Almost square, Nisiros island is an extinct volcanic crater 10 miles south of Kos. We had a great sail over from Kos town and arrived at the newly developed harbour of Palon. At the entrance, the depth suddenly plunged from 30m to 4m but all was well and we made our way slowly into the harbour, keeping as close as we dared to the breakwater, and tied to the quay.

What a lovely village Palon is, calm and peaceful, and a great place to leave Deep Blue while we hired a car for the day to explore the island. The main attraction of the island is the huge crater right in the middle and would be most people's first place to visit. We had been advised by our great car hire guys to wait until the end of the day to do the visit, when the sun is setting, to see all the different colours of the rocks and also because from 11am onwards, about 800 people come over from Kos for the day trip! First stop was Mandraki, where we explored the cool, winding streets as we made our way up to the monastery. It is obvious that the islanders take great pride in their habitat; everything was very clean and tidy and every step and square was decorated with black and white pebbles in various designs.

From the Old Castle, which is undergoing restoration, the views across the sea to the islands of Kos and Tilos and also the Turkish coast were wonderful. The wind had dropped and just a gently breeze kissed the surface of the sea as the white sails of several boats drifted by.

'You must visit the sauna' said the car hire guys. Were they mad! It was a sauna enough outside without making it worse. But on the way up to the village of Emborios for lunch, we stopped and made a quick visit to the natural sauna on the side of the road. The tiny cave was only large enough for two people (how many do you need in a sauna anyway) and from the walls a constant heat was being generated. After a minute you had to step outside and you suddenly felt cool because the sauna was so much hotter than the outside air temperature. It was a bit weird and we kept going in and out to test it.

Lunch was on the balcony of the aptly named 'Balcony' restaurant and we had front row seats overlooking the beautiful valley and volcanic crater below. After a delicious lunch (Chris had goat in the oven), we headed off to the beach for a cooling swim and a rest. You don't visit Nisiros for the beaches, you go to see the crater, but we found a shady tree to lie under after swimming in the warmest waters so far this summer. I wonder if the sea around here is heated up by the volcano? In some places along the beach, areas had been cordoned off with signs explaining that the caretta turtle had laid eggs in the sand there and therefore the area was off limits. Too right.

After a visit to the small village of Nikia, where the Volcanic Museum was unfortunately closed, and I helped a young Greek boy who had gotten himself stuck on a high wall and was crying because he couldn't get off again, the time had finally arrived to visit the actual crater.

The sun was starting to set which made the red and yellow mineral colours in the rocks really stand out against the bright white path down into the caldera. It was hard to believe that 800 people had visited the site before us that day and walked the same path that was mostly only wide enough for one person at a time but it was incredible to be the only people stood in the centre of the caldera a few minutes later. In the centre, are mud holes but we didn't see any bubbling mud, as you would expect. There are lots of fumaroles all around emitting steam and sulphurous vapours. The edge of each one is made up of bright yellow sulphurous crystal formations and they are really quite beautiful but very, very hot. I was expecting the air to smell very strongly of sulphur but it didn't.

We hadn't heard of Nisiros before we went there but if you get the chance to visit you really must.

For photos of volcano, CLICK HERE

For other Nisiros photos, CLICK HERE

CRUISERS NOTES
Town quay free of charge. Electricity and water 5 euros a day each. Lady comes around in morning and evening to collect fee.
Car hire from Manos - 35 euros a day in August
Tavernas around the harbour all offer laundry, wifi and showers
Shopping for provisions is better in Mandraki than Palon though Palon has a great bakery