Agia Paraskevi Beach

Agia Paraskevi sits on the southwest side of Spetses, past Agioi Anargyroi if you are coming round the coast road anticlockwise. It is a curved bay of fine pebble and coarse sand, with pine woods running right down the slope behind it and a small whitewashed chapel of Saint Paraskevi standing on the rocks at one end. That chapel is what you photograph, and it is the reason the beach has the name it does.

Ask people who spend summers on Spetses which beach they rate and this one comes up more than any other. It is not the biggest. It is the best balanced.

What is genuinely good

The shade. This matters more on Spetses than most people expect, because the island is exposed and the pebble beaches heat up brutally by noon. Here the pines come far enough down that there is real natural shade for part of the day, and you are not forced onto a hired sunbed to survive the afternoon.

The water. The bay faces southwest and shelves gently for the first few metres, then drops. It is clear, it is protected from the prevailing summer meltemi coming down from the north, and it stays swimmable when the north-coast beaches like Zogeria are being chopped up by wind. On a windy day this is where you should be.

The setting. Pine, rock, chapel, water. It reads as a proper Greek cove rather than a strip of loungers, even in August when the loungers are all out.

And now the honest part

It is organised, and it is priced for Spetses. There is a beach bar with sunbeds and parasols for hire, and the daily rate for a pair of loungers here is closer to what you would pay on a fashionable island than what you would pay on Poros. If you are on a budget, bring a mat and claim a patch under the trees early.

It is not sand. Guides will tell you Agia Paraskevi is sandy. It is a mix, and there is enough pebble and small stone at the shoreline that walking in barefoot is uncomfortable. Water shoes solve it entirely. Bring them.

It fills up. Not to the crush of Agioi Anargyroi, but by midday in August the good tree line is gone and the free space is squeezed towards the ends. Before ten in the morning it is a different beach altogether.

Facilities are limited. There is a bar. There is not a village. No shop, no chemist, nothing you forgot. Bring water, sun cream and cash, because card acceptance at beach bars on Greek islands is inconsistent and this one is no different.

Getting there

Water taxi from Dapia is the easy answer, and it is how a lot of people do it. You agree the price on the quay, the run takes something in the region of twenty minutes, and you arrive by sea, which is the flattering way in. Fix your return before you get out of the boat, or take the skipper’s number.

By moped or bicycle it is a straightforward run along the ring road, described in more detail on our page about cycling the coast road. Reckon on eight kilometres or so from town, with some climbing. On a bicycle in July heat that is more of an outing than it sounds.

There is a seasonal bus that runs along the south coast to the main beaches. It runs in summer, the frequency thins sharply outside the high season, and there is no point us quoting a timetable that changes every year. Ask at the harbour on the morning.

The plan we recommend

Come out by water taxi first thing, swim while the bay is still empty, walk the ten minutes or so round to the chapel, and stay under the pines through the hot part of the day. Head back mid-afternoon and give the evening to Spetses town, which is the other half of what this island is for.