Panaghia Beach Elafonissos

The beautiful Panaghia Beach (Madonna) or Limnistsa Beach (small lake) is found in the western part of the Elafonissos island and is four kilometers from the small and unique fishing village on this small corner of paradise.

The immense Panaghia beach offers a small part equipped thanks to the only refreshment point from which it takes its name. Fortunately, the freest part is characterized by the shady forest of centuries-old junipers that frame the frame, allowing you to stay under them, giving away their corner free of charge, sheltered from the sun, from the wind, giving refreshment.

The environment consists of sand dunes where caretta-caretta sea turtles find the ideal place to nest in the April / May season and then hatch in late summer, following the moonlight among very rare sea lilies that continue to bloom.

Four small islands overlook the Panagia Bay: Xeropoules, Lepto Nisi, Prasonisi and Kassela, a destination for wild birds. It can be observed from the beach, but they are also easily accessible by swimming.

For snorkelers, diving into the crystal clear waters while admiring beautiful seabed and the colorful marine environment that sometimes gives glimpses of ancient artifacts and finds having been the scene of numerous shipwrecks in ancient times, is a real fun.

This is the best place on the island to relax and watch the sunset fall behind the small islands, giving skies of an intense orange.

Above the beach there is the picturesque church of the same name and the settlement "Katonisi" extends around it. There are numerous caves in the area such as the Polyphemus cave where local tradition says that Katonisi was the land of the Cilopi and the islets around the Panaghia beach are the stones thrown by the Cyclops against the ship of Ulysses to destroy it.

Continuing uphill in the only dirt road that you find in front of you, you can reach the magnificent belvedere, the highest part of the island reachable by vehicle, from which you can enjoy a vast and pleasant view of the islands.

The only restaurant in the upper area is Ms Alexandra's, an excellent choice for lunches and dinners overlooking the Panagia bay, especially for the colors of the sunset. It is a typical tavern of an island family that offers a great variety of traditional dishes and you cannot end your holiday without admiring this splendid panorama and tasting Alexandra's delicacies!

The archaic Panaghia beach, classic and wise, gently embraced by a wonderful forest of shady junipers, offers glimpses of blue abysses of sea and sky and has nothing to envy to the most famous Simos beach.

Life around here has the flavor of old. The colors fill the eyes with shades of blue, while the wind cradles you and the very old cedars with their candelabrum arms form figures drawn by the wind. The cicadas sing, the bold sun challenges the sky which with a grin eats sighs in the summer and around the "islands of the Madonna" to frame a perfect picture where Nature is the artist of this immense masterpiece.

Is easy, (on the other hand the island is only nineteen square kilometers large). Crossing the western part, endless fields of olive trees, arid plateaus, flocks of free animals, eagles and hawks in the blue sky, colonies of sly cats that rest or hens run around from one fence to another await you. After passing the church of Agia Triada-Timios (holy trinity-Holy cross) dressed in white and with a typically blue roof, you will find yourself at the threshold of the area called Katonisi.

A large parking lot marks the arrival in the second most important beach of the island, where in winter rainwater collects inside the sandy inlet on the edge of the beach, creating a small lake, which the locals call precisely " Limnìtsa ".

We will never stop thanking Francesca del Vecchio Frantoio https://www.elafonissos.org/ https://www.facebook.com/ilvecchiofrantoioelafonisos/ that describes, made us discover this wonder and that every time makes us discover new corners of Elafonissos, Look for her if you are on the island, her knowledge and advice will be invaluable.