Beaches in Alonissos

Alonissos is the far end of the Sporades chain and the quiet one, and its coast matches. Clear, quiet and mostly pebble rather than sand. The island is long and thin with one main road along its spine, so the beaches hang off that road, and finding them is a matter of driving the spine and turning off rather than choosing between distant coasts.

Chrisi Milia, Kokkinokastro and Steni Vala are the names people use. Between them they cover most of what a visitor here actually swims at, and none of them is a resort strip.

Pebble, and what that means for the day. Clear water and pebble go together, and it is the reason the water here reads the way it does. It also means footwear, and it means the entry is a step rather than a wade. Neither is a problem if you knew before you packed.

Why it is quiet, and why that is structural. Alonissos is the last stop on the Sporades chain, reached via Skiathos and Skopelos, and the sea around it is a protected marine park rather than a playground. The island has not been reshaped around beach tourism the way the two islands before it have, and that is what you are coming for.

The best water here is not a beach. The marine park boat day into the permitted zones north of the island is the swimming and looking day that Alonissos is actually about. The core zone around Piperi is closed entirely and access to the rest is graded, so the trip goes where it is allowed to go. Build it with some flexibility, because park access rules and boat trips are seasonal and the sea decides the rest.

And the thing not to expect from it. Nobody should promise you a monk seal. They are wild, scarce and shy, and the honest description of a park trip is that you will see extraordinary empty islands and might see a seal. Book it for the islands and the water.

Reading the sea. This is the northern Sporades, and a long thin island with coasts on both sides usually has a sheltered one. Read the water when you arrive rather than a description written months earlier. What the sea is like covers the mechanism.

Getting to them. One road along the spine makes the island easy to understand and still means the beaches are spread along its length, so some transport helps. Which islands need a car is the general question.

Three nights, including a marine park boat day. Our Alonissos guide has the island in full, things to do covers the park and the restored old village, and the group is the Sporades.