UKC

Its just been announced that all hotel, and guest accommodation on the island will be closed at least until 30th April.  https://kalymnoslettings.com/renting-and-letting-villas-houses-and-apartmen...

This will obviously impact on climbers travel plans

Although they are really good at everything to do with lungs due to their divers tradition. 😉 Once got cured of pneumonia in the local hospital. 

Thanks for information. We were planning to go out 25th April so that trip won't go ahead.

I wonder if UK based climbers can help Kalymnos businesses through the crisis? I can imagine many could go out of business. Not much idea in practice how this might work, but in the past we have never paid up front for accommodation. If we re-book flights for the autumn we could perhaps offer to pay half our autumn accommodation costs now to help them with cash flow, as we've already got the money saved up for the trip? Any ideas or anyone with strong links to Kalymnos who could help organise this on the ground?

I believe the legislation refers to seasonal accommodation. At least one ‘year-round’ hotel (in Pothia) has posted that it doesn’t affect their premise.

Update from same source: apparently it has just been clarified that even the 'year-round' hotels have to close by 23 March.

They probably don't have capacity for much more than one patient at a time though.

How about doing that with UK based businesses? Holiday at home this year and help your fellow countrymen to financially recover.

Agree about the idea of supporting local businesses, but the same also applies to Nepal with the new restrictions there.

Does anyone have any trusted new sources for this to confirm? As much as I have no cause for fake news from a tourist site, I'd have thought the news would have been spread more.

Carl, Thank you for this. Can you please quote your source here (which I believe to be correct btw)?  I'm afraid some Kalymnians are actually in denial about the edict from government and its important that news is primary sourced. Thanks in advance

We've just heard back from our hotel as we've emailed them directly. They've come back with :

"From yesterday the Greek government close all hotels studios and rooms in Greece until 30 April...so we have to close also.."

So that’s the second climbing trip I had planned this year cancelled, then!

Still, bigger picture, etc etc. My thoughts mostly with the businesses on Kaly. This is going to be devastating for them 

I spoke to hotel Oasis. I was booked for a week from 14th April. They confirmed that they must close until the end of April. They are in the process of informing guests by email. They said that bookings will be refunded. 

All I have written on my Kalymnian Blogspot is translated and quoted directly from Kalymnian news in Greek by google translate. I guess the information is deliberately suppressed by the greek media because the tourist season starts 1st May the day after the ban ends. If they can claim on this date that tourist destinations are free of C19 I'm sure they will be very happy!!

Henrik Wetter at apxontiko-hiotel.com in Pothia kindly provides me with useful snippets from the news outlet Ekathimerini.

Seems like foreigners arriving in Greece now have to self-isolate for 14 days.

Thanks Carl, yes this is the case. Those individuals and businesses caught flaunting the law face a 5,000 euro fine and criminal record.

"The Greek government has announced that from 16 March, all people arriving in Greece from abroad are required to go into 14 days’ self-isolation"

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/greece/health

Doesn't say when it's expected to end.

After 14-days?

Hopefully we will be able to do just that - so far for the UK we just have to climb on routes 2  metres away from other climbers and categorise our travel to the crag as 'essential' - this might be justified as a measure to prevent us going half mad, especially when the sun is shining!

But we would also like to support the Kalymnos based businesses - they have been so welcoming for the many years we've been going there and, at a minimum, I would hope to send a message that we have not forgotten their kindness and hospitality even if there is little we can do in practice.

Hi all. I’m an American climber in Kalymnos RIGHT NOW having come before all the travel restrictions and worsening situation. 

I can confirm from several restaurant owners and our Airbnb host that hotels need to close by March 23. Restaurants are only serving to-go and only two are open (Kouzina and Miltos) in Massouri. One owner said they might actually have to cease operations all together on Wednesday, but this I can’t confirm. 

We having been trying to leave this week before travel home gets even more complicated but high winds have left ferry service cancelled. If my partner didn’t have to go back to work (he’s a doctor), I’d stay here to work remotely indefinitely 😅 

Help the locals as much you can the next time you visit. I don’t know of any online ways to support the businesses here, post if you do. But maybe booking your Airbnb way in advance might help some of them? 

Yes, your reporting is absolutely accurate. High winds stopping ferries for a few days here means you are trapped in paradise. Back luck. I hope that you get into the flight system before complete european lockdown which is being spoken about begins (!) One thing you may not realise about Airbnb business model is that when you pay to stay, Airbnb holds this money until you actually arrive at the accommodation. They are sat on billions at any given moment in time and the poor host gets nothing!!