Ammouliani

Ammouliani covers about four square kilometres off the eastern Halkidiki coast, settled in the 1920s on what had been an estate of Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos; the village keeps a working fishing fleet alongside guesthouses and tavernas. Its beaches are the draw: Alykes with fine sand and shallow water, Megali Ammos facing the mainland, and Karagatsia looking across to Athos. Small boats run from the harbour to the Drenia islets, a scatter of uninhabited rocks with sandbanks and water so clear and shallow that they are often called the Greek Maldives, where a single seasonal taverna operates on the largest islet. The island is flat enough to cycle and small enough to walk across in an hour.

History

Until the early 1900s Ammouliani was a dependency of Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos; the island was settled in 1925, its population grew quickly to over 500 residents, and it has become a tourist destination with frequent boats from the mainland (Wikipedia, Ammouliani).

The landscape

• Alykes beach - fine sand and shallow water on the northern shore.
• The Drenia islets - uninhabited sandbanks reached by small boat.
• The fishing harbour - the working village port and its tavernas.
• The Athos horizon - the holy mountain across the water to the east.

When to go

May, June and September for space and warm sea; August fills the island with Greek families and the ferry queues lengthen. Out of season most guesthouses close.

Before you go

The island is small and quiet, with no sights beyond beaches and boats. Ferry timetables shrink outside summer. The Drenia trips are weather-dependent, and the islets have almost no shade.

Nearby

Ouranoupoli and the Athos boundary lie opposite; Sithonia is an hour west by road.

Key facts