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Lesvos: Vatera Beach |
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Perhaps one of the longest and most beautiful beaches in Greece , Vatera is one of the best places to be if you are traveling with your family or are looking for a quiet place to enjoy the sea and nature. |
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The best way is to take
the road to Polychnitou that begins on the main
Mytilini road near the gulf of Yera, or if you are
coming from Eressos or Molyvos take the road that
begins in the eastern part of the gulf of Kaloni.
This is a beautiful trip along the gulf and
through forests, olive groves, villages and farms.
Supposedly there is a sunken village along the way
where you can actually see the houses beneath you
but I have not found it yet.
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One last note on Vatera, a story really. One afternoon after one of our trips exploring the island we were returning to Vatera for a swim when Andrea yelled "STOP THE CAR!!!" I could not imagine what was so important that I needed to stop here on the outskirts of Polychnitou. "What is it?!!" I asked her. "Its a goat with a can on it's head." she told me. I could not even imagine what she meant. So I turned around and sure enough there was a goat with a can on its head. Somehow it had been eating and gotten it stuck. It was behind a big cyclone fence and ...... well I will let the picture tell the story. Click here... The good news is that we went to the hotel and told George and he found the owner in the phone book and the next day we went back and the goat was happily eating without the can on its head. |
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Located on the coast between the Gulf of Yera and
the Gulf of Kaloni, near the town of Polychnitou
and the amazing hot mineral baths, Vatera is seven
kilometers of uninterrupted sandy beach. This is
one beach that seems to extend forever. The town
of Vatera itself stretches a couple kilometers and
is made up of some really nice tavernas, a pizza
place or two, several small bars, a few shops and
some terrific family oriented hotels. (We stay at
two: the Vatera Beach Hotel, owned by American
Barbara Ballis and her husband George, a famous
Greek actor, and director who left the glitter
behind to open his hotel and the Aphrodite owned
by Greek singer John Hahathakis who gave up his
career be closer to his family and now entertains
his guests every weekend in the hotel
taverna.)
There are several ways to get to Vatera. The
way we came was on a dirt road that will
destroy your car but begins as a beautiful
paved road up around Agiassos. You will know
you have taken this road by several things,
your nerves will be shattered as will the
car's suspension, you will be driving for
hours and never seem to get any closer
(because you can't drive over 20 mph), and you
will come out at the far end of Vatera beach
and marvel at the beauty and the solitude. But
it won't matter because if you are like me you
will have to head into town for a drink to
recover. If you are not renting a car take a
taxi from the airport or ferry or ask your
hotel or travel agent to book one for you.
When you arrive at Vatera beach after passing
through the town of Polychnitou you can turn
left and follow the beach to where the
population dwindles and eventually fades to
nothing, where you can swim in any attire you
please until the next solitude seeker shows
up. But with nearly four kilometers of
deserted beach there is no reason why anyone
should be anywhere near you, except maybe in
August on Sundays, when Vatera can get crowded
with locals and Athenian tourists. But even
then there is still plenty of room and it
would probably take the swimming
populations of several major cities to fill
this beach. Because the island faces south, it
is protected from the northern winds that
usually come in August. It has been awarded
the EEC Blue Ribbon for its clean water
repeatedly.
If you take a right upon entering you will pass
hotels and restaurants and eventually the road
leaves the beach to go over a small river where
you can stop and feed the turtles from the bridge.
They love bread. I don't know what it is about
feeding turtles that makes it seem so much fun.
Maybe it's because they are reptiles and one does
not get to socialize with this strata of life very
often since they are generally reclusive, or maybe
it's because it is fun to watch a bunch of turtles
race for a piece of bread and then fight over
it.
If you keep driving you will come to the small
port of Agios Focas, with three fish tavernas, all
of which are supposed to be very good. We stopped
at the first one on the right, closest to the
ruins of the Christian temple and the temple of
Dionysious the Spring Born, just above the small
harbor where the ducks hang out. It is called
Akrotiri Fish Tavern. We had excellent
A required visit is the natural hot springs of
Polychnitou. The valley is full of steaming
hot streams that leave sediment in some of the
most beautiful pastel colors, meandering past
the ruins of ancient bath houses as well as
pools of boiling water. There are several old
bath houses and one that has been rented and
restored. The waters here are supposedly
the hottest in Europe and can cure a great
variety of ailments. Click for more info
on the
The town of Polychnitou is a labarynth of decaying mansions and small
traditional shops, great ouzo cafeneons and
restaurants, museums and the Agro-Tourism
Woman's collective which is involved in the
production of Byzantine icons, handicrafts,
embroideries, tapestries, preperation of
preserved sweets, marmalades, liqueurs, local
cheeses, olives, olive oil and herbs.
(Tel,22520-42175 or 41190 or 42260). A few miles a way in the Bay of kaloni is the town of Skala Polychnitou with its fleet of fishing boats, a few seafood tavernas and a town beach as well as some interesting crumbling old buildings. Its a good place to go for lunch if you are staying in Vatera and want to do an eckdromi. (Greek word which means like an excursion)
In the small village of Vrisi, the closest
town to Vatera Beach, is the Museum of Natural
History with an amazing collection of
Palaeolithic fossils, ancient fish, fossilized
bones of a 1.6 million year old mastadon and
various other animals, rocks and plants, all
from the area. There are also several ancient
archaeology sites in the area including
Ancient Pyrra. Vrisi has a cafeneon that is famous for its mezedes but unless you are here in the morning or in the evening around 8pm you will never know it. There is also a traditional bakery owned by an Indian (from India) named Kosta. Go by and say hi and get some bread too. There are some cool old houses in the village so wander around. There is a nice church as well.
Wild nightlife in Vatera? Well don't get your
hopes up, but if you like sitting at a beach
side taverna with a group of new friends,
watching the sunset, eating fresh fish,
drinking ouzo and wine, while wondering who
the interesting looking fellow who looks like
Ernest Hemmingway is, then spend
at
least a
couple days in Vatera. If you crave action,
Polychnitou is close enough and a town of its
size has its fair share of bars and discos,
and before you dismiss Vatera itself as a
place completely lacking in youth culture, you
will be happy to know there are indeed clubs
and discos on the outskirts of town along the
beach. If you are traveling with your family,
in my opinion Vatera beach is the best place
in Lesvos for children and a fine place to
base yourself to explore this part of the
island. Chances are you may become one of
those people who returns here year after year,
even if you are not Northern European.
Try the Aphrodite
Taverna at the
Just down the coast from Vatera there is a tiny bay and a small church nestled into the rocks. This is the Panagia Krifi, the Hidden Virgin, which can be reached by motorboat from Vatera. There is a small stone beach and excellent snorkling as well as a hot spring. We came here with George, one of the owners of the Hotel Aphrodite in his fishing boat. Chances are if it is summer he may not have tme to take you but it won't hurt to ask. Its a very beautiful place. You can also reach it from the road to Melinta, another small beach town with a couple nice seafood tavernas.