Swimming in Milos

We were not able to go to two of our preferred beaches in Milos because the bus schedules had been changed and the first bus back was at 4:00 - too late, we don't like staying on the beach for that long. But, there are so many beaches in Milos that it did not matter that much.

The first beach we tried in Milos was a walking distance from our hotel. Lovely beach and very quiet when we first got there.

We could see Adamas on our right

plus the villages of Plaka and Tripiti perched on the mountain

on our right, more expanses of sand

and if I zoomed in, the loading platform from one of the nearby mines

We could see the boats arriving and leaving straight ahead of us

it is a lovely beach and we really enjoyed swimming here.

Behind us, across the road was this house next to an abandoned windmill. They had knocked down the structure of the windmill and just kept the mechanism. Fascinating. I had never seen one before.

Looking closer

Also behind us, is the taverna Chamos (Mayhem)  where already at 12:40 we saw people queueing for the 1:00 opening. We had intended to go and eat there, as we had been told that it was impossible to get a table in the evenings but that lunchtimes would be o.k. But, having seen the queue we decided against it.

Even though the beach was quite empty when we arrived, by the time we left it was very busy.

We came here twice, but then decided against coming again as the umbrellas let quite a bit of sun in, and we like shade.

We also enjoyed the walk back to the hotel, as half of it was done with our feet in the sea, under the shade of the almyres (taramarind tree).

The second beach we tried was in Lagada bay, a small bay within the large bay that is the old volcano crater and which more or less divides the island into two.

It's run by the people who own the Buddha Bar (you can read about it  here ) and as part of the fee we paid for our umbrella and the beds we were also given a bottle of water in a bucket of ice.

It was hilarious when a cat came under our table and started licking the condensation on the underside of the bucket

Lovely beach, nice swimming - I particularly enjoyed zigzagging around the boats

the WWII air raid shelter and then further on, Adamas on our left,

the end of the bay and what looked like caves on our right

We were intrigued by the caves so decided to go and investigate

A local happened to be there so I asked him. They are not caves at all, but pill boxes built by the German occupiers during WWII to observe and shoot

Even though we could not see it from the beach, just across the pill boxes on the other side of the bay is the air-raid shelter built into the rock

Nice views from here.

We only swam here once, because the next day we decided to try out Achivadolimni, and Ken fell in love with it, so we went there for the rest of our stay.

From the bus on our way to Achivadolimni the next day we passed the salt evaporation ponds

Sand dunes from the bus stop to the beach

and then, there we were, a long expanse of sand

on either side of the spot where the umbrellas and recliners are

gorgeous clear waters and Adamas in the distance.

The walk from one end of the beach to the other was very pleasant

We wondered if this construction was another defence post built by the Germans during WWII

white volcanic rock as in Sarakiniko on our right

caves.

The whole place was gorgeous, and so very quiet. We really liked swimming here.

Swimming in Hydra

We took a boat to go swimming. There are four or five beaches dotted along the island, mainly the south side, where it is possible to swim - no sand, except for the resort beach and there we think the sand must have been specially imported. All the beaches have  bits of rock on the ground - can't call it pebbles, it really is bits of rock that have fallen from the hills over the centuries.  Very difficult on the feet.

We could not go to either of our two favourite beaches as they have changed the schedules and the first boat coming back is at 4:00 pm - too late, we really do not want to spend that much time on a beach. So we thought we would try Vlychos beach - we'd been before.

The boat ride is a pleasure in itself

leaving the harbour

We had such giggles. The sea was a bit rough and the guy warned us that we would get wet. This girl got sprayed for most of the short journey and she was hooting with laughter - totally infectuous

A good view of the town from here

and we were off

All around the island, in the town and on the hills are these stone walls surrounding houses or just plots - this is one of them

Vlychos beach is on the south side of the island, so this is what we are seeing here - you can see the windmill that we passed when we walked to Kaminia

lots of spray and the little girl was having such a great time - totally infectuous

This is Kaminia which you can see here

looking back

This is Vlychos beach, the nearest to the town

And this is where the little boat dropped us off

It's an organised beach, which means shade, essential in such a hot country. We had taken the first boat in so the beach was empty but by the time we left at 2:00 it was packed

I always like to sit in the first row so that I get unimpeded views of the sea, but all the front umbrellas were booked - I think the guy keeps them for people who will give him a good tip. We left at 2:00 and some were still empty - what a waste

Lots of sea traffic - the one on the right is a taxi the second, a private boat

We went for a wee walk to the neighbouring bay

a little church, pareklisi, perched on the rocks

the local taverna

good views from here

This is where the water taxis come in as well as the local caique

and we decided to have another swim here then went back to our loungers and shade.

The boat ride back was fun and we were the only passengers 

and then back to the town and the donkeys, or mules in this case.

The next day we thought we might try swimming in the town which is by Sunset restaurant

you go down some steps

and then there's a ladder that takes you straight down to the sea

there are 3 platforms in the midst of the rocks where you can sit afterwards

There is no shade, but after your swim you can walk up the steps 

and come and sit here.

We used to do that a lot, swim on to the next bay get out there, and then swim back again

We decided against it this time.

Instead we went back to the harbour and took a boat to Madraki, the only beach on the north side of town

This was a speedboat and the ride was quite rough, but great fun

past the Slaughterhouse gallery, with Jeff Koons' sun on the roof.

A short ride, and we arrived at Madraki. Madraki beach is divided into two. On the left is the fancy resort where it costs an awful lot to sit, and on the right, the beach for the plebs, which is what you can see in the photograph and where we went

we settled 

and looked around. In the distance you can see the building which is the restaurant and offices of the resort

a small bay

the beach got busy later on

This house is for short term lets - probably an airbnb. There were people staying there





but then they left and on our last day the cleaner was there getting it ready for the next lot. I went up and had a chat with her - it's two apartments, one on each floor. It looked quite good.





We liked it here and came to Madraki every day for the rest of our break. We were fed up with the hard surface on the ground however, so went and bought ourselves some appropriate footwear - these are Ken's

and these are mine.

We swam across the bay every day, past the boats, on to the fancy resort, we would stay there for a few minutes and then swim back. Not as long as we would have liked but we did this a few times and then some more.