Peloponnese Part 3 – Another Bouka Beach + Ancient Sparta
After a rather successful stay at Romanos beach, we set off to the East. We had some interesting information about places where kitesurfing could be great. The southern spots on the first headland of the Peloponnese should not have been so good with their bans and prohibitions on some places. In the evening we got into the cabin and drove towards the city of Kalamata to another promising spot on Bouka Beach.
A place for overnight stays and free camping
We left Romanos Beach at dusk and had about an hour crossing according to navigation, although it was more like an hour and a half. Along the way, we were primarily looking for a place to sleep and a place to refill the water tank. In the end, we spent the night about 1 km from the spot. Through Park4night, we found a parking lot under the trees, a small forest where a few caravans and cars were already parked. In the morning, we were pleasantly surprised by the overall situation on site. Across the road from the trees were restaurants, a hotel, a children’s playground, and a city beach.
The whole place was very well equipped for local tourists to swim. That’s why the facilities were at a very good level. There was also a public toilet right in the parking lot under the trees, where our little chemical went to pour out of the car. The tap with drinking water was about 100 meters from the trees, right next to the road. Even though free camping is officially prohibited in Greece, there was actually nothing missing for camping here. During the day, the parking areas under the trees were filled with local cars, but in the evening it was quiet. Even though the police drove around here, they didn’t deal with any campers and some of them have stayed here for several days, and one family even set up a tent here for the weekend. So if you’re passing by, we can highly recommend it for a few nights. Children will also like it here.
Bouka Beach kitespot
The kitebeach could be reached on foot or by car across a small bridge, it is about half a kilometer away from the trees. We went shopping around noon and arrived at Bouka Beach from the other side, about 2 kilometers further along the way. But you can actually inflate a kite right behind the bridge. The entire beach is really incredibly large and almost deserted, without umbrellas and tourist traffic, there is only a changing room and showers.
We were also captivated by the beautiful view of the Taygetos mountain range, which forms the highest massif of the Peloponnese peninsula.
The access road by the beach is gravel. The beach is made up of coarser sand, but right by the water, the sand was incredibly fine, like from an hourglass. There were also a lot of beautiful pebbles with which Max expanded his collection. The beach slopes slightly towards the water from the road, but there is plenty of space to launch a kite. The water immediately goes deep, so the place is also good for foiling.
After arriving at the beach, I pulled out the Soul 15, Veronika cooked lunch and I immediately jumped into the water.
It was blowing onshore, the wind was strange, it kept spinning and was not very stable, but I rode for about an hour and saw another turtle, which startled me, as I suddenly had it about 20 cm under the board. In the end, Veronika did not ride and decided instead to treat her injured ankle from Romanos Beach.
In the early evening, we returned to the parking lot under the trees. MaxÃk was enjoying the evening on the playground and I needed to work. We didn’t leave for the next trip until around lunchtime the next day and headed over the mountains to Sparta. Since we were a short distance away, it would be a shame to miss this iconic place of the Greek past.
The road to Sparta
Just beyond the town of Kalamata, the road began to climb up into the mountains rather quickly. The drive through the mountains was breathtaking. We often drove step by step, but the whole area provided beautiful views. At one of the highest points of our route, we made a short stop and enjoyed the view and the fresh crisp air.
Towards the end of the road, two tunnels were carved into the rock. Driving there in a car with a height of 3.8 mts. would mean big problems because there was nowhere to turn and it would be a whole hour and a half long journey back to Kalamata. Fortunately, even with the boxes on the roof, the total height of our car is 3.3 mts.
Arriving in the historical part of Sparta was, however, an unpleasant experience. Unfortunately, the navigation directed us to a narrow and dead-end road (not to the official parking lot). It was possible to reach the excavations along this road, but we wanted to at least turn around and park more conveniently. While reversing, we dug into the ground and bent the electrical connection attachment for the towing device, which stopped turning on. We had to improvise quite a bit and luckily we managed to fix the connection in a position where the contact was restored and the lights were on again.
Ancient Sparta
The city of Sparta itself is located in a valley between high mountains. One can imagine quite well how everything must have been built up and inhabited here more than 2 thousand years ago.
The ruins and excavations of ancient Sparta are not very large and are located on a small hill above the modern city of Sparta. They certainly cannot even be compared to Olympia or Delphi. You can see everything there is within the hour.
However, it can be seen throughout the area that archaeologists are still unearthing other excavations, such as the ancient theater. But the view of the modern city and the Taygetos mountains with the highest mountain of the Peloponnese Profitis Ilias (2404 m) is nice.
The entire area is fenced, but no entrance fee is charged. If, like us, you drive from the eastern part through the turn from the village, don’t be afraid to drive your car up the dead-end road, it is possible to turn around there. Just to enter the premises you must climb through a hole in the fence, as the gate is permanently locked. From the other side, the area is more accessible, via the normal road from the city, and here the gate is open.
After visiting ancient Sparta, we headed to modern Sparta, upset about the damaged car, and spent about an hour looking for a car repair shop where they would at least straighten the bent towing device. Unfortunately to no avail, a couple of willing service people tried to help us, but it was Friday afternoon. So we decided that it had to last until the Czech Republic and preferred to go on. This time for a spot called Trinisa. We were looking forward to it because there was supposed to be a community of local kiters with whom we could have fun and find out information about other spots in the south and east of the Peloponnese. How did we end up enjoying Trinisa? You will find out in the next article, but I will tell you now that it was absolutely perfect!
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Author: Karel
I simply love kitesurfing :-).
