Lalaria Beach

Lalaria sits at the northern tip of Skiathos under a wall of pale cliff, and the name comes from the pebbles, which are white, round and heavy from centuries of being rolled. At one end a natural arch stands in the water, and swimming through it is the standard thing to do while the boat waits. There is no road and no path down the cliff, so every visit is by sea. Most operators sell it as part of a circuit that also enters the Skotini and Galazia sea caves along the north coast, spending an hour or so ashore before turning back. The water is clear and deep almost immediately, and the light off the white stones is strong enough to be tiring.

What you actually see

• The rock arch - a stone span at the western end that boats and swimmers pass under.
• The white pebbles - large, smooth and uniformly pale, giving the water its colour.
• The sea caves - Skotini and Galazia on the same circuit, entered by tender or by swimming.
• The cliff wall - a continuous pale face behind the shore, with no way up or down.

When to go

Trips run from roughly June through September and are cancelled in northerly wind, which is common in midsummer. Morning departures usually find calmer water. Boats arrive in a cluster around midday, so the beach is either empty or crowded with little in between. Book the day before in August; the same handful of boats serve everyone.

Honest expectations

There is no shade, no water and no toilet, and your time ashore is whatever the skipper allows, usually about an hour. The pebbles are large and hard to lie on, and the shore drops steeply so it is not suited to weak swimmers or small children. Taking pebbles away is prohibited. In any real wind the trip simply does not run.

Nearby

Kastro, the abandoned clifftop settlement on the same coast, and the beaches of southern Skiathos.