Lefkada Kayak Tour

Lefkada kayak tour paddles the coasts of Lefkada in the Ionian Sea, from Lefkada Town and Nydri bay to Meganisi, Madouri, Porto Katsiki, Egremni and the south cape above Vasiliki. The tour is one of the Greece Tours on Greece Ville, listed with the other Ionian Islands tours and Greece adventure tours.

This post covers what the tour is, the canal and the town, the fortress, Nydri bay, Meganisi and Madouri, Porto Katsiki, Egremni, Vasiliki, the story of Sappho, sea caves and the formats on sale. Common questions come last.

What is a Lefkada kayak tour?

A Lefkada kayak tour is a paddle along the coast of Lefkada in a sea kayak, a boat built for marine journeys, with stops at the shores, bays and islets of an Ionian island joined to the Greek mainland.

The Lefkada kayak tour rests on a simple craft. Sea kayaks serve paddlers on marine journeys around the world, and the design suits an island coast where cliffs, open water and calm bays follow one another.

The craft has a short factory history. Rotomolded plastic kayaks first appeared in 1984, and the plastic boats of a Lefkada kayak tour today descend from that line of moulded hulls.

Long journeys by kayak have a record. Oskar Speck, a German canoeist, paddled from Germany to Australia between 1932 and 1939, and the sea beside Lefkada offers a far smaller stage for the same craft.

In 1874 and 1875 the American writer Nathaniel Holmes Bishop paddled 2500 miles from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico in a canoe of his own design. His book about the trip appeared in 1878.

Lefkada is also called Lefkas, Leukas and Leucadia. The island lies in the Ionian Sea off the west coast of Greece, and the town of Lefkada is its principal town and the seat of the municipality.

• Craft: A sea kayak is a boat made for marine journeys along coasts.
• Plastic hulls: Rotomolded kayaks first appeared in 1984.
• Names: The island is also known as Lefkas, Leukas and Leucadia.
• Regional unit: It groups Lefkada, Meganisi, Kalamos, Kastos and smaller islands.

A Lefkada kayak tour therefore joins an old boat design to the coast of a modern Greek island, and the sections that follow trace that coast from the canal to the beaches of the west.

How does the island and its canal shape a Lefkada kayak tour?

The Lefkada kayak tour begins where the island almost meets the mainland, beside a canal in the lagoon, and then follows a coast that belongs to a municipality which also takes in the islands of Kalamos and Kastos.

Lefkada lies on the west coast of Greece, and the Lefkada kayak tour keeps to the eastern shore at first. The canal at the town gives the first sheltered paddling water between island and mainland.

The municipality of Lefkada covers 333.58 square kilometres. That area includes the islands of Kalamos and Kastos and a set of smaller islets, so the municipal map is wider than the main island alone.

The regional unit of Lefkada holds two municipalities, Lefkada and Meganisi. The prefecture of Lefkada was created in 1864 with the same territory, and the Kallikratis reform of 2011 then set up the regional unit.

Roads and ferries tie the east coast together. The main coastal road runs from Lefkada to Vasiliki through Nydri, a bypass now skirts Nydri on the west, and regular car ferries sail to Kefalonia and Ithaca.

The Lefkada island tour post covers the island on land, from the main town beside the lagoon up to the villages of the mountains and the west coast, and it suits readers who want the inland view.

• Municipality: The municipal area is 333.58 square kilometres.
• Units: The regional unit has two municipalities, Lefkada and Meganisi.
• Prefecture: It was created in 1864 on the same territory.
• Ferries: Regular car ferries serve Kefalonia and Ithaca.

The Lefkada kayak tour thus starts from an island whose official map reaches beyond its own shore, and the canal is the gate between the mainland road and the Ionian water.

Why does Lefkada Town matter to a Lefkada kayak tour?

The Lefkada kayak tour uses Lefkada Town as its harbour and base, a city of 9,253 people at the 2021 census, built in light materials against earthquakes and set on the northern and northeastern shore of the island.

Lefkada City is the capital and main town of the island. The municipal unit around it has a land area of 60.628 square kilometres and a population of 13,540 at the 2021 census.

The houses are a characteristic sample of anti-earthquake building. They use wooden material, whole logs, stone chip and other lighter materials, so a Lefkada kayak tour passes a town designed for shaking ground.

The city plan follows the medieval plan of the town, which developed under Venetian rule. After the earthquake of 1825 the town was rebuilt in wood to prevent similar damage.

The Venetians under Francesco Morosini took the castle in 1684 and razed the walled town. Only the island suburb known as Amaxiki remained, and it became the predecessor of the modern city.

Lefkada City belongs to the municipality of Lefkada, which was formed in the 2011 local government reform. The old city is the seat of that municipality, and its municipal unit is one of seven that merged.

• Population: The city had 9,253 inhabitants at the 2021 census.
• Villages: The community of Lefkada City includes Fryni and Kalligoni.
• Churches: Agios Spyridon, Agioi Anargyroi and Panagia ton Xenon are the best known old temples.
• Club: Tilikratis F.C. was founded in 1927.

The Lefkada kayak tour therefore returns to a town that has been rebuilt more than once, and its low wooden frames explain much of the waterfront the paddlers see from the sea.

What does the Santa Maura fortress add to a Lefkada kayak tour?

The Lefkada kayak tour passes the Castle of Santa Maura, a fortress on the northeastern tip of the island that began as a small fortification around 1300 and took largely its present shape after the Ottoman rebuilding of the sixteenth century.

The castle stands on a long and narrow spit projecting towards the coast of Epirus. John I Orsini raised the first fortification around 1300, and it stood in the northeastern corner of the present castle.

Carlo I Tocco, who ruled from 1376 to 1429, made the castle the capital of his domains and enlarged the fortified town. A Lefkada kayak tour paddles under walls that once held a ruling court.

After the Ottoman defeat at Lepanto, forces of the Holy League besieged the castle without success. Kılıç Ali Pasha then rebuilt it in 1572 to 1574 as an irregular hexagon with nine large round cannon bastions.

The new fortress measured 220 metres at its widest and 150 at its narrowest. The medieval fortress stayed as a citadel in the northeastern corner, and the plan resembled the Castle of the Morea at Rio.

British troops garrisoned the castle until 1864, and the Greek army held it until 1922, when refugees from Asia Minor were housed there. In 1938 the main buildings inside its walls were demolished.

• Site: A spit on the northeastern tip of the island guards the approach from the mainland.
• Shape: The Ottoman fortress is an irregular hexagon.
• Bastions: Nine large round bastions served as cannon platforms.
• Later use: The Greek army garrisoned it until 1922.

The Lefkada kayak tour thus reads the fortress from the water, where the spit, the hexagon and the old citadel corner are easiest to separate.

How does the Ottoman aqueduct figure in a Lefkada kayak tour?

A Lefkada kayak tour crosses the lagoon water beside the line of the Ottoman aqueduct, a work of 1564 built under Suleiman the Magnificent to bring water to the walled town and the open town that had grown around it.

The aqueduct ran for 3 kilometres from the interior of the island to the town. A lack of water had led to its construction in the reign of Sultan Suleiman, who ruled from 1520 to 1566.

It served the walled town and the much larger open town around it, where 700 to 800 houses stood. The work ranks among the key works of Ottoman civil architecture in the western Balkans.

A footpath ran along the top of the aqueduct. It gave the only access to the island other than by the sea, so the Lefkada kayak tour follows the line of an older crossing on foot.

The earthquake of 1825 destroyed much of the town, including the Ottoman aqueduct. Travellers named the aqueduct and the Castle of Santa Maura, rebuilt in the reign of Selim II, as the two great Ottoman works.

The Ottomans called the island Levkada, and they kept the name Aya Mavra, from the Greek Agia Mavra, for the castle and the capital. That district also took in part of the adjoining mainland.

• Length: The aqueduct ran for 3 kilometres.
• Date: It was built in 1564 under Suleiman the Magnificent.
• Footpath: The top carried the only land access to the island.
• End: The earthquake of 1825 destroyed it.

The Lefkada kayak tour thus crosses a lagoon that was once also crossed on a raised footpath, and nothing of the aqueduct now stands to mark the line.

What does Nydri bay offer a Lefkada kayak tour?

The Lefkada kayak tour reaches Nydri bay on the eastern coast, where a popular tourist town faces a row of small islands and where the German archaeologist Wilhelm Dörpfeld dug and uncovered Mycenaean tombs, walls, ruins and artefacts.

Nydri is both a town and a community, set on Lefkada’s eastern shore. It is set in a sheltered location, with views across to Skorpios, Meganisi, other small islands and the Greek mainland.

The small community of Rachi belongs to Nydri. The Greek National Road 42 passes through the town, so the Lefkada kayak tour starts from a place with road links in both directions.

Skorpios, in front of the town, was once owned by Aristotle Onassis and now belongs to the Ribolovlev family. The small island of Skorpidi lies just north of it.

Wilhelm Dörpfeld believed that Lefkada was the Ithaca of Homer. He dug at Nydri, uncovered Mycenaean tombs, walls, ruins and artefacts, spent his last years there and is buried in the town.

The Lefkada boat tour post covers the same islands from a motor boat, with the sheltered water and the islets named one by one, and it suits readers who prefer to sit.

• Town: Nydri is a popular tourist town on the eastern coast.
• Village: Rachi lies within the community.
• Owner: Skorpios belongs to the Ribolovlev family.
• Digs: Dörpfeld uncovered Mycenaean tombs and walls at Nydri.

A Lefkada kayak tour in Nydri bay therefore pairs open water with an excavation story, since the German scholar worked on the land behind the beach.

Where does a Lefkada kayak tour go north of Nydri?

The Lefkada kayak tour follows the east coast north of Nydri past Lygia, Nikiana and Perigiali, three small resorts that lie between the town of Lefkada and the largest resort on the island, in a sheltered stretch of water.

North of Nydri, the east coast holds three small resorts: Lygia, Nikiana and Perigiali. Nydri is the largest resort on the island, so the Lefkada kayak tour moves from busy shore to quieter villages.

Lygia belongs to the community of Katouna, which also includes the villages of Katouna and Episkopos. Nikiana sits in the community of Alexandros, together with Alexandros and Kollyvata.

The municipal unit of Lefkada has eight communities in all: Lefkada City, Agios Nikitas, Alexandros, Apolpaina, Kalamitsi, Kariotes, Katouna and Tsoukalades. The east coast villages are part of that group.

The main coastal road from Lefkada to Vasiliki runs through Nydri. A bypass has been completed that skirts the village on the west, which leaves the shore side quiet for the Lefkada kayak tour.

• Resorts: Lygia, Nikiana and Perigiali lie north of Nydri.
• Katouna: The community includes Katouna, Episkopos and Lygia.
• Alexandros: The community includes Alexandros, Kollyvata and Nikiana.
• Communities: The municipal unit has eight in all.

The coast north of Nydri is therefore a chain of small resorts, and the Lefkada kayak tour treats it as a relaxed stretch between the town and the bay.

Why is Porto Katsiki part of a Lefkada kayak tour?

The Lefkada kayak tour reaches Porto Katsiki, a beach on the west coast of Lefkada whose name means goat port, set at the foot of a concave pale cliff and known for its landscape and its clear blue sea.

Porto Katsiki is a beach on the Ionian island of Lefkada. The Greek name means goat port, and tradition links it to a period when only goats reached the area.

The beach lies at the bottom of a concave pale cliff, 35 km from Lefkada town and near the village of Athani. The Lefkada kayak tour sees the cliff face as one wall of light stone.

The beach has parking lots and canteens on the cliff top. A stairway leads down, there is no lodging and camping is prohibited, so the sea is the easier route for a paddler.

The earthquake of 2015 badly damaged the beach. Geologists estimated that the beach will be restored naturally over time, and the place remains famed for its landscape and clear blue sea.

Boats bring visitors to the beach in the day, and Nidri is the nearby port they set out from. A kayak adds a quieter way in along the same cliff line.

• Name: Porto Katsiki means goat port.
• Cliff: The beach lies at the foot of a concave pale cliff.
• Rules: There is no lodging, and camping is prohibited.
• Damage: The earthquake of 2015 badly damaged the beach.

A Lefkada kayak tour that reaches Porto Katsiki ends the paddle where the road ends, and the same sea that took the visitor there frames the beach.

What does Egremni add to a Lefkada kayak tour?

The Lefkada kayak tour looks at Egremni, a remote beach on the south-western coast of Lefkada, also spelled Egremnoi, which became one of the premier tourist destinations of the island and of Europe after a sealed road opened.

Egremni, written in Greek as Εγκρεμνή or Εγκρεμνοί, is a remote beach on the south-western coast of the Ionian island of Lefkada, in north-western Greece. A Lefkada kayak tour sees it from the sea.

A sealed road built in the mid-1990s changed its standing. The beach has since become one of the premier tourist destinations on the island and in Europe as a whole.

The waters of Egremni are clear. A travel magazine named the beach among 13 places where the bluest water in the world can be seen, which fixed its name in print.

Sea kayaks differ in length. Very long kayaks are easier to paddle straight and harder to turn, while shorter boats turn faster, so a Lefkada kayak tour on a long coast favours the longer design.

• Names: Egremni is also written Egremnoi.
• Road: A sealed road was built in the mid-1990s.
• Water: The sea at Egremni is clear.
• Boats: Longer kayaks track straighter than short ones.

The Lefkada kayak tour thus treats Egremni as a stretch of coast to see from offshore, where the sealed road and the cliffs stay out of the way.

Why do Meganisi and Madouri belong on a Lefkada kayak tour?

The Lefkada kayak tour crosses to Meganisi, the big island east-southeast of Lefkada, and to Madouri, a small uninhabited island of the Ionian Sea that lies 700 metres off the east coast, opposite Nydri, and is heavily forested.

Meganisi means big island in Greek. It lies immediately to the east-southeast of Lefkada, and its municipality includes the offshore islands of Skorpios, which counts a population of two persons, and Sparti.

Atheni Bay on Meganisi has a harbour used mainly by fishing boats. A Lefkada kayak tour can pass the working boats of the harbour on the way to the quieter shore.

Madouri is a small uninhabited island of the Ionian Sea, near Lefkada. It lies 700 m from the east coast, opposite Nydri, and is about 400 metres across and heavily forested.

The island belongs to the Valaoritis family. The poet Aristotelis Valaoritis grew up there, and the villa on the island was the main location of Billy Wilder’s film Fedora of 1978.

• Meganisi: It lies east-southeast of Lefkada.
• Harbour: Atheni Bay serves fishing boats.
• Madouri: It lies 700 m from the east coast.
• Film: Fedora used the island villa as its main location in 1978.

The Lefkada kayak tour thus closes its crossing with a big island and a small forested one, each reached over open water between the east coast and the mainland.

Where does a Lefkada kayak tour meet Vasiliki on the south coast?

A Lefkada kayak tour that reaches the south coast meets Vasiliki, a town in the Apollonioi municipal unit, formerly called Voivoida. It lies on the island’s southern shore, 4 km south of Agios Petros and 25 km southwest of Lefkada city.

Vasiliki is a town on the south coast of Lefkada. Its older name was Voivoida. The distance figures place it 4 km south of Agios Petros, which gives paddlers a fixed point on the road map.

Lefkada city lies 25 km to the northeast of the town. Vasiliki therefore works as a southern base, far from the causeway, and a Lefkada kayak tour from here faces the open Ionian.

The east coast differs. The small resorts of Lygia, Nikiana and Perigiali lie north of Nydri. A Lefkada kayak tour on that side stays far from the south, so the two stretches suit separate outings.

The Ithaca day trip post covers the island across the water, which the ferries from this bay also serve. That post follows the ports, the villages and the Homeric sites of Ithaca.

• Old name: Voivoida was the earlier name of the town.
• Agios Petros: The town lies 4 km south of this place.
• City: Lefkada city lies 25 km to the northeast.
• East coast: Lygia, Nikiana and Perigiali lie north of Nydri.

Vasiliki therefore anchors the south of a Lefkada kayak tour on the map. Its position far from the causeway and the east coast resorts explains why southern outings are planned separately from the Nydri side.

How does windsurfing shape the bay on a Lefkada kayak tour?

A Lefkada kayak tour on the bay of Vasiliki shares the water with windsurfers, because the town is a well known windsurfing spot in the summer months. The sport itself dates from the late 1960s and became an Olympic event in 1984.

Windsurfing combines sailing and surfing. It emerged in the late 1960s from Californian aerospace and surf culture. By the late 1970s it had won a following across Europe and North America.

Jim Drake, an aeronautical engineer in California, invented a sail-powered surfboard between 1967 and 1970. The rider stood upright and held a triangular sail directly, which set the pattern for the modern sport.

Peter Chilvers is cited for a sailboard-type craft in England in 1958, and Newman Darby of Pennsylvania built a rudderless sailboard in 1964. A Lefkada kayak tour paddles in the wake of that history.

Holiday companies in Vasiliki provide windsurfing and sailing equipment for their guests. The bay also draws other sailing craft and mountain bikers, so the shore around it works as a small sports resort.

• Drake: He built a free-sail rig with a universal joint between sail and board.
• Chilvers: He is cited for a sailboard-type craft in England in 1958.
• Darby: He developed a rudderless sailboard in 1964.
• Olympics: Windsurfing became an Olympic sport in 1984.

A Lefkada kayak tour in the south therefore meets a sport with a short, well recorded history. The bay offers a clear view of how the board and sail rig evolved from a Californian invention.

What is the story of Sappho in a Lefkada kayak tour of the south cape?

The Lefkada kayak tour of the south cape recalls Sappho, the poet of Lesbos who, according to legend, leapt from the Leucadian cliffs for love of Phaon. Tradition goes back at least to Menander, though modern scholars regard the story as ahistorical.

Little is known of the real Sappho. She came from a wealthy family on Lesbos. Ancient sources say that she was exiled to Sicily around 600 BC, and she kept composing for decades afterwards.

A tradition going back at least to Menander holds that she killed herself by jumping off the Leucadian cliffs. The cause was her unrequited love for Phaon, a ferryman. A play fragment says the same.

Modern scholars regard the story of the leap as ahistorical. It was possibly invented by the comic poets, or it grew from a misreading of a first-person line in a poem.

Ovid wrote Heroides 15 as a letter from Sappho to Phaon. When the text was rediscovered in the 15th century, readers took it for a translation of a genuine letter by Sappho herself.

• Exile: Sappho was exiled to Sicily around 600 BC.
• Menander: A fragment of his play places her leap at the cliff on Leucas.
• Ovid: His Heroides 15 is a letter in her voice to Phaon.
• Art: The Porta Maggiore Basilica in Rome shows the scene.

The south cape thus carries a story that ancient writers shaped and modern scholars doubt. A Lefkada kayak tour that passes the white cliffs keeps both the legend and the doubt in view.

Who was Phaon in the legend behind a Lefkada kayak tour?

In the legend behind a Lefkada kayak tour, Phaon was an old and homely ferryman from Lesbos whom Aphrodite made young and beautiful. Late tales credit him with founding her temple on Leucas and with the Leucadian rock itself.

In Greek myth, Phaon made his living by ferrying people across to the Anatolian mainland. He charged fairly and took no money from those unable to afford the trip, which won him respect.

One day the goddess Aphrodite came to him disguised as an old woman. Phaon treated her courteously and asked for no payment. As a reward she gave him an alabaster box full of ointment.

When Phaon applied the ointment he became young and beautiful, and the women of Mytilene fell in love with him. Lucian placed the incident on Chios instead, another island of the eastern Aegean.

Phaon was also credited with the founding of the temple of Aphrodite on Leucas and with the Leucadian rock. The tale says that one woman fell from that rock when she failed to win him.

• Origin: Phaon was a ferryman from the island of Lesbos.
• Gift: Aphrodite rewarded him with an alabaster box of ointment.
• Temple: He was credited with the temple of Aphrodite on Leucas.
• Suda: It names a different Sappho as the woman who loved him.

Phaon is a figure of late sources and Attic comedy. A Lefkada kayak tour that mentions him is retelling a myth, and the retelling is best kept apart from the cliffs themselves.

What other leaps belong to a Lefkada kayak tour of the white cliffs?

A Lefkada kayak tour of the white cliffs recalls other leaps from the same rock, not only that of Sappho. Ancient tradition tells of Aphrodite, of Artemisia of Caria and of criminals thrown from the cape to test their guilt.

In one myth, Aphrodite was grieving for her lover Adonis. On the advice of Apollo, she threw herself from the Leucadian cliffs to end her grief, according to the myth.

The cape was also a place of judgement. Criminals were thrown from the white cliffs, and their guilt or innocence was judged from their injury after the fall. The practice became known as the Leucadian trial.

After pirate attacks had emptied Lefkada, medieval British legend has Brutus of Troy find it abandoned. He offered a sacrifice to a statue of Diana and received a vision that sent him to Britain.

These tales share one idea, the cliff as a place where fate was settled. A Lefkada kayak tour that sees the cape from the water meets that idea at the foot of the rock.

• Aphrodite: She leapt on the advice of Apollo after the death of Adonis.
• Artemisia: Ancient sources say she jumped from the same cliff.
• Trial: Criminals were thrown to judge their guilt from their injury.
• Brutus: A medieval British legend sends him on to Britain from Lefkada.

Every one of these stories is legend or tradition, not a record of events. A Lefkada kayak tour treats them as part of the cultural landscape of the south cape and keeps the history separate.

How do sea caves form on a Lefkada kayak tour?

A Lefkada kayak tour that enters a sea cave meets a hollow cut by waves into coastal rock. Erosion is the main process, and the sea also uses cobbles, sand, rainwater and living creatures such as sea urchins to enlarge the cave.

A sea cave, also called a littoral cave, takes shape mainly through wave action. The rock must first contain a weak zone, and the waves then remove stone faster along that line.

The host rock matters. Caves in metamorphic or igneous rock tend to be larger, because the stone is stronger. In sedimentary rock the weak zone is a bedding-plane parting or a contact between layers.

Certain cave walls are smooth and rounded. This happens where cobbles swirl in the surf zone and grind the floor and the lower walls. Elsewhere the walls stay irregular and chunky.

The sea caves in Greece post covers the caves of the Greek coasts. Carbonic and organic acids from the soil also weaken the rock, so a cave can grow small mineral deposits.

• Weak zone: A fault, dike or bedding plane gives the waves a starting point.
• Cobbles: They swirl in the surf and smooth parts of the walls.
• Urchins: They drill into the rock and widen the chamber.
• Collapse: A fallen chamber can leave a littoral sinkhole.

The Blue Grotto of Capri shows the other side of the story. A Lefkada kayak tour that visits a cave studies a feature that light and water have shaped together.

Which months and winds suit a Lefkada kayak tour?

A Lefkada kayak tour follows the summer, when the island has a Mediterranean climate with hot summers and cool winters. Windsurfing at Vasiliki is a summer sport, and its wind speeds show how a steady breeze changes the sea for paddlers.

Lefkada has a typical Mediterranean climate. Summers are hot and winters are cool, which gives the island the Csa label in the Koppen system. A Lefkada kayak tour keeps to the warm half of the year.

Vasiliki is a windsurfing spot during the summer months. The sport depends on wind speed, so the bay shows in practice what a breeze does to the water that a paddler has to cross.

Windsurfing is possible under a wide range of wind conditions. Boards of 100 to 140 litres start to plane at wind speeds as low as 12 kn, which is 6 m/s, with a well-tuned sail.

Wider and shorter boards plane in even lighter air. With a sail of 10 to 12 square metres, planing begins at 8 kn, or 4 m/s. That gap shows how small changes in wind alter the sea.

• Climate: Hot summers and cool winters mark the Csa type.
• Planing: A 100 to 140 litre board planes at 12 kn.
• Light air: A wide board with a large sail planes at 8 kn.
• Longboards: They measure more than 3 metres and suit lighter winds.

Wind speed is therefore the figure that matters for a Lefkada kayak tour in the south. A calm morning and a windy afternoon give the same bay two very different faces.

Which formats of Lefkada kayak tour are on sale?

A Lefkada kayak tour is on sale in seven formats, from a Blue Cave outing with a taste of Greek food to a sea kayaking day that ends at Meganisi. Each format pairs a paddle with swim stops or a visit to a cave.

The first format is a Blue Cave kayak tour with a taste of Greece. It pairs the paddle with a tasting of local food, so the day combines sea, cave and a table on land.

The second format is a hidden Blue Cave sea kayak tour with swim stops. It heads for the cave by sea kayak and breaks the paddle with time in the water.

The third is a kayak odyssey from Nydri to Madouri and Skorpios. It starts at the resort on the east coast and visits two of the small islands in front of the bay.

The fourth is a kayak tour to Agios Ioannis and the Papanikolis cave. Another format covers a full day of sea kayaking, and one starts from Lefkada for the Blue Cave and Meganisi.

The last format is a kayaking day trip from Nydri to Skorpios and Meganisi. A Lefkada kayak tour of that kind joins two of the islands that lie off the east coast.

• Blue Cave: Two formats are named for the cave.
• Nydri: Two formats start from the east coast resort.
• Islands: Madouri, Skorpios and Meganisi appear in the titles.
• Papanikolis: One format visits Agios Ioannis and the cave of that name.

The tour cards and availability boxes on this page list the live dates for each Lefkada kayak tour format. They show which departures are open for booking on each day of the season.

What do travellers ask about Lefkada kayak tour?

The Lefkada kayak tour questions below cover Vasiliki and windsurfing, the story of Sappho, the summer wind and the formation of sea caves. Each answer rests on facts about the south coast, the legend of the cliffs and the sea itself.

Which south coast town does a Lefkada kayak tour link with windsurfing?

Vasiliki is the town linked with windsurfing. It lies on the south coast, 4 km south of Agios Petros and 25 km southwest of Lefkada city. Holiday companies there provide windsurfing and sailing equipment, and the bay also draws mountain bikers.

Is the story of Sappho on a Lefkada kayak tour a fact?

The story is a legend. Tradition goes back at least to Menander and says Sappho leapt from the Leucadian cliffs for love of Phaon. Modern scholars regard the leap as ahistorical, possibly invented by comic poets or based on a misreading.

Which months suit a Lefkada kayak tour in the south?

The summer months suit it best. Lefkada has a Mediterranean climate with hot summers and cool winters, and Vasiliki is a windsurfing spot in summer. Boards of 100 to 140 litres plane at 12 kn, which is 6 m/s.

How do sea caves form on a Lefkada kayak tour?

Wave action is the main force that carves sea caves. A weak zone in the rock, such as a fault or a bedding plane, has to exist first. Cobbles, sand and sea urchins then widen the cave over a long time.

Featured photo: Moumouza, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.