Karpathos

The Independent Traveller's Greek Island Hopping guide gave Karpathos a 3 out of 10 rating for nudism. These ratings seem to rarely be updated, and can be misleading, but on this occasion 3/10 probably isn't too far out.

Beaches in clockwise order, starting from Karpathos Port


Pouliou To Potami

See on Google maps

Report by Shehulk from July 2016: Me and my husband found this secluded beach located in a crack between cliffs. It was perfect for bathing nude if you want to be by yourselves. The dirt road here is fairly good, it takes only 10-12 minutes to drive from Pigadia, was not an issue for our compact car. We parked along the dirt track only 30 metres away. At first the beach seems impossible to climb down to, but there is a small path along the side which was easy to walk down on. It's not an official nude beach, but it was so secluded we were able to go here every day and spend the day nude by ourselves. The only downside was some trash left in the pit, but it was not on the beach itself.


Amopi / Ammopi

/ Amoopi

See Amoopi on Google Maps

When you drive from the main road down to the coast, you turn right at the signpost for "Lakki Beach hotel". You may not drive further than the hotel, because then you cannot drive back again up the hill. When you come down to the coast line you walk a couple of yards to the left. There are steps down to the beach. There are umbrellas but no taverna. This was the most southern of the the four beaches at Amopi. My correspondents found the beach to be 50% nude and ranked the beach only 20% (July 2003).

Reports from 1998 and 2001 describe this as a very nice beach, clear water and lots of fish, good for snorkelling. Only about 15 mins by bus from Pigadia, then walk to the right (south) along a proper path above the shore. There's a rock about 150m from the shore where you can climb up and jump into the water, and the snorkelling is good. Amopi is really four beaches, two of them were suitable for naturism, and 90% of the people were naked. The beaches are small and intimate, quiet and relaxing .The sunbeds and umbrellas have seen better days, they are in poor condition. A Barefooter who reported in May 2007 rated it 100%.

Amoopi.jpg

Unfortunately the Captain hears that the Beach pictured here is now closed for nude bathing. There is a big sign "NO Nudity - City of Karpathos". In 2003 a new hotel (the Captain hears "Agean Hotel") - opened above the beach and the owner of the hotel leased the beach and changed it to a non-naturist beach. But now one beach before (it is the 3rd) is 100% naturist. However the Captain also hears, as of August 2006, that it is very crowded, with 10 umbrellas.

It appears that the advice above is correct. Barefooters who visited Amoopi in July 2011 found no evidence of naturism at Amoopi - indeed, even topless sunbathers/swimmers were in a small minority. Not recommended. Slightly tired sunbeds and parasols packed into the relatively small beach. Mainly middle-aged couples with a few families.

Update from Shehulk July 2016: Me and my husband were here but found no sign of nudity. The small beach pictured here can only be accessed by the ocean, we were not keen on swimming that far.

Bored Pacianga in the Forum says: My girlfriend and I visited Karpathos in the first two weeks of July 2018. We rented a car and searched the island for beaches, being based in Ammoopi; there was no sign of nudity in all Amoopi beaches. Only a group of 4 topless Italian girls, that were based in our hotel.

Update from Nakedcpl, August 2019: The Beach between Votsakalia and Lakki, just a couple of hundred metres from Calypso, is perfect for nude swimming. It is divided in two, separated by some cliffs in the middle, which you walk between. There are four umbrellas with sunbeds, no problem renting them nude. At this date it was mostly nude, some topless, but it seems to depend on who gets there first.


Tati Beach

Bored Pacianga in the Forum says: Exploring the island clockwise [in July 2018], we found two small secluded beaches where we practised nudism, in Google maps they are named Tati Beach. From the road to the airport, you turn right after the 4 hairpin turns, following "Poseidon beach". After less than 1km you arrive at Damatria beach, a textile beach, then turn left and drive or walk 600m, until the road is usable by normal cars and the road enlarges allowing 3 cars to careful park. To the right there are some stairs and you can easily arrive to the beach. No shadow until late afternoon, and a splendid turquoise sea. Walking beyond the first beach there is a second one. The maximum crowd was 3 couples in both beaches combined. It was a pity that there was a lot of garbage from previous sunbathers.


Diakoftis

See on Google maps

Report by shehulk July 2016: Me and my husband had tried to visit all the nudist beaches on Karpathos listed on this page. The closest to an "official" nudist beach we found was Diakoftis. To drive here you need to take the dirt road around the entire airport, but don't worry, it's in good condition. When arriving here you will see the clothed beach where all the cars are parked and a small cantina. You will also see that on the opposite side of the dune there is a similar beach, just walk the 30 metres or so across. We were surprised to see everyone here totally nude, and a fair mix of men and women. The beach has umbrellas and beds for rental (the people supervising these were the only ones not nude) so this is as close to an official nude beach as it gets on Karpathos. Only downside is both beaches are very windy some days, the sand was whipping us quite hard. There are no waves though.

Another report lifted from the forum, made by Kavafis, referring to August 2018:
We also visited Diakoftis. Actually, the area called Diakoftis has a number of beaches and coves. From the road, you will see the most cars are parked around a area in front of a textile, organized beach (Diakoftis Paradise), with the famous turquoise waters. To the left, there is another cove which is nudist. However, it's difficult to reach and very, very small amount of sand available. We found a reasonable solution not far from there: if you continue walking to your left, you'll see another very calm, organized beach, with just a few cars parked and some white and blue umbrellas. Just continue walking until the end and you will reach an even calmer area, where I found an Italian lady naked with her husband (clothed) and a German family who obviously didn't bother about nudism. So we stayed the whole afternoon in a Sunday of August nude at the beach, not being bothered by anyone. The disadvantage is that this beach is visible from a dirt road, but we didn't face any problem during our stay.


Bored Pacianga in the Forum reports in 2018: We explored from Paradise beach to the south in direction of Kastello-Makrys Gyalos (Meneton Karpathou), and on the western side of the Peninsula we found 2 small cove beaches, a bit more than 2 km from the parking. We arrived there by car, and were the only sunbathers. Obviously nude.


Bored Pacianga in the Forum also reports in 2018: Driving back from Diakoftis to Pounta, 2.5km from the parking, quite after the road makes a “S” we found a little bay with a little parking. We sunbathed there three times and found only nude sunbathers. Sometimes some people from the cars slowed down and parked to take a look; half of these stopped and were nudists. The beach was very windy.


Pounta

See on Google Maps

A small sandy beach near the Airport. To get there, take the dirt road around the airport, heading west. When you see a new stone house in the middle of nowhere, turn left and you have arrived. The small beach has an even smaller cove in its western end. There is room enough for 2-4 persons, so if you are first to arrive, you’ll be the “owner” all day long. The rest of the beach is textile, but that little spot seems to be mostly used by nudists.


Lefkos

See on Google Maps

Lefkos is known to have the best beaches on Karpathos. It is situated about 30 km north west of Pigadia (or Karpathos city). It is a wonderful trip on mountain roads and along the western coastline.

Lefkos has four main beaches, the southern three of which are textile. At the end of the last beach up north is the Sarris Hotel near where you can park. From there it is an easy 10 minutes walk along a wide track to the first beach, which is the biggest. Mix of pebbles and sand, with easy access to the sea. Usually 100% nude, with a mix of couples and families and the odd single, of either sex. It has fine sand, rocks at both ends, is about 200 metres long and has no toilets, umbrellas or tavernas.

The water was wonderful. At the end of May there were about 20 people on the beach, nearly 100% nude, and at least 50% women. My Barefoot correspondent rated it 80%.

Barefooters who visited on two days in July 2011 found the beach to be virtually 100% nude, with only a scattering of people, but quite exposed, with waves crashing onto the shore making swimming difficult for all but the most accomplished. Nevertheless, they rated it 85%, enjoying walks along the shore and splashing in the waves. Not being young or mountaineers, they didn't try getting to the further beach mentioned below.

Beginning of September 2014: Mostly naturists on all sandy patches all the way from Hotel Saris to the west (Socastro islet). Main beach in this area was nearly 100% nudist, not crowded, with a mix of couples of all ages and a few singles (male and female). No big waves at the time, sandy ground, with some rocks though, easy to enter the water. A few nude people were also found at the very end of the textile beach, near the rocks & cliff just below the Saris hotel (now abandoned).

DSCN0412.JPG DSCN0420.JPG

When you walk another five minutes you arrive at another beach, very steep to get into, and quite small. Ten people were there, five couples. My correspondent says "probably you had better be young to get there." I assume he means in order to be fit enough to make the climb.

These beaches are smaller and with a difficult climb to get down, but worth the effort as these are the better ones.

Forum report by Kavafis August 2018:
I'm happy to confirm that Lefkos has a very well established nudist beach - it's even indicated at a sign as soon as you enter the Lefkos region! To reach it, you will go North (to the right, when entering Leftkos) and pass by 3 textile, organized beaches. After the third one, you will see that the road bends steeply to the right, while a dirt road starts at the left side, by the sea. That's the path to the nudist beach. You can either park your car right there and walk less than 10 minutes (a pleasant and easy walk) or even take your car to the dirt road (I saw some people who did it). The first beach, which you can see from the path, has a good size, it's sandy and contrary to what others have said, it's not difficult to get in, you just to find a stop [spot?] without rocks. Went there on a Saturday afternoon, no more than 12 people. I didn't visit the second beach, which you can reach going further on the path, but I could see people coming and going.
Bored Pacianga in the Forum says we too visited Kato Lefkos, and confirmed everything that wrote Kavafis. We visited also the second beach and happily found only nudists, almost from Germany and Netherlands. I can add that the first beach can be accessed from some stairs that are in front of “Golden Sand” Taverna, then walking northward for 50m.


captain51.gif

Balaskas

See on Google Maps

Bored Pacianga in the Forum reports in 2018: Finally, the favourite beach of my girlfriend is far in the north. It is called “Vananda or Vananta or Balaskas”. It’s just a 3km drive from Diafani, to the north (you have to drive first 500m to the east, following the covered creek, then turn right), and we found fresh water, shade, and a Taverna (officially opened but no-one in sight to buy food). We found about 20 people, all nudes: singles, families, couples.


Agnontia

See on Google Maps

It’s not easy to get there, but it’s worth it. From Spoa, take the road to Olimbos (it was under construction when this report came in during August 2006, but can be used with some caution) and after 10.8 km follow the signs for Aghia Minas. After nearly 1 km follow the sign for Agnontia (on the right). After 2.3 km of a quite awful road, you’ll get to a beautiful and lonely grey pebble beach. Barefoot reporters went there twice and were nearly alone all the time. 30% of the few other people were nude. The water is very clean but a bit chilly. No food and water, but quiet and wilderness.

In case the Meltemi blows, there are three trees you can use as shelter.


Ag Nikolaos

See on Google Maps

Bored Pacianga in the Forum reports in 2018:We visited also Agios Nikolaos. You can reach the beaches from Spoa, 4,5km from the fork with the main road. The nude beach is 400m from the car park. Leaving the parking and walking northward, you will pass a first textile beach with tavernas, then an easy passage through some houses will bring you to the second beach. The northern part of which was almost nude: a nude Italian family, some couples mixed nude-textiles, the four Italian girls of Amooppi being half nude, half topless. Walking further you will round the cliffs using a concrete path, and it's possible to reach some “exclusive” spot, quite sufficient for a handful of people.


Apella

See on Google Maps

Bored Pacianga in the Forum reports in 2018: My favourite beach is Apella (or Appela or Appella). You can drive quite to the tavern or the parking closer to the beach, 2.4km down from the main road between Aperi and Spoa. The beach itself is always very crowded by textiles, that arrive with cars and boat trips from Pigadia, but walking beyond the promontory to the east, there is a splendid beach, with perfect privacy, inhabited only by nudist couples, almost half of them were from Italy. From the Taverna it's a 700m walk through the textile beach and through some woods, but don’t think to wear only flip-flops. There is also a short section equipped with a rope, but it’s well worth the walk.


Kato Lakos

See on Google Maps

Barefooters who reported in August 2006 thought this the best beach on Karpathos. It’s on the east coast (sheltered from Meltemi). From Pigadia, take the road to Kira Panaghia. When you leave the main road, drive down to the sea for 3.1 km and on the right you’ll find a dirt road (1.8 km) that goes to the beach. The road is quite awful, but if you drive slowly it’s safe. There is no sign and the fork is hard to see. If you lose it, go to Kira Panaghia and turn back: after 1.7 km you’ll see the turn on your left.

The southern part of the beach is sandy but textile. The northern part is composed of three beaches separated by cliffs. The third is the longest and the nicest. Small pebbles and some sand, beautiful water. Our Barefooters spent some days there with a few other people and all of them were nude. There is no taverna so you need to take food and drink with you, but there are some sunbeds you can freely use - if you arrive first!

Bored Pacianga in the Forum 2018 says: On the east coast we visited more beaches; we went to Kato Lakos and we were obliged to leave the car about 1km before the beaches, given the bad road. We only reached the easternmost beach and were the only people.


capnthmb.gif
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License