This is the northern Dodecanese loop from Kos: seven days through Kalymnos, Leros, Lipsi, Patmos, and the tiny islets of Arki and Marathi. It is the quieter of our two Dodecanese weeks — legs of mostly 8–12 nautical miles, protected water, and islands that still feel like Greece did twenty years ago. We recommend it to returning charterers, families with young kids, and anyone allergic to crowds.
The week runs Saturday to Saturday — board Saturday afternoon in Kos, hand back the following Saturday morning, seven nights on board. Your captain adjusts the order to the meltemi; the shape below assumes normal summer conditions.
The route at a glance
- Day 1: Board in Kos — old town evening
- Day 2: Kos to Kalymnos (~12nm)
- Day 3: Kalymnos to Leros (~10nm)
- Day 4: Leros to Lipsi (~8nm)
- Day 5: Lipsi to Patmos (~10nm)
- Day 6: Patmos to Arki & Marathi (~8nm) — the remote night
- Day 7: Arki to Kos (~35nm) — final night in Kos
Day 1 — Board in Kos
Embarkation is Saturday afternoon at Kos Marina, ten minutes from the airport. Settle in, meet the crew, and spend the evening in Kos Town — the Neratzia Castle at the harbor mouth, the ancient agora, and a first dinner ashore. The real distance starts tomorrow, and on this route the distances are kind.
Day 2 — Kos to Kalymnos (~12nm)
A short two-hour hop to the sponge-divers’ island. Kalymnos made its fortune on sponge fishing and still feels like a working island rather than a resort. Take the tender through the narrow strait at Myrties to Telendos islet for a swim and lunch, or watch the climbers on the island’s famous limestone walls. Overnight in Pothia or on a mooring at Vathys, a fjord-like inlet on the east coast that guests rarely forget.
Day 3 — Kalymnos to Leros (~10nm)
Leros has one of the safest natural harbors in the Aegean at Lakki — built out in the 1930s in striking Italian rationalist style — and a very different feel from any other Greek island. Rent a scooter to the windmills above Pandeli, swim at Dio Liskaria, and book dinner at Sweet Leros 1897 in town, a long-standing favorite of our crews. Local wild thyme honey is worth taking home.
Day 4 — Leros to Lipsi (~8nm)
Barely an hour of sailing brings you to Lipsi, population around 800. One whitewashed village, a handful of tavernas, and a string of swimming bays — Platis Gialos on the northwest corner has water most guests compare to the Caribbean. There is nothing to tick off here, which is exactly why we route the week through it. Overnight in the small harbor among local fishing boats.
Day 5 — Lipsi to Patmos (~10nm)
Patmos is the cultural high point of the week — the island where St. John wrote the Book of Revelation. Visit the Cave of the Apocalypse and the thousand-year-old Monastery of St. John crowning Chora, then come back down to sea level for a swim at Psili Ammos, the island’s best sand beach, reachable mainly by boat. Skala’s harborfront is lively without being loud; Chora at sunset is one of the finest villages in the Aegean.
Day 6 — Patmos to Arki & Marathi (~8nm)
This is the night guests tell their friends about. Arki has around forty residents; neighboring Marathi has a beach, an anchorage, and a family-run taverna that cooks whatever came out of the sea that morning. No roads worth mentioning, no shops, no schedule — dinner ashore by tender, then a sky full of stars back on deck. If you strike this day for weather, your captain will substitute Agathonisi or a second Lipsi bay, but in settled conditions it is unmissable.
Day 7 — Arki to Kos (~35nm)
The longest leg of the week, deliberately saved for the run home — an easy morning passage south, usually with the wind behind you. Break it with a final swim at the Kastri islet off Kefalos or a last lunch at anchor, and be back at Kos Marina by late afternoon for a farewell dinner in town. Disembarkation is Saturday morning after breakfast.
How to make this week work
This is the most forgiving route we sell in Greece: short protected legs, harbors or anchorages within an hour of each other almost everywhere, and a meltemi that is workable rather than punishing. It suits catamarans and smaller motor yachts especially well, and it is the week we suggest when guests ask for “real Greece” without long passages. The one planning note: the Arki night is anchorage-only, so if your group strongly prefers harbor nights, tell us up front.
Want bigger sights and bigger islands instead? See our southern Dodecanese itinerary from Rhodes — Symi, the Nisyros volcano, and Lindos — or browse all routes in our Greece itineraries guide. Send us your dates, group size, and budget and we will shortlist yachts based in Kos for this exact week.
Talk to a Yacht Charter Expert
Finding the right yacht is one of the most important parts of the whole charter process, and one of the easiest places to go wrong without the right guidance.
That is where our experience matters. We know how to look beyond the listing, spot the differences that matter, and shortlist yachts that are a strong fit for the group, the budget, and the kind of trip you actually want to have.
If you are planning a charter in Greece, we would be happy to help you find the right yacht.
