Last
updated 04 March 2007
Alonissos
Alonissos is a very scenic island, still
well off the beaten track. Perhaps not brilliant for the naturist, although
there are certainly possibilities. Two reports sum up the situation:
"Using your guide and The
Rough Guide to Greek Islands we travelled the whole island. Every
beach is gorgeous and some nudity is possible but you are more likely to
be on your own all day or see maybe one other person. It was bliss. The peace
and quiet was outstanding but there is certainly no dedicated nudist beach."
And the second:
"We went bare on most other beaches and am sure that outside the Greek
holiday period going nude is easy. We and another couple independent of
us found during this period that many small beaches were naturist during
the morning. However, after about midday, even on some relatively
remote beaches, they can often become crowded by textiles arriving in
cars, on scooters and from the sea - there is a lot of boat hire on the
island."
Vithisma beach may be the
best bet. You can get at this by foot by taking the road out of the port,
Patitiri, towards Marpounda, and turning right (there used to be signs at
the turning point for tavernas and "nice beach" at Megalo Mouria; unfortunately
these have apparently gone). There is, unbelievably, a car parking point
on this track after a kilometre or so, opposite which is the path down to
Vithisma. If you get to the left turn by a wall outside a house you've gone
too far. It's a steep descent (I mean it). About halfway down there's a
divide in the path. It's hard to know which way to advise: to the left, you
arrive above the old beach bar but have to scramble round a 45 degree slope
on your bum to get on to the beach. 
If you turn right there's an even narrower path but it at leads to a set
of steps: however the path just above the steps is startlingly steep (although
apparently somebody has now put a ladder there). The
description of how to get there will probably explain why the beach is usually
practically deserted. I get the impression that most people nowadays arrive
by boat: it is easy to hire small boats in the area and I'm sure this is
the best bet.
A contributor from July 2000 suggests
you could get down the first part of the path by motorbike. Look out for
a narrow path going back in the opposite direction only one person wide,
but quite safe with suitable footwear.
In the Sunseekers' Guide this is
described as the 7-Up beach because of the deserted beach bar. There's also
a deserted surf shack. The beach itself is composed of large shingles; however
swimming is excellent and the water is very clear. Very suitable for naturism;
however the difficult access must reduce its rating: I would give it 60%.
A contributor who visitied in July
2000 rated this beach one of the best. The two times they were there
there were few people on it (9 & 5)and virtually everyone was nude.
Access is via two steepish paths down the cliff from the track from Patitiri.
The beach is mixture of dark sand, small shingle as well as larger shingles.
There is plently of space to find somewhere comfortable to sunbathe.
The beach and water were both very clean.
The main drawback of this beach is the height of the climb back to the
main track - unless you are fairly fit, you would probably feel like another
swim by the time you reach the top!
A report from June 2000 describes
a small cove that can be reached from the road. If you leave the main town
on the road towards Vithisma Beach, approx 150 metres before the fork in
the road (where you would turn right towards Vithisma) there is a sharp right
hand bend. Just before this bend is an area at the right hand side of the road to park
mopeds/cars etc. A track leads down from the road to a sort of gulley which
is slightly hazardous to negotiate. However, the effort is worthwhile as
you find yourself in a pebble cove with a natural pool area protected from
the open sea by a narrow entrance. This shelters the cove and makes it very
'cosy'. There was never more than three or four couples there at any one time
when my contributor was there, all nude. Pure bliss and peaceful. Naturally
(!) no snack bars / cafes / toilets etc.
The beach at Megalo Mouria is well
populated by textiles and overlooked by two tavernas: whilst unsuitable
for naturism it does, however, have very clear water and for those who can
stand wearing a cossy it has some rewards.
Reports reach me of a beach called
Mikros Mourtias - a little bay with sand and stones. Sandy
area beyond stones. Easy access by path which runs from village above (Pallio
Alonissos). Also road/track suitable for car and motor bike. On the
day my correspondent was there there were 14 people, all naturists, some
of whom were locals. However other reports reach me of arguments between
naturists and Greek tourists, although it is suggested that those who are
local to the island are not offended by naturism. Evidently this beach
needs to be treated with care and the situation assessed on arrival and reviewed
during the day. Causing offence does no service to naturism and should
be avoided. Rating for this beach: 50%.
The Sunseekers' Guide mentions beaches
north of Patitiri, which it recommends getting at by boat. In fact the road
system on the island seems to have been improved substantially and we were
able to visit Kokkinocastro - which merits 3 stars in the Sunseekers' Guide
- by motorbike. The improved roads may, however, have had disadvantages
from the naturist's point of view: the beach has developed a beach bar (which
we found rather cramped); when we visited it was crowded with textile Greek
families and was totally unsuitable for naturism. The Sunseekers' guide rating
is, I'm afraid, very out of date.
Aghios Dimitri
We pressed on north to Aghios Dimitri.
This is a very scenic beach, two sides of an equilateral triangle point into
the strait between Alonissos and Peristera. It had about six people on it,
while we were there. It had a beach bar, threatening to open in early July.
Naturism might have been possible there. But the first thing we noticed was
the huge number of sea urchins clamped to the rocks just a few feet from
the beach. Highly dangerous: plastic sandals (which I did not have) vital.
A contributor who visited in July 2000 had better luck. The south side of
the peninsular had sunbeds etc. The north side was quieter although
more shingly. They walked a little further round and spent a very
pleasant afternoon swimming and sunbathing nude. Another naturist
couple turned up a little later. The sea urchins were not a significant
problem although there was a noticeable amount of tar on the beach.
In early September 2005 the northern side of the beach was always
partly naturist, and nudity seemed to be acceptable on the sunbeds on
the southern side if you dragged them a few yards away from the
textiles. Neither tar nor sea urchins were noticeable. Average about 20
people on the whole beach (including in the beach bar).
Tourkonen
My contributor says that for them
the best beach of all was at the end of a long dust track. A long
walk or a car journey (intrepid moped riders may achieve the journey).
The beach is called Tourkonen and is on the West side of the island north
of the chapel at Aghios Andreas. This shingle beach was a walk through
the olive groves. They spent two great days here and saw two people
on the beach although swimmers from other beaches in the bay stopped off.
The water was wonderfully warm and clean and the area very quiet. Those
afternoons they felt like they owned the place. Another report describes
up to 30 textiles arriving as late as 5pm, although it was possible to
brave it out.
Spartines Bay
After spending 2 glorious weeks on Alonissos my contributors
found a wonderful pebble beach called Spartines Bay. This
beach can only be reached by private boat (no water taxis call
there) or by foot. If you leave Patitri and walk passed
Votsi you will pass a building on the left called The
Homeopathic Institute of Alonissos, some way after this the
road forks for Chrisi Milia and Milia. About 50 metres before
the fork there appears what looks like a truck depot. Turn
right into the depot and walk down a track until you reach a
house. Bear right just before the house and look for a path
that takes you down through the pine forest, very steep and
about 10 mins duration. All the effort was worth it and most
days my contributors had the beach to themselves with only the
occasional boat anchoring for a swim, idyllic and well worth
the effort although I would advise favouring the middle part
of the beach as the shade kicks in early on the southern
end. Obviously no facilities. Rating: 75%. The walk from Patitri
to the beach took 45 mins. Some Barefoot
reporters found the best beaches (well, coves really) some distance north east
of the Aghios Dimitri beach. The only way to get there, unless one wants
to hack through km of scrub, is to hire a motor boat from the port (Patiri). The
boats are open with 15hp motors and will easily get you to these remote coves.
Lovely crystal clear water and even a blue cave which you can pilot your little
boat right into. Only downside of the coves is that they are shingly, not
a great deal of space and zero facilities. |
