Tag: Athens

Agistri island

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

If you go from Athens port Piraeus along Aegina island you will notice a small hilly island of Agistri. Unlike other islands around, it is fully covered by forest. Also, it has plenty of small bays with sandy and pebbly beaches. One of them is known as a naturist beach. Considering that getting to Agistri from Piraeus takes about 50min, it is an excellent alternative to naturist beaches around Athens on the mainland. Or if you are on Aegina island already, you can get from there too (Flying Dolphin in 10min, Agistri Express in 15min).

Flying Dolphin brings you to Megalochori pier

From which you’ll need to take a bus to Skala beach (€1.5), but ferries and Agistri express come directly to Skala pier.

Skala is a neat beach with clean sand, small tavernas and hotels.

Go further south along the sea and eventually the road turns into a trail.

You’ll see a hill covered with pine trees that has an entire tenting camp site. And no wonder, fresh sea breeze and pine smell create a perfect atmosphere.

The bays is hidden behind a small cape, and the way down is not obvious.

When I came to the edge of the cliffs, right by my feet, a head of another naked tourist appeared.

That’s how I found out the trail leading to the beach. From down there I saw some people above who probably couldn’t find there way down. Oh well, but I couldn’t complain, as that was what probably helped to keep the beach so pristine!

**********

This story and photos were contributed by our reader from Moscow, Igor.

Κρυμμένος θησαυρός στην Αθήνα

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

 English

Η Αθήνα έχει μερικές απομονωμένες παραλίες που είναι γνωστό ότι ελκύουν γυμνιστές, αλλά η συγκεκριμένη  παραλία είναι ένα αληθινό κρυμμένος διαμάντι: είναι κοντά στο κέντρο της πόλης, αλλά σχεδόν αδύνατο να την βρει κάποιος  χωρίς να γνωρίζει την ακριβή τοποθεσία, και όμως αξίζει τον κόπο της αναζήτησης!

Λόγω της απομόνωσης της είναι φυσικά, είναι ένα εξαιρετικό μέρος για γυμνισμό.


Έμαθα για αυτή την παραλία  χάρη στο Νίκο από την Αθήνα, έναν από τους πιστούς αναγνώστες του blog μου.


Και μετά από δυο χρόνια που είχαμε γνωριστεί μέσω email, είχαμε επιτέλους την ευκαιρία να συναντηθούμε  τον περασμένο Σεπτέμβριο, και να μιλήσουμε για πολλά ενδιαφέροντα πράγματα. Στη συνέχεια, όμως, στο πνεύμα του «active naturists»: «λιγότερα λόγια, περισσότερο δράση»

Σκαρφαλώσαμε στα βράχια πάνω από το νερό.


Οι βράχοι είχαν φωτεινά χρώματα, κυρίως λιλά και απαλό πορτοκαλί . τα χρώμα των βράχων στο φως του ηλιοβασιλέματος συνέθεταν μια πανέμορφη εικόνα.
Στη συνέχεια, ανακαλύψαμε κολυμπώντας μια σπηλιά που δεν ήταν δυνατόν να φτάσει κάποιος από ξηράς. Αυτή η μικρή σπηλιά έμοιαζε με ένα χαμένο κρησφύγετο πειρατών. Δυστυχώς δεν είχα την αδιάβροχη φωτογραφική μηχανή μαζί μου οπότε δεν μπορώ να το δείξω εδώ.

Η νύχτα ήταν ακόμη πολύ ζεστή και έτσι μπορέσαμε να απολαύσουμε τη θέα της Αθήνας γυμνοί μέχρι αργά το βράδυ.

Greek text by Nicolas

Marathon

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

 ελληνικά

In times when the Olympic torch has just been brought from Greece to London Olympics, it only makes more sense to post about one of my favorite places for camping, which bears the name of Marathon. That is where Persians attempted to invade Greece… and from where, allegedly, the courier ran all the way to Athens to tell the news of victory of the Greek army. This story, in turn, inspired the Marathon race! But I think not many people know that the beach where Persians once disembarked their warships is nowadays a perfect place for running. Given that even modern Greeks are quite easy with nudity and the beach is never crowded, you can run the way Ancient Greek athletes did – naked!

This is how this place looks from the plane:

Marathon is a little over 2-hour ride from buzzing Athens, but to get to the wilder part of the beach, you’ll have to walk from the bus station along the beach for more than an hour. (That is if you don’t have a car.) However, it is totally worth it. It’s a great weekend escape, and we often went there to camp overnight.

It’s easy to find a nice cozy spot for you tent.

So, there is not only a nice beach but also an old pine forest

with a pond

and numerous trails to wander around.

Scarcely growing old pines were perfect for hanging a hammock.

It was a lightweight variety, but still cozy enough to chill out, feeling the sea breeze all over body. I was learning Greek with a book, but not for too long as you can see…

Other “facilities” at the beach include a couple of metal platforms that are not in use anymore but are still stable and provide nice views over the beach.

But why stay on the beach all the time, if there is a forest next to it?

We were exploring whereabout of the ancient battleground in full tranquility and…

full nudity too 🙂

Haven’t I mentioned tranquility?

And of course we didn’t just walk and sit there. We also played beach bats during day,

and at night we tried a fast version of badminton, ‘Speedminton’, completed with glow sticks in the shuttlecocks. To see each other, we also decorated ourselves with glow sticks.

Then we also attached glow sticks to frisbee, which made it look like UFO in the night sky. Too bad our cameras couldn’t catch it, but it was quite a sight!

Another time, we ventured for a long run forth and back along the beach; wet sand was compact enough to run comfortably. Just a few patches have some colorful pebbles instead of sand.

If all that is not enough for your entertainment, there is also a bunch of friendly stray dogs that are happy to keep you company.

hidden gem in Athens

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

 ελληνικά

Athens has a few secluded beaches that are known to have naked bathers, but this one is a true hidden gem: it’s close to the city center but almost impossible to come across without knowing the exact location, and yet it is really beautiful.

So, of course, it is a great place for skinny-dipping.

I learnt about this place thanks to Nico, one of the devoted readers of my blog from Athens.

And after a couple of years of having been in touch via email, we finally got a chance to meet in reality last September, and we talk about so many things. But then, in the spirit of ‘active naturists’, we had some time with “a little less conversation, a little more action”.

We climbed the cliffs above water.

The rocks were of bright colors, mostly of lila and orange palette, and looked especially effective in sunset light.

Then we swam to a cave that was not possible to reach by cliffs. That small cave looked like a lost pirate meeting point, but unfortunately I didn’t grab my waterproof camera with me so I cannot show it here.

The night was still very warm, so we enjoyed the night view of Athens before leaving that hidden gem.

Beaches of Legrena near Athens

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Legrena is located about 2h of bus/car ride from the centre of Athens on the way the cape Sounion, where Aegeus was waiting for his son Theseus after the battle with Minotaur…

Well, you probably know the myth and why the sea is actually called Aegean. Now the cape features ruins of the Temple of Poseidon, another father of Theseus (yes, he had two fathers!), so it is a popular tourist spot, especially during sunset.

And if you want to combine sightseeing with beach fun, you should stop over at Legrena. There are several beaches of different size, with different ground, open and secluded.naturist 0007 Legrena, Attica, Greece

Closer to the bus stop (Athens-Sounio bus) lies a long sandy beach. When we were there in August, it was almost empty, maybe because Athenians left to the islands and tourists do not know about it… It was easy to find a spot with no one else in the nearest 30 meters, but unfortunately it was not easy to find a spot to enter the sea for swimming. Well, it was fine for wading but too shallow for swimming.

naturist 0006 Legrena, Attica, Greece

But further offshore the bottom is full of urchins, so it’s quite risky to walk.
Since it was also windy we couldn’t play frisbee or beach bats. However, we had a jump rope by chance, so skipping was practically the only way to stay active 😉

naturist 0008 Legrena, Attica, Greece

On another day, we were at a smaller sandy beach farther from the station but without urchins at the sea bottom. As we were alone there, we felt free to stay clothes-free. We played beach bats and ring frisbee, which turned out to be a blast, as it is more resistant to the wind blow than a regular disc frisbee and is also super-fast. Too bad I don’t have a video of that. Later there appeared one more naked man at the end of the beach, one clothed family, and one man kept walking forth and back. He pointed at us and said (in Greek) we were crazy to play around naked, although to be honest he himself seemed rather crazy, and why did he return several times if he didn’t like the site of us playing frisbee naked?

On another occasion in mid-October, on a very hot day, I visited the “official” nudist beach of Legrena.

view 0000 Legrena, Attica, Greece

Actually, again even the non-nudist part was almost empty, with one naked man and another clothed in the shade. This beach is pebbly,

naturist 0000 Legrena, Attica, Greece

and some of the rocks are light-pink!

rocks 0000 Legrena, Attica, Greece

As the beach was faced directly to the sun and surrounded by rocks, it got really hot; naturist 0001 Legrena, Attica, Greece

I couldn’t sit anymore and went swimming. I saw several more coves with one or few naked men in each.

At one of the coves there was a partly submerged tunnel with some bright pinkish rocks.

rocks 0003 Legrena, Attica, Greece

Later I walked to the “official” nudist part of the beach. This time the pathway was full beautiful light-green rocks.

rocks 0001 Legrena, Attica, Greece

The entrance to the naturist part is announced by a notification (in Greek) on a huge rock.naturist 0004 Legrena, Attica, Greece

Another announcement is placed in the middle of the beach.

naturist 0002 Legrena, Attica, Greece

And if you still don’t get the point or cannot read greek, there are some smaller international notifications, like this rock with an “FKK” sign.

naturist 0003 Legrena, Attica, Greece

Again, there were some rocks of peculiar shapes and colors, like this dark-green ‘mini-vulcano’.

naturist 0005 Legrena, Attica, Greece

This place must be certainly interesting for a geologist, I bet there are some naturists among them as well.

rocks 0002 Legrena, Attica, Greece

Secluded beach in Saronida, near Athens

by αNaturist, posted in Athens, naturism, naturist beach, nude snorkeling, nudist places, skinny dipping

I wrote about flat rocks of Limanakia, about 1-1.5 hours from Athens city centre, but if they seem too busy, you can follow further from the city and find some small secluded beaches like this one shown on the map.

You can go there by the same bus as to Limanakia – E22 – but further, till the last stop actually. Then walk along the sea-shore, passing through an urban beach first, until you reach a place of your choice.

It is simply amazing to find such a nice hidden spot 2 hours away from the buzzing centre of Athens;

perfect for a romantic beach day.

The water is crystal clear, so the place is great for snorkeling.

Of course, we swam naked.

But we wouldn’t be active naturists, if we just swam there.

We also played frisbee

and beach bats. As the beach itself was quite small, we decided to play in water. It made it more challenging and fun at the same time.

PS Given that this place is not a municipal beach, its cleanliness depends on you! Unfortunately we found some garbage on this beautiful beach. We took away what we could, but it’d be easier if everyone just took everything with themselves…

flat rock beach in Athens (Limanakia)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

ελληνικά

Nudist beach at Limanakia is a popular place to enjoy the heat of summer in Athens instead of suffering from it in the city. It has a lot of convenient open flat rocks, as well as hidden corners to get some more intimate atmosphere even when it is pretty crowded. view 0003 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

The crowd is quite diverse and international, a lot of gays, sometimes textile though. The water is warm from April to October, and feels nice even when it rains. naturist 0002 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

The underwater life is pretty interesting by the way. You’ll see lots of different fishes,

fish 0002 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

schools of young fish fish 0003 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

and some parrotfish of rainbow colors.

fish 0001 Limanakia, Athens, Greecefish 0000 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

Another beautiful encounter, which we saw only once there, was this jelly fish. jellyfish 0000 Limanakia, Athens, Greecejellyfish 0001 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

Thus, Limanakia proved to be great for snorkeling and swimming.

naturist 0000 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

However, while getting out of the water beware of sea urchins,sea urchin 0000 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

although not all rocks are covered with sea urchins – some have only pretty moss animals and algae.

moss animals 0001 Limanakia, Athens, Greecemoss animals 0000 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

In any case, goggles are highly recommended both for enjoying underwater scenery and safety!

naturist 0001 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

This place is obviously great to take some good photos,

naturist 0009 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

just make sure to have good equipment;-)

naturist 0010 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

Well, this pigeon thought it was all about him and tried to get in the shot all thetime!

naturist 0011 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

But the crab turned out to be more photogenic and cooperative.

crab 0000 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

Late october, with more rain, brings some blossom to the rocks of Limanakia.

flowers 0000 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

But not only flowers can be pink there, the rocks themselves may turn pink too!

view 0001 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

This is what happened one evening with unusually bright pink clouds at sunset, which reflected their color on the rocks and the sea.

view 0002 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

In the cove which is closer to the city, view 0000 Limanakia, Athens, Greece you can also do cliff-diving. Does it look high enough?

naturist 0003 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

Well, look from above!

naturist 0004 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

By coincidence, on the day when we finally dared to jump from those cliffs, there was a contest of 12 top cliff-divers at the neighboring lake Vouliagmeni. Well, we couldn’t compete with them in terms of height of our dives, but at least we dived in a more natural way – from the cliffs, not from a platform (I don’t know why they call it cliff-diving then), and without swimsuits 😉

So, ready?!

naturist 0005 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

Wait, there is a swimmer below.

naturist 0006 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

Steady!

naturist 0007 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

Go!

naturist 0008 Limanakia, Athens, Greece

And here is a video.

I think you’re convinced now to visit this place, if you’re in Athens. To get to Limanakia from the center of Athens use express bus E22 (from Panepistimiou (Πανεπιστιμίου) or Syntagma (Σύνταγμα)) or from Glyfada by buses 115 or 116 to B’ Limanakia (B’ Λιμανάκια). On my frequent visits to Athens, this was often the first place I wanted to go, granted that I also saw it from the airplane on approach to the airport; too bad I couldn’t just jump down with a parachute!

view 0004 Limanakia, Athens, Greece