Limanakia

The coves

Limanakia is not one beach but a sequence of small rocky inlets cut into the cliffs south of Vouliagmeni, numbered by the locals and reached by scrambling down paths from the roadside. There is no sand, no organisation, and no shade — just flat rock to lie on and some of the clearest, deepest blue water on the whole coast.

The coves have long been a place where Athens goes to be slightly outside the rules: no entrance fee, no loungers, a mixed and famously open-minded crowd, and a beach bar above the water at the second cove. Bring water and shoes you can climb in, and be honest with yourself about the descent before you start it.