Kitesurfing at Tsimari – Dioni Beach (Flatland) – Part 1

Changes at Tsimari

From the deserted but beautiful Koronissia, we headed south and headed for a five-day trip (at least according to the forecast) to the even more deserted Tsimari. We knew beforehand from the photos and stories that the whole beach had changed beyond recognition due to the winter storm, but what we saw really surprised us.

The entire peninusla thus decreased by 20-30 meters in the direction of the sea. The sand moved towards the lagoon with the flat water. Now there is Jorgos and his tavern, where we used to sit and slowly dangle our feet in the water, in the middle of the peninsula, about 7 meters from the water.

A new road was created in front of the tavern and its terrace, where even a large cars could pass comfortably. The former tavern and shelters along the beach towards the sea are all gone, not a single one has survived.

And unfortunately, what was even worse, the end of the peninsula, where it was possible to park beautifully in a huge place, became a large part of a pile of sand. The few remaining flat places were occupied by local Greeks with caravans and new shelters were built here. In addition to the fact that the original road was impassable for the camper.

New bar

Another big change is the bar at the beginning of the beach. Mammos beach bar is completely newly built from a massive iron structure, so it seems that it will survive the winter without much damage and will welcome us every year. Next to the bar, part of the beach is occupied by umbrellas and sunbeds. There is a shower with fresh water (which is imported) by the bar. There is also a small fast food van parked next to the bar, so in addition to standard drinks, you can also buy grilled meats and they even had gyros there. In any case, the view from the bar to the sea is great, a frappé for 3 euros and the seating is pleasant. The only problem is the occasional and weekend parties, where the music really blares and the wind blows it over the whole beach. The bar is equipped with large speakers and professional equipment. Another disadvantage is the high noise from the power generator. It turns on in the morning, and in the case of a party, the noise lasts until 1 a.m.

Parking at Tsimari

After arriving at Flatland, we traditionally parked right next to the road, today the parking lot in front of the new bar, and we went to see how far we could go on the peninsula. The road around Jorgos was solid and passable, there were even hoses and the blown sand sprinkled regularly.

Further up the beach, the sand was wet and the road was also firm. We decided to try to drive and park as far as possible. Everything was going on until the time when we needed to turn the dwelling and back onto the selected plot. We drove a bit off the road, where of course we got buried and had to be helped by neighbors from two other cars. Yes, we arrived at Flatland and there were only three cars parked on the beach. Apart from us, there was only one German, whom we met on Koronissia, and a couple of Austrians.

In the hours and days that followed, virtually everyone who arrived buried themselves in the same spot. Gradually, the whole patch was filled. And as you can see in the photos, in the following days the romantic beach became one big parking lot.

The wind

Fortunately, the wind compensated for all this. It blew great for three days.

Then for two days only lightly in the evening.

But for the next three days it blew really hard again.

Due to this perfect wind conditions, I was able to get back to the level of a year ago, try and polish the basic tricks and feel like a fish in water again after a long time.

I also tried out my new toy Woo, for measuring the height of jumps.

The great strong wind, the flat water surface also directly tempted Max to ride and even jump with me, and he enjoyed it a lot, only his hands hurt after the unusual effort :-).

And Veronika finally took the plunge and started jumping the first jumps. She is still far from perfect, but she is already flying through the air and her words a few years ago that she would be satisfied if she just drove left and right were, unsurprisingly, very quickly forgotten :-D.

Other Czech friends also arrived, but since Max still hadn’t been cured of smallpox and they had children who hadn’t had the disease yet, we still had to be more alone. But we got to know a lot of other people, the excellent British couple Andy and Rebecca, who still had a long way to go and will finish in May next year in Morocco in Dakhla.

Plans change all the time

We originally planned to stay on Flatland for about 5 days, the forecast for Friday promised a perfect windy day. Gradually, as the forecast changed, so did our plans. Friday was a really windy holiday and the forecast for weekend looked also very good.

Our food supplies gradually dwindled, fortunately our Czech friends brought us atleast drinking water and some fruits and wegetables. On the seventh day, Sunday, we ran out of water in the car tank. Although we still had a lot to drink, we really wanted fresh water, a shower and soap. You can certainly imagine that a daily bath only in the sea has therapeutic effects, but the hair and skin cry out for desalination. Well, just the perfect environment where we treated smallpox.

That week, the summer holidays for children in the Czech Republic began. And at the end of the week we were waiting for the arrival of our friends whom we hadn’t seen for three years. We were supposed to meet in Agios Nikolaos. Since we still had a few days to spare, we headed back to Koronissia.

We knew it was an ideal place with drinking water and a desalination shower and plenty of space and peace to recover after a hard week on the Flatland.

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Author: Karel

I simply love kitesurfing :-).