Christopher Slaney says:
Jul 22, 2018 06:22 AM

Katakolon. Some doubt as to whether this is a port of entry. We arrived from Italy directly to Katakolon and a planned trip to the museum at ancient Olympia. VHF calls to the harbour master went unanswered so we tied up and went in search of the office of the port police – passports, ships papers etc in hand.

The fellow in uniform was very pleasant but hadn’t got a clue why we were interrupting his otherwise quiet afternoon. He made a phone call, suggested we could take the bus to Pyrgos and visit the police station there. “But it would be better if you do this somewhere else, like Zakynthos.”

“So it’s okay if we leave the boat here and visit Olympia without doing the paperwork or getting a transit log?” We asked.

“Sure,” he said, “no problem.” So we did, and later enjoyed a pleasant couple of tacks back to Zakynthos where we finally entered Greece.

Close by the cruise ship dock, several bus operators tout 10 euro round-trip tickets and the service gives you three hours to spend in Olympia.

Reported by Tony Olin:

Katakolon is a soulless port but good docking on the town quay. They really only cater for the cruise boats, it becomes a ghost town when the cruise boats leave.

Some shops are charging cruisers double the cost to the locals. It’s the first time we have seen this in Greece.

Really only good for a visit to Olympia, hire a car for €30, good supermarket shopping a few miles out of town.