Dokos

Dokos is a small, mountainous island in the Argo-Saronic Gulf, lying immediately southwest of Hydra and covering around 13.5 square kilometres, rising to a high point of 308 metres. Known in antiquity as Aperopia, the island has been inhabited since at least the early Bronze Age, though its permanent population today is tiny — just 18 people recorded in the 2011 census, mostly shepherds and a handful of Orthodox monks. On its eastern side stand the ruins of a Byzantine-Venetian castle, a reminder of the island's one-time strategic value guarding the approach to the Argolic Gulf.

Dokos owes much of its fame to what lies beneath its waters. In 1975, the marine researcher Peter Throckmorton located a large scatter of broken pottery on the seabed off the island; working with archaeologist George Papathanassopoulos, he dated the find to around 2200 BC, making the Dokos wreck the oldest known shipwreck in the world. Its cargo — mostly domestic pottery — still lies scattered at a depth of roughly 15 to 30 metres, making the site a popular target for divers and snorkellers.

For sailors, the island's main draw is Skindos Bay on its north coast, the only reliable all-weather anchorage on an otherwise exposed and rocky coastline. The bay has a sandy bottom with good holding and offers shelter from the Meltemi and most other winds, which is why, despite having almost no permanent population or facilities, Dokos is a popular stop for gulet charter guests exploring Greece sailing between Hydra, the Argolid coast and the Saronic Gulf.