Its crystal blue seas and hospitable locals will remain unforgettable. The rock formations are morphologically ideal for climbing. Apart from the standard routes available there are cliffs starting from 10 meters up to 200 meters waiting to be explored. Rock climbing is never monotonous since there are routes with many slabs, edges and stalactites. The development opportunities of alternative tourism and tourism in general in its simpler form seem promising for Kalymnos. The authorities and the Municipality of Kalymnos are aware of the potential and support the organisation and development of the rocky areas. There are 24 equipped crags with 200 pitches , from F4c to F8a+ (all bolt protected, sport climbing), mostly facing west, but a few facing south.
The rock is of excellent quality limestone, sharp at only a few points, without vegetation, and the pitches are equipped with rustproof bolts. At the moment almost all the routes are one pitch, but there are many possibilities for amazing two to five pitch routes. Indeed, apart from the quality, there is also the vast amount of rock available. The opened routes represent not more than 5% of the possibilities, while there are several equally good cliffs completely untouched waiting to be discovered! The ranking system in use is the French one. The island is well-known for its dry climate. You can generally climb on Kalymnos all year round, even in summer on the groups of pitches that are in the shade. There is always a pleasant sea breeze to make climbing pleasurable. Most of the pitches are west or Southwest and are in the shade in the morning. However, the best periods are Spring and Autumn, while till the end of October, all tourist services (hotels, restaurants etc) are in full operation. Actually, even the winter, good whether conditions is not rare. Estimated time of approaching the various sectors is 20 to 30 minutes maximum.