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Beaches of Kea
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Kea has been blessed with a number of beautiful beaches, almost all of them in sheltered coves though not all of them accessible by car or public transport. |
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Further along the coast are the beaches of Kambi
with its acorn trees and the Vathirrema Gorge
which ends up at the beautiful remote beach of
Liparo.
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The way many people go
to the beaches
is by calling the taxi and arranging to be dropped
off and then arranging a time to be picked up though
now in the age of cell phones all you need to do is get their
numbers and phone them when you are ready to leave. But make
sure when they drop you off there is a signal or it is a long
walk from some of them. The
beach at
Otzias
is bordered with trees and
extends about 700 meters. There is a small village
on the east side of the bay and a couple tavernas
and coffee shops on the beach. During the high
season there are wind-surfers and paddle boats can
be rented too. The bay itself was a port in
classical times and the ruins of some harbor
facilities can still be seen. A mile or so beyond
are the actual mines in the area called
Tripospilies and a few kilometers further is the
monastery of Kastriani. The small restaurant
called Taverna Otzias is probably the best fish
restaurant on the island and has a great selection
of vegetable dishes and meat including Rabbit stew
and advertisies live music on weekends. The lanes
and paths around Otzias are great for exploring
and there are several small churches to visit if
you get bored with sitting on the beach. There are
rooms to rent here and the combination of the good
food, great beaches and the fact that you can walk
to the port of Voukari if you have to, make this
the best place to stay on the island if you prefer
being by the sea to being in the main village. One of the best walks starts at the Lion outside Ioulida and ends up in Otzias. 
Galiaskari
is the most popular beach on
Kea, particularly with the inhabitants of Ioullis
and the weekenders who come from Athens. Though
the beach is small they pack in here on weekends
and in August and the cafe bar Tastra is as close
as Kea gets to having a 'beach scene' like the
popular islands of the Cyclades. The cafe, which
used to be a little hole-in-the-wall snack bar has
developed into a fully stocked beach bar with a
very nice menu of salads and pastas. They also
serve fruit juices that are like smoothies and of
course they have great cafes. For hanging out and
people-watching this is your best best bet and it
is only a 15 minute walk in either direction to
the tavernas at the sailboat harbor of Voukari or
in the main port of Korrissia. There is a small
forest here with plenty of shade and for snorklers
it is a safe place to explore the coast. The beach
is in a cove within the large bay of Korissia and
so unless the weather is extreme the sea is calm.
Plenty of kids around and the teenagers make this
their prime summer hangout so sometimes the music
in the cafe can get on your nerves if you are a
child of the sixties like me. But just when you
think you can't stand it they surprise you with an
old favorite and your faith in the future of
humanity is restored. Like most beach bars it can
get kind of loud but after awhile you don't even
hear it anymore. Anyway if you go to the far end
of the beach you can barely hear it and if you are
there on a day when there are few people they may
even take requests. 
The beach at
Pisses
is considered the best by many
people, including my friends at Lonely Planet.
Located about 11 kilometers from Ioulis the trip
there is reason enough to go because you pass
through some of the most beautiful topography in
the Cyclades. The beach itself is in a valley of
fruit trees, cypress trees and flowers as well as
farms. There are rooms to rent here and Pisses is
also the location of Camping Kea run by the
enterprising Nick Politis who has created a
paradise for backpackers where they can pitch
their tents under trees and have use of the sites
many facilties including a laundry, cafe, bar,
showers and foodstore (Tel. 22880-31302). Pisses
was also the location of Ancient Poiessa and the
ruins of the ancient city sit on top of a mountain
that is the southern boundary of the valley. On
the acropolis of ancient Poiessa is the temple to
Apollo and the church of the Panagia Sotira which
has many fragments of ancient marble sculpture
within its walls. When the Meltemi blows the sea
can be rough but when it is calm it is smooth and
excellent for snorkeling and is full of children
in the summer. Probably the best place for a
late-afternoon or early-evening swim because of
it's location facing the setting sun. We usually ate at the taverna of
the Akroyiali, owned by a woman named Panayota who
used to live in New Jersey and is a great
cook. It closed in 2005 for the usual reason:
a disagreement about the rent. Hopefully it will open again.
The other taverna is still going strong and has good food too.
Koundouros
is one of many small sandy
beaches which follow the coast beyond Pisses.
There are rooms to rent here and tavernas and is
well protected from the north wind. During the
weekends many yachts from the mainland come here.
This is also the location of Kea Beach, an 80 room
resort built in the sixties that was popular with
Italian tourists but unknown to just about
everyone else. The hotel had a bar, restaurant,
disco and a swimming pool. Rumor has it that the
original hotel was built during the junta and the
owner left with the money and the building only
half completed. To save the project they built
bungalows around the original incomplete hotel and
at one time when there was a flying dolphin from
Pireaus, it actually stopped here. Now it is a
construction site as is most of Koundouros as
developers have gobbled up every piece of land and
are building summer houses for Athenians and
foreigners and also rebuilding the old hotel which
is somewhat of an eyesore. Most people agree that
they would have been better off tearing it down
and replacing it with more bungalows which
actually fit in with the landscape. But some
visionary architect may have a plan to make the
hotel fit in with the environment or perhaps the
other way around. Whatever, I went there and could
find no trace of a reception area. In fact the
only people I saw were the Albanian workers
tearing down the the lower two floors of the hotel
while leaving the upper floors intact so who knows
what they have in mind. Besides the Kea beach
there are many million dollar mansions with
swimming pools and terraced landscaped properties
with spectacular views of the various construction
sites. But in all fairness there are some really
nice beaches in the area out of earshot of the
banging and clanging and some of the clearest blue
water I have seen.
The trip to the beach at
Mikres Poles
and
Ancient Karthea
is not for the faint hearted.
But I am not the most enthusiastic hiker on the
planet and I did it so you can too. The journey
begins just beyond the village of Agios Nikolaos
where you park your car and begin the walk through
the ravine that eventually leads you to a small
white church and two fantastic beaches. In between
are the ruins of the ancient city. But getting
there is one thing. Getting back is another
because as an student of physics knows
what goes down must go
up and the walk down
which takes an hour and a half is a breeze
compared to the journey back. The sea can be
pretty rough during the periods when there are
northeast winds, so choose your day carefully. Any
islander can tell you when any beach will have
calm seas. In the ruins of ancient Karthea are the
remains of a temple to Athena and another temple
that was dedicated to Apollo. You can still see
the fortified walls and the ancient gates. There
are the ruins of an ancient theater of which 20
rows of seats have been exposed. The second beach
you come to is called
Megales Poles
and it is from here that the
ancient road to Ioulis, fragments of which still
exist, began. I have snorkeled here and it almost
seems like the gigantic stones that lay just
beneath the surface are parts of docks or
submerged buildings from the ancient city. For all
I know they may be.
The beach at
Orchos
has no tavernas and because of
the length of the terrifying road you have to
travel on to reach it, is usually empty of people
but if you have a jeep, a motorbike that is
already beaten up or money for a
round-trip taxi ride, the beach is well worth the
visit, especially if you are looking for that
perfect secluded and romantic beach that many
people have in mind when they come to Greece. Of
course there is a small possibility that when you
get there you will find other like-minded people
there, but chances are that unless it is the
weekend or August you should have the place to
yourself for a good portion of the day. Make sure
you bring a couple bottles of water and something
to eat. If you have a mask and snorkle and
flippers be sure to bring them with you because
these are the clear blue waters you have been
dreaming about when you began planning your trip
to Greece. There are also straw umbrellas on the
beach and several trees so you can get out of the
sun. There are a few houses that have been built
as summer residences on the beach itself and along
the way. Two people on a small motorbike (papaki)
can actually make down here though plan on using
your brakes a lot. The problem is that only one of
you may be able to make it back because certain
spots are pretty steep so best plan on one papaki
per person.
There are many more small beaches on the island,
most of which can only be reached by footpath, by
jeep or by boat but so many of the roads have now been
paved that beaches like Spathi and Sikaminia which
were known only to the locals are being visited on weekends
by the Athenians. Go on the weekdays and chances are good you
can spened most of the dat alone. The Guidebook called
Kea:
History-Sightseeing
has a map with roads and
footpaths and instructions on how to find these
beaches and other interesting places in the
interior of the island. As I mentioned before on
the