Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
The harbour
Port Augusta is the inlet: narrow, bending, and so protected that it has been a refuge for small boats for as long as people have sailed here. The hamlet is a row of houses and three or four tavernas at its head, and that is the whole settlement.
There are no cars to speak of, no bank, no pharmacy, and the island generates its own noise level, which is close to zero.
Marathi
Ten minutes away by local boat is Marathi, an islet with no permanent population, a fine sand beach and a taverna or two that open for the summer. Boats from Arki and Patmos run across in season and it is the best swim in the group.
Swimming on Arki
Small coves around the coast, reached on foot in fifteen to thirty minutes over low scrub: Tiganakia on the south-east side is the well-known one, a set of shallow turquoise inlets between rocks, shallow enough to wade between.
The surrounding water is part of a scatter of uninhabited islets, and this whole pocket of sea is the quietest corner of the Dodecanese.
Getting there
By local boat from Patmos, most days in summer, and on some sailings of the Dodecanese line that call at Arki and Lipsi. Outside summer the service thins sharply.
Two or three nights, or a day trip from Patmos if you are not staying.
Last checked August 2026. Small-island boat services are seasonal - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
Where is Arki?
In the northern Dodecanese, north-east of Patmos, near Lipsi and a group of uninhabited islets.
How many people live on Arki?
About fifty, all in the single hamlet at the head of the harbour.
What is Marathi?
An islet ten minutes from Arki with no permanent residents, a good sand beach and seasonal tavernas, reached by local boat.
What is Tiganakia?
A set of shallow turquoise inlets on the south-east coast of Arki, reached on foot, and the island’s best-known swimming spot.
How do you get to Arki?
By local boat from Patmos most days in summer, and on some Dodecanese line sailings that also call at Lipsi.