Beaches around the Southwest

Tsapi Beach

We had a lovely day at Tsapi beach. It is an idyllic spot, you drive 7 km down a steep mountainside on precipitous roads, but with fantastic views over the sea. There are two tavernas in the bay, we chose Maria’s and had lunch there as well, at around 3 pm, delicious squid and sea bream, good tsatsiki and Greek salad to start, with excellent bread which Maria told me was bought from Loggas. Jenny got the small loaf at the local bakery for € 1.20 and this seems to be the same bread that supplies the taverna. Maria has been here for 35 years. I asked her if she lives in Koroni, and she said, No, that this is her whole life, she has lived here, had her family here and it’s just what she does. Well, nice to be in a job you enjoy!

We drove back along the coast, past Koroni Cottages where we stayed when the kids were still tiny, and then into Koroni for food and wine.

Agia Triada

There are two ways to get to Agia Triada by car, and we chose the wrong one on the first day. It is one of our old favourite beaches and we often used to go there with the kids as it is sandy, shallow, with good snorkelling around the rocks at the ends of the beach, and lots of fossils embedded in the high sandy cliffs above the beach.

We found a wooden tree trunk with a tree behind it, it made a perfect shelter from the sun and with somewhere to hang the towels.

Only two or three other people on the beach, and a clear view over the sea to the Mani peninsula. Much of the time the sky and sea fused together in an unbroken blue, but sometimes the haze was clear enough to see the mountains, also grey and blue, looking on the other side.

On the way down to the beach, we took the turnoff opposite a Shell petrol station, but this turned out to be much steeper and bumpier than what we remembered. The correct turnoff is less than a half kilometer further along the road from Xaracopio to Koroni, a much better road and past a nice Greek church, much simpler.