Koufonisia

Ano Koufonisi covers less than four square kilometres and holds the whole population, a village of white houses around a harbour with a beach at either end; Kato Koufonisi, across a two-hundred-metre channel, has one seasonal taverna, a chapel and nothing else. The appeal is water: the north coast of the inhabited island is a chain of beaches, Finikas, Fanos, Platia Pounta, linked by a coastal path of about an hour, where the sea over white sand reads pale turquoise and stays shallow far out. At Pori the shore is undercut into a collapsed sea cave known as the Devil's Eye, a natural pool open to the sea. The islands became fashionable in the 2010s and now fill in August, but out of season they remain what they were, a fishing community with very little else.

What you actually see

• The north coast path - an hour's walk linking beach after beach.
• The Devil's Eye - a collapsed sea cave forming a natural pool at Pori.
• Kato Koufonisi - the near-empty second island across the channel.
• The harbour village - white houses and fishing boats around the port.

When to go

May, June and September for the water without the crowds; in August the small beaches fill and rooms are booked months ahead at high prices. Winter is very quiet with few sailings.

Honest expectations

There is almost nothing to do beyond swimming and walking, no cars to speak of, and limited shops. Accommodation is small-scale and expensive in season. Ferry connections run mostly through Naxos.

Nearby

Schinoussa, Iraklia and Donousa complete the Small Cyclades; Naxos and Amorgos are the larger neighbours.