Santorini is surrounded by tons of beautiful beaches, and one of the most gorgeous coastal views.
During my entire year abroad, I was always on the go, traveling to different places, making the most out of my days and having a jam packed itinerary no matter where I went. Going to Santorini/Greece was probably one of my most relaxing travel experiences.
The cool thing about having beaches as one of the main tourist attractions is that you just laze from one beach to another, sipping on a cocktail, occasionally going for some water activities, talking, and then watching the sunset (or the sky grow dark if you're on the other side of the island).
I think I probably visited one too many beaches in my 10 days in Greece. So much so, I might have gotten a little tired of basking in the sun with sand between my toes.
What I Wore
Dress: ASOS
Sunglasses: Accessorize
What made me want to go to beach after beach in Santorini was how different each of them were.
Santorini is home to a white, red and black beach. Judging from the beaches online, their definition of a white beach is your typical yellow sand beach (but since it was right next to the red beach, it stood out as white!) My friends and I gave the white beach (partly because every other beach is white - apart from the other 2 coloured ones) a miss but decided to hit up both the red and black beaches.
The black Perissa beach in Santorini is this long stretch of coastline with black sparkling sand. There were so many restaurants and food places along the beach. With tons of deck chairs laid out all in even rows. I loved that the umbrellas aren't the usual plastic/canvas umbrellas we usually see on beaches, but ones made out of straw! How cool is that!
Just a tip for people who are planning to visit the beaches in Santorini, typically you have to pay about 10 Euros for a chair, or order drink of at least 20 euros (for 2 chairs). My friends and I were initially hesitant to pay for the deck chairs because we weren't sure how long we'd be at the beach, but eventually, we just went head and ordered 20 euros worth of drinks and had them on the beach at the deck chairs.
At around evening time, when the beach started to get less crowded, one of my friends, Ji Inn, and I decided to go for a short 15minute ride on a jet-ski. I wished I had a GoPro or something to film the experience or to capture some images. We both had so much fun speeding and then stopping because we felt like we were going to capsize, and then switching over and attempting to keep the boat stable whilst we were doing it. Although we only had 15 minutes of play time, it was definitely memorable - especially for an adrenaline junkie like me!
Unlike the Black Beach, the Red beach in Akrotiri wasn't actually red. It was more reddish brown rocks instead of actual red sand.
But in the sunlight, everything does look red. I reckon the reason why the rocks around the coast are red is because they are volcanic rocks. Akrotiri's Red Beach isn't as long and vibrant as the Perissa beach. To get to the beach itself, we had to climb through a rocky path in slippers. Over the course of climbing various natural structures, I realised I have the fear of falling on my but when I'm climbing up a cliff, or down a rocky pathway. I somehow freak myself out by thinking i'd fall and just... slide right down injuring/cutting my legs or body. I don't have the fear of heights, so this new found fear is a little odd - but y'know when on holiday... I just climb whatever I have to climb anyway.
As Akrotiri was located slightly further from where we stayed, so my friends and I took the ATV there. Akrotiri was probably a 20 minutes ride from Perissa, and we stopped over at some huge archaeological site to look at some Grecian Ruins, before heading on to the Red Beach.
The ride over to the beach was one of the most scenic experiences over. Of course, we took sometime navigating with a paper map and figuring out the whole left-hand drive situation. But, when we finally figured everything out and were able to just drive without a map, passing beside the coast treated us to the most MAGNIFICENT view. Once again, I could only wish I had a GoPro mounted on my head so I could capture the whole ride on film.
If you do have a GoPro/ video camera - remember to do it! And then send me a copy of your video so that I can relive my experience!
I think riding an ATV in Santorini is definitely an experience not to miss - especially if it's something you've never tried.
After this Santorini trip, I can finally tick "visiting coloured beaches" off my bucket list. I know there are a ton of more interesting beaches out there, and YES I do want to visit them, but at least I now have the experience of stepping on non-yellow beach sand in my pocket!
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