Swimming in Symi, Greece.

November 18, 2022

Active holidays have proven to add substantial joy to our life experiences... Hike the Salkantay trek in Peru, scuba dive the waters of Koh Tao, and surf the Spanish coast south of Bilbao.....all good (apart from scuba diving, but let’s leave that claustrophobia out of this little chat!) So, the suggestion of a swimming holiday in Greece met with a double thumbs up! Swim holiday? Swim on average of 4-5km per day? The first task... get swim fit.... the second task..... find out where the actual Symi island is.

LEFT: Where you’ll find Symi and a whole lot of swimming.
RIGHT: Balls of delicious tzatziki and crispy pita bread.

WHERE THE ACTUAL IS SYMI?
LONG STORY: Get on a ferry from the port of Piraeus, Athens but that will be over 20 hrs to get there. SHORT STORY: Fly to Rhodes and take a ferry over to Symi. (An hour or so and under 35 euros.) Symi is a star-shaped island (imagine all those delicious coves) in the Dodecanese, just a stone’s throw away from the Anatolian Turkish coast.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE ARRIVAL
As you sail (on a non-glamourous ferry) into the port of Symi, there’s a palpable sense of arrival. Passengers gravitate towards the bow in anticipation of the impending view. Cameras are readied until the picture-postcard view of the mansions comes into view - then the iPhones go mad.

The neoclassical buildings that line the hillside were built as a result of the wealth created from sponge diving - in summary for those who like a bit of Greek geek, they feature “symmetrical elements, pleasing proportions, exterior shutters, and pediments seemingly supported by whitewashed representations of columns, imitating the style of ancient Greek temples. ” These things are good to point out when you have a break in the conversation and feel like sounding intelligent and well-informed. Oh and that hole at the top of most pediments is the “ox eye” – constructed for ventilation purposes and to ward off those damn evil spirits. Evil be gone!!

STAY. JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER
From the Yialos harbour area, a father and son run the Symi blue bus service that takes you from the harbour area, Yialos, up through the narrow streets of the old town of Chorio, and down the road to the next bay along, Pedi, where the Pedi Beach Hotel sits majestically overlooking our home base for the next 7days.

www.pedibeachhotel.reserve-online.net

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Ice-cold retsina and chickpeas fritter; Greek runner beans in tomato sauce; the bro in his speedo in front of Maria’s Taverna, Nanou Beach; interiors, menus and the damage at Taverna Zoe

EAT, SWIM, EAT, SWIM AGAIN
Pedi Beach Hotel is where your swim holiday starts and ends. Every day, you head out along the spectacular mountainous coastline and swim the clear blue Aegean sea, stopping at secluded natural bays and coves for water breaks or taverna lunches. After lunch and a rest, you hit the water again before sailing back into the luminous Pedi bay. It’s deliriously amazing! www.strel-swimming.com

TAVERNA ZOE
When you’ve had enough of your fellow swim mates, it’s a nice break to walk way up the hill towards the monastery and stop at Zoe’s Taverna. Great views down in Pedi bay await. We drank loads of ouzo and got drunk. Baked aubergine and the chickpea fritters were our joy.

THE SECRET GARDEN
From the hotel, wind your way up the chora and on the right is the secret garden. Save room for the apple-lemon cake, made with citrus plucked from the owner’s garden. The recipe is from the owner’s cookbook gifted at her wedding, way back when.

LEFT: The spread at Zoe’s Taverna;
RIGHT: Our Irish team leader, Aoife, plots our days swim on the Symi map

TAVERNA TOLIS
Walk out the front of Pedi Beach Hotel and wander to the left to take a pew at Tolis. On the way to the bathroom, you may spot the Ya Ya cooking over the open coals. It’s a pleasant place to down a few large Mythos beers, a plate of juicy black olives and a chin wag.

TAVERNA MARATHOUNTA
This beach has large pebbles but luckily a rickety wooden pathway leads you comfortably to this rustic taverna. Don’t expect anything spectacular but just enjoy the sunbeds, crystal clear waters and the goats that take over the beach. They will eat the shoes off your feet if you allow them to.

MARIA’S, NANOU BEACH
Two coves sailing, south of Pedi beach, you’ll find a taverna, the only settlement in this bay. It was one of the lunch stops on our swimming adventure. On the menu: Ice cream balls of creamy tzatziki, Little Slippers (stuffed aubergine), Runner beans in tomato sauce and crisp pita bread. Enough fortification to ready us for the afternoon swim.

FROM LEFT: The view back onto Nimborius bay on the hike back to Symi: Who’re you gonna call? : The tree shade is most welcome at the little tavern on Nanou Beach.

HIKE FROM NIMBORIOS BAY TO SYMI TIME
It was a choppy morning swim that settled our decision to skip the afternoon crawl and rather hike from Nimborios Bay over the hill and back into Symi Bay and onto our base at Pedi Beach. It’s a very very cute bay and if I had to return to Symi, I would stay here. If you’re a fan of caffeine then the teeny-tiny little hut of a coffee shop, Amalthea, next to the Metapontis Taverna will give you some speed. Stylish loungers and food too. Emporio Symi, right behind the Amalthea would be a good spot to lay your head and enjoy the sweeping views of the bay.

emporiosymi.com #amaltheasymi