Santorini- A Beach-Goers Dream Come True

Santorini was a magical place, so exotic and a world away from the US. We totally liked it more than Mykonos(although all Greek islands are special in their own right). We had the pleasure of a private room, with bathroom ensuite, along with A/C, and a small balcony with a table, chairs, and drying rack. That’s not to mention the swimming pool and beach within walking distance!
After getting off the ferry (which was a high speed powerboat!) we met a flock of hawkers, trying to get us to rent cars and go to their accommodation. They weren’t rude or obnoxious though, just a large number. We started asking for our hostel, and our man came and got us, took Laura by the hand and deposited us on his bus. We promptly drove up an amazingly sheer cliff, with great views of the island. In case you don’t know, Santorini is a volcanic island, with a huge sea filled crater in its center from a volcanic explosion in 1600 BC. It was such a large explosion, it completely wiped out the Minoan civilization and remnants of the blast have been found as far away as South America. So basically, the island is a half moon shape, with a volcanic island in the middle. The inside of the half moon is all cliffs from the large explosion.

The houses of the island are still white, with blue trim, but instead of fields, the island is covered in vineyards, because the volcanic soil apparently is very fertile. So the first thing we did upon arriving at our hostel, was drop our bags, rent an ATV (cheaper here!) and head off to the lighthouse on the south side of the island for a sunset and a dinner. The roads are all perched on the edge of the caldera (cliffs) as well, so driving around with lava rock bordered vineyards on one side, and a stunning island and the Aegean Sea on the other was just great. The sunset was awesome, and so was the small Taverna we found for dinner. After a great meal of tzitziki, mousakka, lemon pot roast and potatoes, we were served a complimentary shot of the most delicious cinnamon liquor, produced locally.

The next day, we decided to hit up the beaches. Because Santorini is a volcanic island, they have beaches in an array of different colors, including black, red, and white. Our hotel accommodations were located at Perissa beach, which is a gorgeous beach covered in black sand and thatch umbrellas. After a nice English breakfast (we finally found one for a reasonable price!) we walked down to the beach we were staying at and chilled for a bit, swimming in the blue sea and basking in the sun. Then we hopped on the ATV and went to the red beach to see what that was like. The red beach is a bit more isolated than the others and we had to scale a cliff to get there, well worth it. A cheeseburger, fries, and several hours later, we rolled back toward home. After cleaning up, we wandered around Perissa beach looking for a place to dine and found a gem, a small restaurant called “God‘s Garden.” We had a wonderful seafood dinner there, complete with an entire silver snapper, swordfish, shrimp, and fried calamari and some local rose wine. We slept good that night.

Our third day on Santorini was spent on a bit of adventure. We booked an excursion on a boat for the day to go around the sights around the Caldera. Our first stop was the volcano, where were explored some of the craters and rocks. It was kind of like walking on the moon, since everything was rocky, hot and without vegetation. It also smelled of sulfur and the ground was steaming. It was pretty neat walking around on an active volcano though, knowing all the while that it could explode at any minute. Apparently the last eruption was in 1950, but that’s not too long by geological standards… After the volcano, we were taken to some hot springs. Once arriving to the area where the springs were, we jumped off the boat into the water (so fun!) and swam up into a divide in the rocks. The springs were more “luke warm” springs than “hot” springs, but still fun. A bunch of the others in our group rubbed the mud all over them, because it is supposed to be good for you. It was quite a sight, hanging out with locals and tourists alike, covered in some thick, black (and stinky) mud. After playing around in the springs for a while, we all swam the few hundred feet back to the boat to continue our adventure.

The third stop on our boat excursion was to the island and town of Thirissa. This used to be a part of Santorini before and earthquake collapsed part of the island and separated Thirissa. It is a town way up on a cliff, with a small port below. Since we were a bit beat from the volcano walk, we decided just to stay in the port area instead of taking the climb up the cliff, or renting a donkey to take us up. There were vendors grilling seafood everywhere, and lots of souvenir shops. After perusing the souvenir shops for a bit, we sat down with some ice cream and enjoyed the view of the water and cliffside town.

The last stop on the trip was at a town called “Oia.” It is a very picturesque little town, but much like most of the others in Santorini, We took some pics from the boat because it was just a stop to drop people off. Then we made our way back to Santorini’s main port. We had such a fun day on the excursion, and totally recommend doing something like it to anyone thinking of visiting this great island.

Our last day on the island, we slept in, had a big breakfast of yummy Greek omelets and fanta (which is Europe’s soda of choice), and took care of some things on the internet. Then we boarded the ferry to Crete, which is an entirely different waterborne adventure. That story will have to wait until next time…

With Love from Santorini,

Eric and Laura

Laura leaving the Ferry from Mykonos.