Kolymbithres, Paros: The Granite Pools of Naoussa Bay

It sits across the bay of Naoussa from the town, on Paros’s northern shore, and what you find there is a shoreline of huge smooth grey-white boulders worn into rounded pillows and shallow basins, with pockets of sand tucked between them. The formations break the shore into a string of small coves rather than one beach, which decides almost everything about a day there.

The name is the giveaway. Kolymbithres means baptismal fonts, and it comes from the basin-shaped hollows worn into the rock.

What the rock actually is, and why that is interesting

Paros is a marble island. Parian marble was quarried here for the ancient world, and it is the thing the island is known for geologically.

Kolymbithres is not marble. It is granite, and the difference is the reason the beach looks like nothing else on the island.

The Aegean Islands’ geological description sets out the sequence, and it is worth having because it explains the shapes rather than just admiring them. A granite intrusion, which the source dates to probably the Middle Miocene, cooled underground. As it cooled it fractured vertically, splitting the mass into rectangular blocks. Much later, when erosion brought those blocks to the surface, disintegration and then wind and wave erosion rounded off their edges, working them into the pillow and ellipsoid forms you can now sit on.

So the sequence is blocks first, curves second. The rock was cut into cubes by cooling and then had its corners taken off by the weather, which is why the boulders look both deliberate and melted at the same time.

That also explains the basins. Water sitting in hollows in a coarse crystalline rock works them deeper over time, and the fonts the beach is named for are what you get after a very long while of it.

The coves, and what shape does to a beach day

Because the granite runs down into the water, Kolymbithres is not one beach with a sweep of sand. It is a sequence of small enclosed pockets, each one walled off from its neighbours by rock.

That has consequences you can plan around.

A large group does not sit together here. You claim a pocket, or you split across two. Bags and towels go on rock as often as on sand, and the sand there is between the boulders rather than behind them.

Shelter is decided pocket by pocket rather than beach-wide, because each cove opens its own way and has its own wall of rock behind it. Our Paros guide puts Kolymbithres among the island’s shelter picks, and the useful refinement is that when the wind is up, walking two coves along can change your afternoon more than driving somewhere else would.

The water in the pockets is shallow and clear, and that is why families gather here. What we are not going to do is tell you the water suits your children, or anybody’s. The sea moves, the pockets differ from one another, and that judgement belongs to the person standing in it and to any lifeguard or flag on the day, not to a page. What we can say is what the rock does: it encloses, it shallows, and it takes the fetch off the water in the smaller coves. The general behaviour of the Greek sea and its summer winds is set out in what the sea is like in Greece, and the practicalities of a Greek beach with very small children are in Greece with a baby.

One thing the shape gives you for free: the snorkelling around the boulders is better than the beach’s reputation suggests, because a rocky shoreline holds far more to look at than a sandy one.

Getting there from Naoussa

Two ways, and they are genuinely different experiences.

The small boats that shuttle across Naoussa bay in season are the enjoyable route. You go from the harbour in Naoussa directly across the water and land at the beach, which turns the journey into part of the day and skips the parking entirely. We print no fare and no crossing time and we name no boat, because this is a seasonal, weather-dependent local service and every one of those numbers moves.

The road runs around the head of the bay and takes you there by car, scooter or bus. Paros is one of the very few Cyclades islands where the bus network genuinely covers the places you want, which our Paros guide treats as one of the island’s real advantages; fares and routes live there rather than here.

Parking exists and it fills, which is the usual arithmetic: earlier is easier, and August is its own country.

Monastiri, the enclosed cove next door, is the quieter neighbour and is worth the short walk when Kolymbithres is full. It is on the same water and has the same granite behind it.

What is there, and what is not

Kolymbithres has an organised end, with sunbeds and umbrellas set out on the sand pockets and something to eat behind them, and then it has the rest of it, which is rock and water and whatever you carried in.

We print no prices and name no business, because a beach concession is a seasonal trade and a page built on those names is out of date within a year. Our Paros guide takes the same line across the whole island for the same reason.

Nothing at Kolymbithres is booked in advance. What is worth booking for a Paros trip is the room and the ferry, and the Paros guide sets out how the island’s crossings work.

Practical, and short. Something on your feet, because you will be walking on rock. Shade, because the granite gives you none and neither do the pockets. And the earlier you come in July and August, the more of the beach exists.

When to go

Shoulder season is the answer here more than at most beaches, and for a specific reason rather than a general one.

Kolymbithres is small, and a small beach responds to crowding faster than a long one. In May, June and September the coves work as they are meant to, with room to choose a pocket and space between groups. In August the same rock holds several times the people, and choosing your cove stops being an option.

The light is also better outside high summer, and the granite is the sort of surface that repays it. The island-wide version of this argument is in the Paros guide, which makes the case for the shoulder months across the whole trip.

The short verdict

Kolymbithres is worth crossing the bay for. It is the most unusual piece of shoreline on Paros, it is a genuine geological oddity on an island famous for a different rock entirely, and the coves it makes are pleasant to spend a day in if you get there before they fill. Go early or go out of season, bring shoes and shade, and walk along a cove or two until you find the one that suits the wind.

Last checked July 2026. What gets re-checked on this page: the seasonal boat across Naoussa bay and what is trading at the organised end. No sunbed price, fare, crossing time or venue name appears here by design. How we date and correct facts is in our editorial policy.

Common questions

What is Kolymbithres beach in Paros?

A shoreline of huge rounded granite boulders on the far side of Naoussa bay, worn into pillow shapes and basin-like hollows, with pockets of sand between them. The formations split the shore into a string of small enclosed coves rather than one continuous beach. The name means baptismal fonts, after the basins in the rock. It is the most distinctive beach on Paros and one of the more unusual in the Cyclades.

Why does Kolymbithres look like that?

Because of how the rock was made and then unmade. The Aegean Islands’ geological description sets out the sequence: a granite intrusion, probably of the Middle Miocene, cooled underground and fractured vertically into rectangular blocks. When erosion later exposed those blocks, disintegration together with wind and wave erosion rounded their edges into the pillow and ellipsoid forms you see. Blocks first, curves second. The basins the beach is named for are hollows worn deeper over a very long time.

Is Kolymbithres marble, like the rest of Paros?

No. Paros is famous for Parian marble, quarried here for the ancient world, and Kolymbithres is granite. That is what makes the beach look like nowhere else on the island: granite weathers into rounded masses rather than the bright crystalline faces the island’s marble is known for.

How do you get to Kolymbithres from Naoussa?

Two ways. Small boats shuttle across Naoussa bay from the town harbour in season and land at the beach, which is the enjoyable route and skips the parking. Or the road runs around the head of the bay, by car, scooter or bus. Paros has one of the few genuinely useful bus networks in the Cyclades, and routes and fares are on the Paros guide rather than here. We print no boat fare, crossing time or operator, because the crossing is a seasonal, weather-dependent local service.

Is Kolymbithres good for children?

Families gather there, and the reason is the shape of the place: the granite encloses a series of small shallow pockets with rock walls behind them, which takes the fetch off the water in the smaller coves. We describe that and we do not certify it. The pockets differ from one another, the sea moves, and no page can see the day you are standing in. The things that can are the flag, any lifeguard on duty and your own eyes. Practical planning for a Greek beach with very small children is in Greece with a baby.

Is Kolymbithres crowded, and when should you go?

It is small, so it feels crowded sooner than a long beach does. In May, June and September the coves work as intended, with room to pick a pocket. In August the same rock holds several times the people and the choosing stops. Early in the day helps at any time of year. Monastiri, the enclosed cove next door, is the quieter neighbour and is a short walk away on the same water.

Are there sunbeds and food at Kolymbithres?

There is an organised end with sunbeds and umbrellas on the sand pockets and something to eat behind them, and then the rest of the beach, which is rock and water. We name no business and print no price, because a beach concession is a seasonal trade and any list would be out of date within a year. Bring something on your feet for the rock and bring your own shade if you want it away from the organised end, because the granite gives none.