AMORGOS: DIVE INTO THE BIG BLUE
Nobody had heard of Amorgos until Luc Besson shot his underwater epic, Le Grand Bleu, on this remote Cycladic island. Thirty years later, Amorgos still feels gloriously undiscovered, with only a trickle of sea-lovers rocking up to explore the marine life in some of the bluest waters in the Mediterranean.
WHY IT’S SPECIAL
If you’re looking for isolation, authenticity, and ravishing natural beauty, Amorgos is the Greek island for you. The craggy peaks look forbidding from a distance, but they are scored by sagescented trails that lead to intimate chapels guarded by shaggy goats and cliffhanging monasteries where the monks will welcome you with a shot of firewater laced with cloves and honey.
But it’s life underwater that attracts most pilgrims to Amorgos. Moray eels, barracudas, and stingrays flit through sunken caves offshore. There are shipwrecks, natural reefs, and ancient amphorae lurking in the deep, perfect for snorkellers and scuba divers alike.
YOU’LL NEVER FORGET… Swimming through Nikouria sea cave, its walls swathed in colourful sponges. You might spot spiny lobsters and scorpion fish. Nikouria, a tiny, uninhabited island, is a 10-minute boat ride from Agios Pavlos, a white pebble beach poking into the sea like a beckoning finger.
INSIDER TIP
Visit Amorgiano (amorgiano.gr), the studio of Panayiotis Maroulis, an iconpainter and beekeeper, to stock up on his divine organic honey and propolis balm. It’s just outside Langada village.
HOW TO DO IT
There is no airport on Amorgos. Ferries from Piraeus port in Athens take six and a half to nine and a half hours (depending on the vessel and route). Amorgos has two ports: Katapola, a retro harbour in the middle of the island, and Aegiali, in the north, which is more hippyish. Faster catamarans also connect Amorgos to Naxos, Mykonos and Santorini, which all have airports; but beware: if the summer meltemi wind is blowing hard, highspeed boats are grounded.
Stylish digs are in short supply on this old-fashioned island. Vorina Ktismata (vorinaktismata.com) is far and away the best place to stay in Hora, the hilltop capital, but there are just five apartments so book early. Pano Gitonia (amorgos-panogitonia.gr) in Potamos village is a cosy (and cheaper) alternative.
Rachel Howard