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Santorini, Greece.
Sept. 1-8, 1998.
Written by Bill Arnett.
Introduction:
Santorini Island (officially known as Thira) is a small island, about
20 km from end to end, located at the south of the Cyclades group,
just north of Crete. I'm not sure why the island has two names. My
guess is that one of the names actually refers to the group of five
islands which were once a single island---a volcano. The main city,
too, goes by two names, Fira and Thira, but is usually referred to as
Fira.
Getting there:
We flew from Athens, but you can also fly directly from other parts
of Europe, or you can take a ferry or hydroplane from Athens or
several other islands. To get around the island you can rent a
scooter like most people do, or rent a car (which is what we opted
for), or you can take a bus or taxi.
Where to stay:
There
are literally thousands of places to stay on the island. There is no
such thing as a big hotel. Prices and quality vary a great deal. We
spent Cdn$40 for the first night (in Karterados, outside of Fira,
tiny balcony, no view). The next 2 nights were $100 (in Perissa,
beach side, basement room, very nice, nice pool, breakfast), The next
night was on the cliff in Fira ($100, balcony, good view). For the
final 3 nights we returned to the same hotel in Perissa, but splurged
on a second (top) floor room with a huge private balcony and a water
view ($150). It's possible to spend less than $40 and it's possible
to spend at least $250. The rooms all tend to be clean and
basic.
We didn't enjoy Karterados. It's close to the main city of Fira, but there's no other reason to be there. At night it is quite noisy as people buzz by all night long on scooters.
Fira, and the neighbouring towns, can provide great views from hotels literally built on the face of a cliff, but Fira would bore me after a couple of days. Some people might prefer it, though. A popular pastime for tourists (including us) is apparently buying a bottle of wine (Volcan's red wine is quite good) and relaxing on the balcony in the evening. But in Fira, you will probably need long pants and a jacket!
In Perissa the nights were much warmer and we usually sat on the balcony 'til after midnight without a stitch on. Perissa had a comfortable atmosphere which we found more relaxing than Fira. Our hotel (the Hotel Veggera) was very nice and our balcony was private enough that we could be nude---cautiously. The one night we spent in Fira, we found that we really missed having the pool. We used it daily while we were in Perissa.
Maps:
Finding a good map of Santorini is a real challenge. We had free maps
from a lot of sources, but none of them agreed on where the roads
were. The best was given to us by the car rental company. It was
published by Dourakos and was described as a "Road Tourist Map".
There were others for sale, but they were always sealed, so we
couldn't get a preview. None of the roads on the island have names,
so giving specific directions can be a bit error-prone.
Topfree:
All the beaches and probably all the pools allow women to be topfree.
I would say that about half the women take advantage of this.
Nude beaches:
We got a late start researching nude potential on the island, but
found a few sources: my 1987 copy of The World Guide listed Perissa
Beach and Red Beach, but we found that it was showing its age. Cap'n
Barefoot's online guide listed Kamari Beach, Red Beach and Ia. And an
article in Salon (online) Magazine talked about Vlychada. All of
these reports were somewhat correct, but lacked a lot of
details.
Vlychada (vla-ha-da) is probably the best of the bunch. Follow the signs into Vlychada and when you see water, park and walk to the right, past the umbrellas and chairs. A polite distance (50m or so) later nude use begins and stretches for about a kilometer until, rounding a point, an inhabited area is encountered. For the entire distance the beach is backed by spectacular cliffs, eroded by the wind. A couple of roads reach the beach through gaps in the cliff, but we never looked for how to find these roads. Vlychada features soft sand and good snorkeling (though you have to swim out a ways). Almost everybody was nude the day we were there---all 12 or 15 people! It is best to avoid this beach on windy days due to blowing sand.
Red
Beach is very nice, but difficult to get to. The World Guide
described Red Beach itself as a clothing-optional beach, but
popularity must have pushed the nudists to the next beach. From the
archaeological site at Akrotiri, follow the signs to Red Beach. Drive
if you can, but walk if you must. When you reach the end of the road,
park and follow the trail around the point and then down to the beach
below. The area below
the red cliffs is packed with umbrellas and people. You might be able
to use the far end of the beach nude, but I'm not sure. About halfway
down the beach (just past the umbrellas) follow a trail back up to
the top of the cliff and follow the cliff top until you see another
smaller beach (I don't know if it has a name) and follow the trails
down. Although Red Beach has good sand, the nude beach has very
little. But that turns out not to be a problem because the beach is
covered with a soft mat of dead sea plants. The snorkeling is good.
Most people were nude the day we were there.
Perissa Beach is a beautiful beach and was once (10-15 years ago) a nude beach (watch the movie "Summer Lovers"!). But times change and Perissa is now lined with hotels. There is no longer any nude use, but Perivolos is within walking distance if you choose to stay here. But, be warned, it is a long walk.
Perivolos Beach is a continuation of
Perissa Beach. At the south end of Perivolos, away from the hotels,
nude use occurs regularly. 
A
road (just south of the road to YaYa Beach Club) leads right to the
beach. It is often possible to see nude people on both sides of this
parking area and, also, quite a distance to the right (south).
Getting into the water is a bit easier in the vicinity of the road
than the area to the right. The sand is almost black and gets very
hot. Snorkeling is good close to shore. Expect a lot of non-nudists
near the end of the road. Fewer as you head further south.
On several occasions I also saw individuals (men twice; a woman once) who were nude (I think) in the section between Perivolos and Perissa, where there is a short gap between the rented umbrellas. Two of them were actually using the rented lounge chairs, one wasn't. But I may have been mistaken since they were a fair distance from the road as we drove by.
Side note: I asked one hotel clerk if she could recommend a nude beach. She claimed to know nothing except the signs saying that nudism was prohibited. Then she suggested "maybe" at the end of (Perivolos) Beach. I think it was a case of plausible denial...she gave me the right information, but could deny it later.
Kamari Beach is another popular tourist area (with poor snorkeling!). We searched northward, toward Monolithos, for a nude beach. Just before Monolithos we followed a road to the beach at the north end of a "traditional settling". In the distance one person was nude. We laid our towels near where we parked and spent a couple of hours there, but the sand wasn't very nice and it was difficult to get into the water.
Other possibilities?
Cap'n
Barefoot's guide talked of people going nude below Ia (ee-ah),
but we can't comment on that. There is a big area between Ia (also
spelled Oia) and Monolithos which has practically no development and
is probably covered with beaches. There are bound to be some
possibilities there. After getting back, Cap'n Barefoot added a
listing for Koloumbo Beach which is situated in this area. We
also didn't explore the area past Akrotiri. Maps showed some beaches
there as well.
Gawkers:
I never really saw any gawkers. At Perivolos Beach there were lots of
people walking past, but nobody made a big deal of the nudity. The
closest thing to a gawker was at Red Beach...I saw this young woman
come over the cliff....she looked...and she stopped...and she
looked...and she looked backward...and she took a few steps...and
paused...and looked around... Eventually, she made it to the beach
and looked around a lot before going back. She was quite curious, I
think, about all of us nudists. It was amusing to watch her mental
struggle as she realised people were nude and tried to decide whether
to retreat or go in for a closer look.
Male/Female Ratios:
The vast majority of nudists were couples. There were some single
males, but not many. More surprisingly, there were also a few single
women and some couples where the woman was nude and the man
wasn't.
References:
Lee Baxandal's World Guide to Nude Beaches and Recreation
<http://www.naturist.com/wguide.sht>
Cap'n Barefoot's Naturist Guide <http://www.barefoot.info>
Salon Magazine <http://www.salonmagazine.com>
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