Telendos

The island is a ten-minute boat ride from Kalymnos, but the crossing feels longer — Telendos rises as a single dark cliff from the strait, its profile so steep it looks uninhabitable. Fifty people live at the base, two tavernas face the channel, and beneath the water between the islands lie the remains of a basilica that sank in an earthquake fifteen hundred years ago.

Telendos separated from Kalymnos in a catastrophic earthquake in AD 535 — the remains of a submerged early Christian basilica are visible through the water in the strait between the two islands. The island has no cars, no paved roads, and roughly 50 permanent residents; the only access is a ten-minute boat taxi from Myrties on Kalymnos. Deep-water solo climbing on the island's sea cliffs has become a draw for advanced climbers — routes start directly from the water with no rope. The strait between Telendos and Kalymnos is less than a kilometre wide and so sheltered that the water is often flat even when the open Aegean is rough. The two tavernas serve grilled fish and cold beer to climbers and day-trippers, with the Kalymnos waterfront glowing across the channel at sunset.