Manikia might now be the most developed climbing area on the island of Evia, but it’s not the only one, nor was it the first. Whilst we were in the area we thought we’d check out what else the island had to offer. The Crag is pretty handy start point, and threw up a couple of options northwards, near Kymi and another cluster nearer the south coast near Kamari.

Our first foray to find Sector Spilia Kampou (Kampos Cave) was a bit of a disaster – Located (allegedly!) 4.5 km northwest of the village of Vitala, about half an hour north of Manikia. There’s a GPS reference, good directions and a map (as well as a topo) on the Climb in Kymi website…

ΠΕΔΙΟ ΣΠΗΛΙΑ ΚΑΜΠΟΥ (ΒΙΤΑΛΑ) / SECTOR SPILIA KAMPOU (VITALA)

But matching these to reality on the ground was tricky. The previous day’s downpour had flooded the access track, and turned various work-arounds into a quagmire of sticky mud that we only just escaped in 4WD and low ratio. Undeterred, we set off on foot, but met a farmer on a trail bike advising a completely different approach (maybe to do with the flooding? – he seemed friendly enough).

By then we’d lost the will, so re-set the sat nav for plan B: Katavolo crag near Metochi, another winding 15mins away.

ΠΕΔΙΟ ΚΑΤΑΒΟΛΟ (ΜΕΤΟΧΙ) / SECTOR KATAVOLO (METOCHI)

It’s a stunning drive, traversing high above the coast, with great vistas of Dirfi, the highest point on the island at 1,743m and down to the seafront.

The crag couldn’t be easier to spot, on the apex of the last hairpin before you zigzag down to the sea, and the approach is a minute or two.

Unfortunately, we fell foul of the previous day’s rain again, as the majority of the tufa lines (which do look superb) were dripping wet, and the routes don’t see the sun until around 2pm. Nonetheless, there’s a clutch of three shorter 5s up the lower sunny rib that at least allowed for a few YECTOYDs. Even these didn’t go quite to plan as the rightmost route we tried first is not in the topo and a self-inflicted sandbag (more 6c than 5c). The other routes made up in the photogenic qualities anything they lacked in stature.

No navigation problems getting “home” with the ubiquitous Manikia Climbing signs.

The Kamari crags are about an hour and a half from Manikia and on the way to Chalkida and the bridge to the mainland, so made sense for a stop off on the way home. Good topos and information here.

Αναρριχητικό Πεδίο: Καμάρι, Εύβοια

The main crag is pretty impressive with walls facing east and south. You park by the road and there’s a bit of a track leading towards the rocks and a vague trod slanting leftwards.

The south face is at least 50m tall with some impressive lines, marked with painted names and UIAA grades.

There’s very little sign of traffic. I picked Πάθε μάθε which translates as “Go Learn” up the wall left of the corner left of the cave. VII- roughly equating to 6a+. Well, I certainly got schooled! Razor-sharp finger holds with your feet on eggshells, it felt more like 6c+ (and the prospect of taking a fall on the sharp rock didn’t bear think about!)

Helen made a much better selection, with the first pitch of Σπασμένα αυγά or Broken Eggs, VI- or 5c

Might make for an airport-day stop off on the way to / from Manikia for the adventurous!