A wonderfully scenic island. Please would someone remedy my sad lack of photographs?
Town beach
The town beach here is the island's nudist beach! It is the one south of Magazia, known locally as Tou Papa to Homa. It is not unusual for lectures from the Skyros Centre to take place here. The beach is situated under the huge rock on which Skyros Town is situated. It is very scenic and I had thought well worth a visit. The only way to go to the beach was by taking steep paths on the left and right edge of the beach. It is 100% nudist and with regulars.
It is a beautiful and quiet naturist beach with long and clean sand. There also is a cave and some rocks. To get at this beach there is only one path left goat-path, a little North from a fallen house, damaged by the huge snowfall in the winter of 2004. At the entrance to the path is a small gate, which you have to close behind yourself. The entrance of the path is next to the coast road, east from Skyros village and behind the ancient Greek fortress.
The other entrance, at the south side from the beach, the village entrance, has disappeared, because of snowfall in 2004, which caused a huge landslide. Rocks fell into the sea and at this part there is no beach any more. The advantage for naturists is that no villager visits this beach any more, so that there are only naturists now. The water is clear and it is nice to see the water-anemones, coral mosses and even sponges!
The Captain is assured that earlier reports about sewage outflow through the beach are no longer accurate, if they ever were. Not only is the beach entirely nudist, Barefoot reports argue that it is also consistently the best beach on the island, nude or textile! And throughout the month of July 2005 there were never more than five or six people on it. The water is very clear and both the water and the beach are far cleaner than any other beach on the island.
Another Barefoot reporter tells me that the sewage line mentioned is not the problem, the problem is the small brook in the main beach, in Magazia, where a lot of sewers from the village end up. The main beach was deemed unsuitable for swimming by the EU because of that and no plans for biological cleaning have been implemented yet (certainly not this summer). So when the wind blows north-northeast then the nudist beach might be affected, but the EU report claims that the beach is suitable. My contributor rates this beach one of the best beaches anywhere.
A contributor visited this beach several times in June 2000 while a participant in a Skyros Centre programme. The beach is beautiful and uncrowded, mostly nude [98%, I'd say] but with the odd (local) textile here and there. The water was too cold for anything but a quick dip on the days my contributor tried it.
Agios Fokas
A contributor recommends Agios Fokas as an alternative, particularly when the main beach is wind-affected. Agios Fokas is at northwest side of the island. Take the road from Skyros town to Linaria (port) and at the sign Pefkos turn right. After few kilometres and before you start to go down the hill to Pefkos leave the tarmac and turn right to a dirt-road signed with a arrow on a rock at your right hand. Follow this dirt road for about 5 km and you'll see the main beach of Agios Fokas. Leave your motorcycle there (my contributor's favourite way to travel) and walk all right to the taverna. The beach for naturists is not the main beach but another small one accessible from a small and sometimes rough path at the north end of the main beach after the small taverna of Mrs Kalliopi (tel. 0937090848 - yes, my intrepid Barefoot reporter even provided that information and I'm sure Mrs Kalliopi will be duly grateful). After the taverna you'll see a path going on the rocks near the beach. This is the way to go to the beach. My contributor says there were only a few people there, all nude, and the sea was perfect. It rated 80%.
However a report from July 2005 rates Agios Fokas the worst beach on the island. Together with Palamari and Ormos Achilli even though they're fairly off the beaten track and thus potentially and discreetly nudist, they're filthy, littered with rubbish and a big disappointment. The road to Agios Fokas is also said to be in bad shape.
Atsitsos
Barefooters report some nudism at Atsitsos beach (NW side of Skyros), near the village. Go from Atsitsa and take the dirt road to Agios Fokas, and park your car behind Atsitsa main hotel. Take a path some 50m south from this parking through a fence, leaving the trash heap to your left. Having crossed the pine wood, you will find Atsitsa beach. At the south end of it, my intrepid reporter lay naked twice without any comment from some Greek families around. Most visitors were from the Skyros Centre.
Agios Petros
Some nudism is reported on the most northern beach of Skyros (Agios Petros). This beach is said to be OK, though swimming is not easy because of rocks immediately before the sea.
August 2015: The place is perfect for Free Camping. We were a 14-people company of friends, all nude at the beach. Practically it is a nudist beach. Some textiles came but they stayed on the left side of the beach.
Kolymbada
There is a beach south of Kalamitsa called Kolymbada which is a long walk down from the main road (and a hot walk back up) but which was completely empty in July. It's not officially nudist, but there's never anyone there, so go ahead and take your clothes off!
Some reports of nudist possibilities at the Girismata beach too (about 5km from the village).
The island is popular with Greek tourists. They flock to the beaches at Magazia and Molos. Superb beaches there, but nudism out of the question.
