Beaches in Ikaria

Ikaria’s beaches are wild and unmanicured, and the best of them are on the exposed north coast. That is both the appeal and the catch: clear turquoise water, and a sea that can turn rough and pull hard when the wind is up. Everything on this page follows from that one sentence.

Nas, on the northwest tip. The signature one: a small pebble cove at the mouth of a river, framed by cliffs, with the scant remains of a sixth-century-BC Temple of Artemis Tauropolio on the headland above. It is dramatic and fully open to the north wind.

Messakti, near Gialiskari and Armenistis. The island’s most popular beach, a long stretch of golden sand that doubles as a genuine surf beach when the swell rolls in, with the calmer, shallower Livadi beside it.

Seychelles, on the south coast near Manganitis. Spelled Seixelles on some signs. White pebbles and vivid blue water, reached by a steep path down or by a summer boat, so the access is the price of the quiet. This is the postcard water.

The calmer side. The southern coast around Faros and Therma is generally calmer, and the shallows near Armenistis and Kambos are the gentler water on the island.

Now the part the beach lists skip, and it is the reason this page exists. When the meltemi, the summer north wind, blows, the north-coast beaches, Nas and Messakti especially, get strong currents and real surf. Messakti is gentle and shallow close to shore but can pull harder further out. None of that puts the beaches off-limits. It makes them beaches to read before you swim: look at the wind and the water, watch what the sea is doing that day, and keep children in the shallows.

We are describing the sea, not rating it. No beach on this island is certified safe here and none is declared dangerous. What the page gives you is the mechanism, which is more useful than either: a north coast open to a summer wind, and a southern coast in its lee. What the Greek sea is actually like covers how the meltemi behaves.

Where to base if the beaches are why you came. Armenistis is the natural choice: a small coastal village within reach of Nas, Messakti and Gialiskari, close enough that the beach is a short drive rather than an expedition.

And you will want a car. The good beaches are spread along a mountainous coast, and the whole method above depends on being able to move to the sheltered side when the north is up. Which islands need a car covers the question, our Ikaria guide has the practicalities, and things to do covers the panigiria and the springs.