The Old Harbour boatyards at Baltiza

Baltiza is the reason Spetses looks different from the other Saronic islands. The inlet east of the town is still a working shipyard quarter: caiques and wooden yachts sit up on stocks in open karnagia, timber and paint everywhere, with mansions and tiled roofs stacked behind them and a small lighthouse and chapel at the mouth.

It gives a session texture that a whitewashed lane cannot — dark hulls, rope, rust and raw wood against pale walls, and masts that draw vertical lines through the frame. Work the yard side in the afternoon and the quay opposite in the evening, when the tavernas light up and the water carries the reflections.

These are businesses, not a museum. Do not walk in under a hull, keep clear of the hauling gear, and ask before shooting inside a yard — most owners are relaxed if you ask first. The walk from Dapia takes about twenty minutes along the sea, or take a horse carriage and shoot on the way.