Trouble Brewing on Kalymnos

MONDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2010

Trouble is brewing in Kalymnos, reports local Aris Theodoropoulos with local businessmen cashing in on visitors with a big fare increase on one of the main local ferries.

"Until last month," says Aris, "the return boat fare from Kalymnos directly to Sector Irox, on Telendos, was €5 return per person (for groups of 10 or more climbers). This fare has just been increased to €10 per person for climbing parties of 10".

This makes a trip twice as expensive. Local climbers are up in arms but the boatmen so far seem indifferent to their complaints. "As a party of 13 climbers reported this morning, when they pointed this out to the boatmen the answer they received was, "That's the way we do it now."

Last year Kalymnos was busier than ever with visiting climbers and this is set to be repeated this year. This increase has led climbers to start exploring crags further afield which has made Telendos much more popular with several excellent sectors being developed. It is possible to take the shorter trip to the main Telendos port for €4 per person still and then walk the 3km across the island to the main sectors.

Is this a case of local profiteering when they have a monopoly and times are good, or just a realistic increase in fares to compensate for falling summer trade on the island? There is some discussion on climbkalymnos.com.

Source: www.ukclimbing.com