Nas beach
Nas is a small "end of the road" place on the North Coast of Ikaria, a few miles west of Armenistis. The village beach is small but naturist friendly. Just follow the main track down past Astra Taverna and you'll find the path down to the beach. While we were there (early July 2006) even at its busiest there were no more than 30 people there of whom a good half were naturist. On other days we almost had the beach to ourselves.
The beach itself varies from fine grit through to pebbles. If the wind is in the wrong direction then the rocky cove can get too rough for swimming, but the locals have installed a safety rope to help any who get into difficulties.
My correspondents visited in July 2006. All in all a very pleasant and easy beach in a delightful friendly little village. They travelled there with Laskarina and despite the sniggers of the rep when describing the naturist nature of the beach, half the people at the meeting (four) were naked on the beach later that day.
Earlier reports described Nas as a small bay and tourist resort for "alternative" young people. It has always been a nudist beach since the beginning of tourism on the island in the late '70s. It is also a neglected archaeological site with the ruins of an ancient temple either of Artemis or Naiades. Though the beach is not large, the stream Halari creates a clear lagoon next to the ancient ruins. If the sea is too rough for swimming, young people escape into the spectacular canyon of Halari and they enjoy the river-pools and the small waterfalls.
Some years ago there were quite a lot of drugs around, but this has stopped more or less. It is a pity that camping is not officially allowed, however there is a lot of tolerance about sleeping on the beach or in the canyon (provided that there is no camp fire - locals are rightly very afraid of forest fires!)
Lots of Germans and Greeks, much live music in the tavernas on the hill over the bay and a great place for making friends. Nudism is not allowed (of course) but almost everybody down in the bay or up in the canyon follows the Naiades ancient tradition. Some uptight locals sometimes protest but they are not taken seriously, nor the police ever messes around, because a lot of people make a living out of this lifestyle. My correspondent rates this 75%.
Barefooters who visited in May/June 2005 described Nas beach as very small with large pebbles and very little sand. There were between 2 and 10 nude people, some couples, some single. It was quiet most of time.
Armenistis
A report from 2005 describes Armenistis as having clear water and very white sand and rocks - a magical, small and beautiful place.
