Beaches in the area of Nafplio

The two most popular beaches in Nafplio are the Arvanitia and Karathona Beaches.

Arvanitia Beach

Arvanitia beach is a small beach with small stones at the west side, while at the east side you can have access from the staircases direct from the concrete floor. In Arvanitia Beach there is a very popular all-day café-restaurant-bar, the Blue Blank. Please keep in mind that Arvanitia Beach is located in between the Acronafpia and the Palamidi hill and once you park you have to walk down through the staircases. Arvanitia beach is the only one located so close to the downtown and a lot of people prefer walking there instead of driving, aprox 6min walk from downtown Nafplio.

There are a lot of people who will go further inside the gulf in order to admire the view from the Palamidi and Acronafplia Castles.

Karathona Beach

Karathona beach is the biggest one in the area and a lot people prefer it as across the beach there is a huge parking lot that allows you to park your car right next to the place where you will swim. Karathona is very unique due to its bottom. At the most areas of the beach for the first 20m as you walk in the water it steadily becomes deeper and then for an unexpected reason the bottom goes closer to the surface again and makes it shallower before it starts becoming deeper again as you go.  

Karathona has sand and across the beach there are different places with sunbeds where you can enjoy drinks or snacks, there are total seven different café-restaurants accorss Karathona.  

Please keep in mind that locals consider the best part of the beach the part as you will arrive there to your left from the middle till before the end.

Karathona is very popular for families with kids as for the first 60m from the coastline the water is not deep at all and also the kids can spend time building castles on the sand while the parents can enjoy sunbathing.  

For those who love swimming, they can reach the small island in the middle of the gulf where Karathona beach is. It is aprox 500-600 m from the coastline depends on where you are seated.

There are two options to reach Karathona Beach. You either drive from the Palamidi Hill or you walk from downtown through the Arvanitia-Karathona gravel path (Aprox 3km)

Kondili Beach

Kondili Beach or St. Nicola’s Beach is considered as the cleanest in the area of Argolis. It is an organized beach that is very unique. It is of the beaches in Greece that goes deep so directly and we think that this is the reason that it is so clean. At the first three steps your knees will already be in the water while at the next three steps you already loose the bottom that goes directly to a minimum of 10m deep. It is a mix of hard sand with small stones and its name comes for the St Nicola’s Church that you will see at the very left.

Kondili beach is very popular for the beach bars. There are total four of them across the beach and usually during the weekends they organize different events as well.In Kondili you will meet a lot of people from all over the world with private boats, sailing boats and jet skis.

Tolo Beach

Tolo Beach or “Golden Beach”. Tolo is a small village aprox 12 km South East from Nafplio. Tolo has a small population but the village is full of small hotels and cottages and becomes very popular during the Summer from both locals and tourists. The beach is “separated” into three different parts, the one at the left is the most popular one for swimming with golden sand -this is the reason that it is called Golden Beach- in the middle there is mix of sand with small stones and you can find a lot of restaurants/coffee shops and as you go to the right you walk towards the main port of Tolo that is at the very end of the Village.The Golden Beach is very popular in the area of Nafplio because it is very friendly for families and also you can find different options for water sports as well.

From the beach you will see two islands in the middle of the gulf. The one in the middle is a Rocky Island that is called “Karonisi” and a lot of people will visit it by renting a Kayak or a sea bicycle.The bigger one at the right is Romvi or “The Aphrodite’s Boobs” as locals use to call it due to its shape. If you decide to rent a boat you can visit a nice “private beach” at the south side of the Island the “Romvi Beach”.

Private Beaches in Nafplio

If you really enjoy walking you can follow the Arvanitia-Karathona path. It is a gravel road parallel to the sea, underneath the Palamidi Castle that connects the Arvanitia with Karathona beach. While walking you will find small beaches that can be private beaches for you as a lot of people do not visit them as it requires walking.

The most popular one is the Neraki beach, it is a small beach right in the middle of the path. It has small stones and the water is very clean. From Neraki if you walk towards Karathona you will meet the “Small Beach” and the “Rocky unnamed beach”, both of them with a little difficult access from the path due to the rocks.

Keep in mind that you have two options if you wish to visit the “private beaches”. You either walk towards Karathona, so you either park to the Arvanitia parking lot or you walk from downtown Nafplio, or you walk towards Arvanitia beach. If you choose the second option you can park your car right in the entrance of the path as there is a small parking lot for the boat owners.

Kastraki Beach

Small Assini Beach or Kastraki beach is a beach next to Tolo. It is a quiet beach and it is very popular due to its location next to the Ancient Assini Walls and due to the romantic Red Rock. There is a parking lot next to the beach and a traditional Greek restaurant with sea-food meze. The beach has a mix of small stones.

If you decide to visit Assini beach, we would recommend you to have swimming shoes as at the bottom there are small rocks that become “the house” for sea urchins!

Plaka Beach

Drepano Beach or Plaka beach is one of the biggest beaches in the area aprox 2kms long. It has stones and is very popular for those who prefer camping as it is right next to the Triton Camping, one of the biggest in the area. The Plaka beach is ideal for those who love exploring the bottom of the sea as with a mask it will be very easy to collect a lot different types of starfish and sea shells.

The gulf is very open so when the weather becomes windy, big waves are created until the coastline that make it a funny game for those who love “fighting” with the nature.

Kantia Beach

Kantia Beach – Nudism Beach.

Kantia is a very long beach, aprox 3,4km. At the very right as you go closer to St. Nicola’s church the beach is very quiet and a lot of people who visit the beach go there for nudism. It is a mix of small stones and sand and it requires aprox 5-10 min walking if you wish to go to the best part of the beach. This part of the beach is under the hill and there is no other access point with car from your right. On the opposite side of the sea there are small shrubbery trees that make it more private. A lot of people visit the beach with private tents as well as they wish to spend the whole day there.

Kandia Beach – “The Baraki”

The most popular side of Kantia is somewhere in the middle of the beach. There is a very popular café-bar that is called “The Baraki” (The Small Bar) and this is the reason that all the locals set as meeting point the Baraki when visiting Kantia Beach. Almost every Sunday through the summer there will be an event with a local DJ playing music. The beach is mainly sandy with some small stones as well and it is sports friendly for those who wish to play beach volley or beach soccer.

Dalamanara – St. Panteleimon Beach

Nea Kios is a small village aprox 7km South West from Nafplio. On the way to Nea Kios, you will meet the Dalamanara beach or St. Panteleimon’s Beach. The beach is very popular for thalassotherapy and therapeutic sand therapy and also for wind surfing. It is a sandy beach, not deep at all with brown water due to the underground currents that mix the sand. You will not see a lot of people here but the few people who visit Dalamanara Beach will be fully covered from the sand or will be people who are keen on wind surfing. For the locals the ingredients from the sand at this place help their body remove the toxins and strengthens their skin. Some older people used to say two times per week sand therapy will help you avoid the doctor for the entire winter!

Kiveri Beach

Kiveri is a small village on the other side of the Argolic gulf, aprox 15min drive to the South West of Nafplio. The beach has very small stones and is very popular to people who live on the other side of the Argolic Gulf. In the area you will find Greek taverns spetializing to sea food meze.