Kasos

Kasos is the island the ferries almost skip — the smallest of the main Dodecanese islands, tucked between Karpathos and Crete — and that is exactly its charm. A small boat lands at Fry, the capital, a town of white houses climbing the hill above a harbour where the fishing boats bob among the yachts that few yachts bother to find. The people of Kasos are famous for their warmth, and within an hour of landing a visitor is typically invited to try the local cheese, kalathaki, at a shop by the harbour, and given directions to a beach by a fisherman who insists on drawing a map. The ruined castle of the island is a walk uphill, the view over the two coasts enormous, and Agia Marina makes a quiet afternoon of windmills, sea, and very little else. In the evening a taverna puts on a table of grilled fish and local wine, and somewhere a group of men begins to sing the old folk songs of Kasos — music the island is famous for, and which the Kasians have carried with them wherever they have sailed. Kasos is not for everyone. For those who love quiet, sea, and the company of islanders, it is one of the last secrets of the Aegean.

Kasos has a small island's outsized history. In antiquity the island, then known as Kassos, was part of the federation of the Dodecanese cities and a noted maritime power — its sailors were feared and respected across the Aegean. The island was under Venetian, then Ottoman, rule, and its great tragedy came in 1824, during the Greek War of Independence, when the Ottomans massacred thousands of Kasians and burned the island in punishment for its support of the revolt — an event that remains at the centre of the island's memory. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Kasos rebuilt itself around the sea: its ships traded across the Mediterranean, its sailors were renowned, and the island grew prosperous. The 20th century brought emigration, and today the island's population is a fraction of what it once was, with far more Kasians living in the diaspora (many in Egypt, the United States, and Australia) than on the island itself. Kasos was united with Greece in 1948. Its folk music, its polyphonic songs, its poetry and its local cheese, kalathaki — now protected with PDO status — are the pride of an island that has kept its soul.

The name is recorded by Stephanus of Byzantium in the sixth century AD. His Ethnica is not a book of stories but a dictionary of Greek place-names, and for this one it says: "It is named after Kasos, father of Cleochos". (Ethnica, s.v. Κάσος).

That is the whole of what an ancient source has to say about how the place got its name. It is a shorter answer than the guidebooks give, and it is the only one with a source behind it.

Kasos has no long resort beaches, but its coves are beautiful and almost always empty. Agia Marina, in the south, has a fine sandy beach with tavernas nearby. Emporios, near the port, is a sheltered cove ideal for families. The beaches of Ammouda, Kofteri, and Avlaki are quiet strips of pebbles and sand, perfect for a solitary swim. And the uninhabited islet of Armathia, just off the south coast, has one of the finest beaches in the region — a long stretch of white sand reachable by boat, with not a building in sight. The water around Kasos is deep, clear, and full of life; bring a mask, and you will not regret it.

Kasian cooking is the cooking of a small, proud island. The star is kalathaki — the island's PDO-protected soft white cheese, made from sheep's and goat's milk in little wicker baskets (the kalathi that gives it its name), and eaten fresh with bread and olive oil or fried as a saganaki. The island is also known for its fish and its goat dishes, and its tavernas in Fry serve the daily catch with the local wine. The traditional table includes the island's honey, its thyme-flavoured bread, and the pastries made for festivals. Above all, Kasos is famous for its hospitality: if you are invited to share a table — and you will be — say yes, and taste the island through its food and its songs.

May, June, and September are the best months on Kasos: warm, sunny, and wonderfully quiet, with the sea perfect for swimming and the island at its greenest. July and August are hot and livelier, with the diaspora returning for the summer, when the island's festivals — the panigiria of the churches, with music, food, and dancing — are at their peak. Spring brings wildflowers, and autumn lingers warm into October. Winter is very quiet, when Kasos becomes the private possession of its few hundred islanders and their visitors who love the silence.

Kasos is reached by ferry from Karpathos in about an hour, from Sitia in Crete a few times a week, and by the larger seasonal sailings from Piraeus. The island has a small airstrip, with regular domestic flights to Karpathos and Santorini in season.

A car or scooter is useful but not essential — the island is small, and many visitors walk or hire a bike. Take a boat to Armathia for the island's best beach. Carry cash — the tavernas and shops of Fry do not always accept cards. Buy a kalathaki to take home (it is the island's pride), listen for the folk songs, and do not be surprised if, by the time you leave, the whole island seems to know your name. That is Kasos: tiny, quiet, and as welcoming as any place in Greece.