Beaches in Amorgos

Say this before anything else, because it decides whether Amorgos is your island. The coast here is dramatic and mostly rocky rather than sandy. Nobody should book Amorgos expecting long beaches, and the people who love it are not here for them. What you get instead is deep clear water under cliffs, and the swimming is worth the effort it takes.

Aegiali, in the north, which is the exception. The smaller of the two ferry ports sits on the island’s best sandy bay, and that is where most conventional beach days happen. If sand matters to you, base at that end of the island rather than the southern one.

Agia Anna, in the south, which is the famous one. The small beach below the Hozoviotissa monastery, and the bay where much of Luc Besson’s 1988 film was shot. It is small and it is rocky, and its fame is entirely about the water and the cliff above it rather than the shore itself. Go for that, and do not go expecting a beach day.

The water is the point here, not the sand. The clear, deep water the film made famous still draws divers and snorkellers, and there is a dive operation based up at Aegiali running guided dives and courses for a range of levels, with wreck and cavern sites offshore. On an island whose coast is mostly rock, that is the honest way to use the sea.

Which end of the island you are on decides your swimming. Katapola on the south coast is the main and better-connected port, closest to the monastery and Chora. Aegiali at the northern end has the sandy bay and the quieter, low-key feel, and it is where walkers and swimmers who want to slow down tend to settle. The trade-off is that Aegiali is further from the southern sights.

What the coast asks of you. Rocky entries, deep water and effort to reach the good spots. Bring shoes you can get into the sea in, and treat a swim here as something you go to rather than something you fall into off a road.

Reading the water. High summer brings the meltemi, and the exposed sections of this island catch it off the sea. Read the sea when you arrive rather than a description written months earlier. What the Greek sea is like covers the mechanism.

And the month. Spring and autumn are the island’s best seasons for walking, and the shoulder months are gentler on the water too. High summer is hot and the light is harsh by midday. The shoulder season covers the case.

Our Amorgos guide has the practicalities, things to do covers the monastery and the film, and where to stay covers the three anchors.