Via Kos airport (fastest, most reliable)
Fly to Kos (KGS) — direct from forty-plus European cities in summer, from Athens year-round. From the airport: a fifteen-minute taxi to Mastichari port, the fifty-five-minute ferry to Pothia (seven to ten sailings a day in season), then a twenty-five-minute taxi to Massouri. Total door-to-door from London or Rome: five to six hours. Seventy percent of our guests arrive this way. The important detail: the last ferry from Mastichari leaves around 9pm in summer, earlier in shoulder season — if your flight lands after 7pm, you may need to overnight in Kos and cross in the morning; there are simple guesthouses around Mastichari port.
Via Athens (year-round backup)
Fly to Athens (ATH), then either (a) fly Athens-Kos fifty minutes and take the Mastichari ferry, or (b) take the Blue Star overnight ferry from Piraeus straight to Pothia. The ferry ison deckin a cabin, eleven hours. Most people sleep both ways; the return afternoon crossing is the better one because you can be on deck as the Dodecanese slide past. This is the route with the best story at dinner parties afterward.
Airport transfers we book for you
Getting from Kos airport to Ibiscus is simple: taxi or bus to the port, the ferry across to Pothia, and taxis waiting at the harbour for the 25-minute drive to Massouri. The route and operator are entirely your choice — check the day's timetable before you travel.
Island-hopping by ferry
Kalymnos sits in the middle of the Dodecanese chain. Regular ferries run north to Leros, Patmos, Samos, and south to Kos, Nisyros, Rhodes. The Dodekanisos Express fast boat does the whole chain in a day in summer. Tickets book on ferryhopper.com or at the agency on Pothia waterfront.
Getting around once you are here
Rent a small car or a scooter — the choice is entirely yours, and several rental offices operate on the island. Kalymnos is forty minutes end to end. The roads are well paved up to Emporios; the Vathy road is steep but driveable.
The ferry captains' wave
Something repeat guests notice quickly: after your second crossing, the ferry crew know you. They wave. They remember which café in Mastichari you sat at. If you stay more than a week and come and go on the Mastichari boat, expect to be recognised by the time you leave. It is a very Kalymnian thing.
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