PORTO LEONE bay and beaches in KALAMOS ISLAND (LEFKADA) ^Featured

Porto Leone is a popular bay among all boaters cruising the Ionian Sea! It is very charming with green-blue waters and well protected (exept from S/SW winds) as an anchorage. It has small beaches, but its strong point is the marvelous lanscape and the color of the waters. The beaches' shores are not as attractive as the emerald sea is.

The water is very shallow along the small quay and only small yachts, with a draught less than 1.5 meter can moor (2 boats max). Larger yachts have to remain in the middle of the bay. Recently a small cantina has opened which serves very simple food and beverages.

Porto Leone is located in the SW coast fo Kalamos and was so named by the Venetians who first drew up the maps of the area. Nearby is an old bridge built many centuries ago. The pine forest is very rare and the only other forests of this type are found on the Sporades islands (Aegean Sea). It is a thickly-grown verdant forest, vibrant and home to many species of birds.

The place is uninhabited. There used to be a village vwhich has been completely abandoned by its inhabitants after the 1954 earthquake destroyed most of it. Most of the inhabitants have left for Australia. You may still see the ruins of a few old stone-built buildings and a church.

Kalamos is a small island which looks like a tall mountain range which floats on the sea, its northern side overgrowing with marvelous thick pine trees of a special species. They perch everywhere, even at the most precipitous points, sprouting from the rocks and reaching as far as the edge of the sea, as though they insisted on demonstrating their superiority over the place.

Kalamos captivates visitors with its unusual, wild landscape. It has a surface area of around 20 square km and a highest mountain peak of 200 metres.
There are around 580 permanent residents, increasing in the summer.