Koukounaries Skiathos

Skiathos is a lush green island with the best beaches in the Sporades and your Koukounaries Skiathos yacht charter allows you to explore them all at your own pace, lingering at the ones you like best. Koukounaries is the third largest settlement on the island.  The main bay is surrounded by the umbrella pines that give the sparkling golden sand beach its name and stretches for over a kilometre, with wooden walkways traversing the sand to a series of cantinas serving drinks and snacks.

The water here is incredibly clear and there are hundreds of different types of fish so the snorkelling is great. Behind the beach there’s a lovely small natural lake, Strofilia . There are good watersports facilities as well as horse-riding stables. Across the headland, Banana Beach (officially Krassas) is among the trendiest beaches on the island, with watersports, a couple of bars and naturism for those so inclined. Small Banana beach is partly gay.

There’s a more family orientated beach at Ayia Eleni and there are others at Mandhraki and Elia, both of which have sun loungers and snack bars – although you can avoid the crowds by anchoring off shore and swimming from your boat, making everyone on the beach jealous in the process.  If you get fed up of the beaches and are in the mood for something cultural,  make an excursion to the beautiful eighteenth century Evangelistrias monastery and its small museum housing ecclesiastical and rural-folklore exhibits.  Kastro is a fortified settlement built to protect the island from pirate raids in the sixteenth century – it’s quite overgrown now but one of the four remaining churches houses some original frescoes that are worth a look.