Milos Kayak Tour, Tsigrado & Gerakas

The Tsigrado problem, solved sideways

Tsigrado is a small cove between high cliffs on Milos’s south coast, and it is famous for two things: how it looks, and how hard it is to get down to.

The overland route involves descending through a narrow gap in the rock using ropes and wooden ladders. That is exactly as involved as it sounds. A great many people drive there, look at the gap, and drive away again — which is why Tsigrado attracts far more searching than its handful of boat itineraries would suggest. Most people looking it up are trying to work out whether they can physically get in.

From the water there is no gap and no ladder. It is just a beach.

That is the quiet argument for this trip, and it is not the one the listings lead with.

See kayak dates

Why it is the best value on the island

About $70, against an island median of $186. Roughly a third.

And it is not a stripped-down version of a cruise — it is a different day. At 5.0 from 533 verified reviews it also carries the highest rating of any well-sampled product on Milos.

What you get for a third of the price:

• Sea caves a kayak can enter and a catamaran physically cannot
• Cliffs at arm’s length rather than from a deck
• The only Milos format with exercise in it, which some people want and others very much do not

What you do not get is Kleftiko or Polyaigos. A kayak cannot reach them — they are a long way west and a separate island east respectively. If the island’s signature destinations are your reason for coming, take the cruise and treat the kayak as a second morning.

The sheltered side

Here is the structural advantage nobody markets.

The meltemi — the strong northerly that governs Aegean summer boating — blows from the north. Tsigrado and Gerakas are on the south coast.

So on a day when the north of the island is rough and the Sarakiniko water is unswimmable, the kayak coast is frequently fine. That is precisely why the operators are there.

The caveat is honest: a kayak is more wind-sensitive than a catamaran, so a hard blow will still cancel or shorten a paddle, and the operators are conservative about it — correctly. If your kayak day is cancelled, the sea was worse than it looked from the shore.

Do you need experience?

No. These are guided beginner trips with a briefing and a guide setting the pace. Reasonable fitness helps considerably more than technique does.

The thing to be honest with yourself about is not skill but comfort in open water. You will be in a small craft, some distance from a beach, for a few hours. The guide stays with the group throughout.

If a boat you can fall out of is not your idea of a good morning, the half-day cruises put the same sort of coastline behind a rail instead — at more than twice the price, which is the trade.

What to bring

Sun protection you can swim in, first. There is no shade on a kayak and the light off pale volcanic rock is fierce.

A hat that stays on. Anything loose either gets secured or gets lost.

Shoes you do not mind soaking, and a dry bag for a phone. Expect to be wet from the start rather than at the end.

Operators generally supply the kayak, paddle, buoyancy aid and a dry container, and many include water and a snack. Leave valuables at your accommodation.

With children

Often fine, with a minimum age set by the operator and usually a double kayak shared with an adult. Check the specific listing, since limits vary.

The considerations are the same as for adults: comfort in open water, tolerance for hours of sun, and enough stamina to keep paddling when the breeze gets up. Where that is a stretch, a half-day boat trip gives you the sea without the commitment — and the kayak is still there later in the week.

We are not affiliated with any operator. Trips here are sold by GetYourGuide and we earn a commission if you book through our links, at no extra cost to you.