Anafi travel guide

Anafi is the southernmost Cycladic Island and one of the smallest islands of the group at the lower end of the Aegean. Still quite undiscovered by most tourists, it has largely retained its authenticity and local style. For years it has been the favourite holiday spot for campers and people who make an effort search for a quiet spot to be with their thoughts and have a rest away from the “static noise” of modern life. This is where one is sobered by the southern Aegean sun and their mind can be flavoured by the sea’s salt, whilst isolated and garbed in simplicity unique to the Cyclades of Greece.

Arriving at Anafi, you will first reach the small quaint village of Agios Nikolaos which is also the port of Anafi. From the very first glimpse you will realize that this island is not a popular tourist destination, a fact that is a credit to those who wish to enjoy really good prices all year round. The few houses next to the port with only a handful of fishing boats that provides the fresh daily catch and the air is punctuated by the sounds of fishermen’s banter in the early hours of the morning. Although the island is close to other major tourist destinations, it enjoys the feel and quality of being untouched and almost throws you back to the early 1950’s. Strangely enough, in contrast to most of the peripheral areas of Greece, the majority of the roughly 250 to 270 permanent population of the island is relatively young.

Geology
Anafi is a volcanic island pushed up from the sea and covered with a thick layer of pumice that concealed it after Santorini’s volcanic eruption in ancient times. True to Cycladic nature, Anafi supports very little flora save for scrub and prickly-pear cacti. Initial impressions of Anafi are those of a mountainous, barren rock, with tones of brown, grey and shades of olive green interrupted only by white-washed chapels that dot the landscape everywhere. These are so prevalent as to make it impossible not have a line of sight of at least one chapel no matter where you go on Anafi.

In keeping with the landscape of the majority of the Cycladic islands, Anafi is rocky with several small peaks the highest of which is about 582 meters and is called mount “Vigla”. It is also a small island with a total circumference of about 33km and dry land of some 40 square km. and it also gets pretty hot there which makes the beaches a favourite destination.

The single most striking feature that is seen when sailing towards the harbor of Agios Nikolaos is the the largest single-rock or more correctly monolith formation on continental Europe and this is not excepting the Rock of Gibraltar or the massif of Monemvassia also in Greece. This is Cape Kalamos on the eastern side of the island. This monolith is joined to the island by a narrow strip of land or isthmus. On the very peak there is a miniscule white speck, this is the monastery of Kalamiotissa.