ONE-DAY HOLIDAYS

Waiting for August to come, to go on our regular holidays, after a long time and on the occasion of our 5th wedding anniversary, my wife and I decided to make a one-day trip to the nearby island called Agistri.

SUBURBIAN PARADISE

Agistri is a pine-covered tourist island in Greece with only 1131 inhabitants and an area of a little less than 12 square kilometers, southwest and 3.5 kilometers from the port of Aegina. It belongs to the Prefecture of Attica and is located in the heart of the Saronic Gulf.

The island has a daily ferry connection with Piraeus. The duration of the ferry trip is 1.5 hours while the trip with the "Flying dolphin" is 55 minutes.

The ferry connection with Piraeus started only in 1960, while until then, boats from/to Aegina were used.

FIRST IMPRESSION

When the boat leaves you in Skala, you will be impressed, I think, by the fact that the water is incredibly clear, with amazingly impressive colours, even in the harbour, and that you can dive practically everywhere, even in the harbour!

The island is full of pine trees and for those who love hiking it is ideal for walking.

There's a minibus that takes visitors to parts of the island (the entire road network is no more than a few dozen kilometers), but in the summer it's rather difficult to fit in without a very intense squeeze (or even to get in at all).

So we rented a small 50cc automatic two-wheeler and drove it myself
(for the first time in my life!) to Dragonera; in…great style as you can tell by the photo on the left.

#not

BIG DRAGONERA

Dragonera is a pebbled virgin beach on the west side of the island which is easily accessible by road. It is surrounded by a pine forest and there is an outdoor canteen on the left hand side.

This is the big Dragonera; there is an other one called small Dragonera.

We stayed here for many many hours and enjoyed the beautiful waters, read, sunbathed and in the early afternoon we made our way back.

The waters cannot be described with words, not by me anyway.

FOOD, MOONLIGHT AND COCKTAILS

At the small harbour in Skala we chose "A little wine a little sea" and ate small fried fish and a delicious sea bass with greens, two beers and plenty of water. The ultimate summer table.

Finally, we boarded the return ferry, sat happily and enjoyed the short trip home.

We entered the port of Piraeus just as the moon was rising majestically, the day before the full moon, and I took a few more photos.

In the evening we went out for cocktails on a beautiful rooftop in our Athens home and this is how our one-day-mini vacation came to a close, which recharged our batteries for some time to come.

If you happen to have a day - or even half a day - to spare during your stay in Athens, I can only suggest that you visit this not-so-hidden gem and swim in its crystal clear waters.