Canal d'Amour

At the western end of Sidari the coast is soft yellow sandstone, and the sea has carved it into a maze of narrow channels, tunnels and small arches with pockets of sand between them. The best known is the Canal d'Amour, a channel a few metres wide running back into the rock, with the local promise that couples who swim through it together will stay together, or that single swimmers will find a partner on the other side. The formations shift over the years as the soft rock erodes, and one much-photographed arch collapsed in the past. Swimming here means climbing down cut steps to small platforms; the water is calm and shallow in the channels and clear over the sand outside.

What you actually see

• The channels - narrow water-filled cuts running into the sandstone.
• The arches and tunnels - eroded shapes along the low cliffs.
• The pocket beaches - small sandy bays between rock spurs.
• The cliff steps - cut access down to the swimming platforms.

When to go

Late spring and September for space and warm water. In July and August the channels can be shoulder to shoulder, and the small beaches fill by mid-morning.

Honest expectations

Sidari around it is a heavily developed package resort with a strip of bars, which surprises visitors expecting a natural setting. The rock is soft and crumbles, so climbing on the formations is discouraged and occasionally dangerous. There is no shade on the platforms.

Nearby

Sidari's long beach lies east; the Diapontia islands are reached by boat from here.