Achla Beach Andros

Achla beach, we find it in the north east of the Andros Island under the Vourkotis village. Chora the capital is about twenty kilometers south-east.

Considered among one of the most beautiful in Greece, Achla beach has a coastline of small shiny white pebbles mixed with sand, a sea with colors that go from emerald to turquoise with clear and crystalline waters. The seabed drops slowly for the first few meters and then degrades quickly.

Given its position enclosed in a spectacular bay, Achla beach is always sheltered from the wind and the sea is constantly calm. It is not equipped, here 'everything is free and wild so' if you decide to spend the whole day there, it is better to prevent yourself and bring everything you need, from water, to food, to a good sunscreen and something to shelter in the most hours 'hot.

The peculiarity of Achla is that in the beach flows a river also called Achla one of the largest in the whole island of Andros that flows from the slopes of the Vourkoti mountain giving life to an extremely green area very unusual for the Cyclades Island. Tall and centuries-old plane trees where you can find small waterfalls and ponds where you can indulge in a regenerating bath. The fauna here is generous, you can find freshwater crabs, eels, rabbits, partridges, water birds, colorful dragonflies and species of rare migratory birds, because Andros is right in line with one of the main routes.

On the end of the beach, there is the small chapel of Agios Nikolaos and on the opposite side the Gria Lighthouse also called Achla Lighthouse, completely in stone built in 1914. It worked with oil and had a characteristic flashing every two minutes visible up to 14 nautical miles away. Left off during the Second World War, it was reopened in 1945 with an oil supply.

As Achla beach is very secluded, the most comfortable way is by sea. A wonderful experience with a very particular path made of caves and rocky islets surrounded by a fabulous sea up to the splendid bay. Of considerable importance, the spur of rock that emerges from the sea as if by magic and which houses the chapel of the Virgin Mary where in September you can 'observe the species of bird Mavropetritis, a rare hawk that nests and reproduces only here, for then migrate to Madagascar where it spends the winter. From the port of Chora in Neimborio, excursions depart every day and can be booked directly on the boat or in the tourist agencies of the major tourist resorts.

The second alternative is by land, but here everything becomes a bit more difficult. Being a dirt road, the ideal would be to have a 4x4 or a quad, even with the scooter or the car you can get there but you will have to be very careful because there are many holes and the terrain is really wild. Shortly after the village of Vourkoti begins the path where there is also the Monastery of Agios Mama very dear to the inhabitants of Andros, built on the ruins of an ancient temple from the 1600s, a metochi of the Holy Monastery of Agios Nikolaos which on 2 September is celebrated by the islanders and devotees of the other islands.

As soon as you pass the Monastery, you arrive at a panoramic point that will literally leave you breathless and from where you can see the beach and the whole bay from above.

Achla beach is to be included in the list of things to see in Andros and, whether by sea or by land, it will be a beautiful day to keep in your trunk of memories.