered at 9 AM, and we waited until 10 AM and nothing showed up. I made multiple phone calls and emails to Travel Me to Milos and the line was always busy. We decided to turn to Maria, the windmill owner, to help us find another rental place. When Travel Me to Milos finally got back to me, they apologized and said the rental place had problems with the scooters we booked, and their phone lines were down all morning so they couldn't receive any notice. I don't know how true that story is. I was not happy, but what's done had been done.
Choosing a scooter over a car was another mistake that I made. I don't have motorcycle license so it had to be my parents driving (they were very strict about the "A" secton in the IDP to be stamped). These scooters were from Moto Christos at Triovasalos, and they were WAY TOO BIG. Even the 50cc one was too tall for my mom. My dad could just barely handle the 200cc. The conditions of the vehicles were also questionable. They were not confident riding these overly tall scooters.
Our first stop was the Christian catacombs, built by early Christians hiding from the Romans. There was also a small ancient theatre nearby that we skipped. The famous sculpture in the Louvre, Venus de Milo, was also found here, but I couldn't find the sign that indicated the exact location.
The vaults of the catacombs were worth a short visit.
When we were driving around Milos, we realized how seriously the Greeks take their siestas. It is not as obvious in more touristy places like Athens or Santorini, but on Milos, NOTHING was open in the afternoon hours. The later part of day doesn't start until 6pm. This arrangement makes sense, as the afternoon hours are usually very hot.
Near the catacombs is Klima, a colourful fishing village resembling Little Venice in Mykonos. It was smaller, but brighter, and not a single tourist in sight.
If Klima wasn't off the beaten path enough, there is also Mandrakia, another fishing village on the Northern side of the island. It was about a 10 minute drive from Klima. While driving distance is short, it would be difficult to walk or bike in this hot, windy, and hilly roads.
Mandrakia was so quaint, I liked it even more than Klima. The boathouses looked like little colourful garages.
The waters were an unbelievable teal colour.
Another thing that made Mandrakia totally worth renting a car for was the Medusa Restaurant.
Ourdoor seating was closed because of the wind, but the view was stunning. How nice it was to eat lunch while looking at an ocean like this? When I saw the drying octopus on display, I knew we were in for a good meal (believe it or not, sometimes we do get served frozen seafood in Greece).
Octopus and eggplant salad were great. Portions were big but at an affordable price, usually around 5 EUR cheaper compared to Athens and Santorini.
They served the best grilled kalamari we've had on this trip.
Also on the northern side of the island was the must-see sight of Milos, Sarakiniko. It is a beach surrounded by lunar landscape.
It is also a popular place for wedding photographs because of its snowy white rocks.
This is deifnitely not the best beach for swimming, as the beach area was very small and the water was kind of dirty. The scenery was spectacular though and it was fun to hike between and over the rocks.
We could have kept touring Milos as we still got time left, but I felt like I've seen the best parts of the island and happily returned to the windmill and relaxed for the rest of the day.
Some people say Milos is like Mykonos 50 years ago, before commercialization of tourism took full effects. Milos was definitely not as convenient, but its untouched beauty was what drew me in. I was sad to leave, but the journey continues as we prepared to return to mainland Greece.
