Limenaria

Limenaria, where Agistri says goodbye to tourism

Limenaria does not appear on the mental map of most visitors to Agistri. Skala gets the headlines, Megalochori gets the authenticity and Metochi gets the views. But Limenaria is something else. It is the island’s back line. The place where Agistri shrugs its shoulders and forgets that tourism exists.

We got there by electric bike from Skala on a Tuesday morning. The ring road runs along the east coast through pine woods. We passed the turning for Skliri and kept pedalling south. The tarmac narrows. The cars disappear. For ten minutes we were the only human beings on the visible face of the earth.

And then Limenaria appeared. A handful of little white houses with blue shutters. A tiny church. Two tavernas with the chairs still stacked on the tables. A bus stop with a faded sign. And the sea. A deep, intense green sea, a contrast with the more famous turquoise of Aponissos.

We sat down at one of the tavernas. The woman running it looked at us with that mix of surprise and welcome you only find in places that are not expecting customers. We ordered a Greek salad and an ice-cold Mythos. The tomato tasted of the garden. The feta was made that day. While we ate, we watched three neighbours go past. Three. In an hour.

The beach of Limenaria is called Mariza

This trips up almost everybody, so it is worth being blunt about it: there is no beach called “Limenaria beach”. The village sits slightly above the water and has no beach of its own. What people mean when they say they are going swimming at Limenaria is Mariza, 300 metres away.

Getting there is easy. From the village square you turn left and take a forest trail under the pines. Five minutes at a stroll. What you find is not sand but a flat rock platform with metal ladders bolted straight down into the water, and a green sea that goes deep within a couple of metres of the edge. No sunbeds. No beach bar. A few pines for shade, and that is the lot.

It is perfect for a proper swim without wading twenty metres with the water at your knees, and the snorkelling over the rocky bottom is the best on the island. We swam alone. Completely alone. In June. In Greece. Alone.

Limenaria is the perfect place to escape the weekend bustle. When the Athenians take over Skala and the sunbeds at Aponissos sell out before midday, nothing at all is still happening here. And that is exactly its magic.

How to get to Limenaria

The village sits at the southeast end of the island, on the ring road. The public bus from Skala runs through Megalochori, Dragonera and Limenaria on its way to Aponissos, and in summer it goes often enough that you can plan a day around it. By scooter or e-bike from Skala it is about 20 to 25 minutes along a road lined with pines, and the ride is half the reason to come.

The village has about a hundred inhabitants. Most of them elderly. They live off fishing and not much else. The two tavernas only open in season. There are no shops or supermarkets. If you come, bring water and something to snack on. And above all, bring time. Because in Limenaria the clock stops. And believe us: you will not want to wind it up again.