Sarakiniko or ‘moon beach’ is one of the most unique places in Milos. It’s a bit different to a regular sand or rock beach so here’s everything you need to know before you go.
Often called ‘moon beach’ because of its unique white rock landscape, Sarakiniko is one of the most famous beaches in Milos. It really is otherworldly, with smooth expanses of white rock stretched out around you. There are also tall cliffs people use to jump into the deep blue water below.
When visiting Sarakiniko, get there early. We arrived around 8am and, while there were a few people cliff diving, it wasn’t very busy. It only started to get crowded as we were leaving around 10am. Arriving early makes it easier to find a car park and you avoid the hottest part of the day. The beach is only a ten-minute drive from Adamas, or 15 minutes from Plaka.
When you arrive, there’s a short walk from the car park to the start of the rock surface. From there, go left and down to get to the beach and keep following this around to reach the cliff diving area.
The swimming beach is a shallow bay that is pretty small, but if you’re there early enough there shouldn’t be too many people. Just be careful of sea anemones that look a bit like seaweed in the shallow water as they’ve been known to sting people. We didn’t have any issues but knew to watch out for them ahead of time.
Are you brave enough to jump?
If you keep walking past the bay, you’ll find the tall cliffs that are popular for diving. There’s a few different heights and the water underneath is very deep.
One of the main reasons this is a good spot for cliff diving is because the rocks have formed a natural archway, so you jump from one side, swim under the rock, and climb up a shallow bank to get out. The bank is covered in slippery algae though so be careful when coming out of the water.
From what we saw, there’s basically three heights to jump from. We saw kids jumping from the lowest one, our friends did the middle height, and the tallest one is not for the faint-hearted.
Spend as much time as you want here and, as long as you’re mindful of letting others take their turn, feel free to jump as many times as you like. Make sure to have only one person jumping at a time and that the previous person has safely swum under the archway and out of the way before you go.
Relax, swim, and snack
After cliff diving for a while, we walked back to the bay to relax on the rocks and go for a swim. There are no trees at Sarakiniko which can mean there’s no break from the sun unless you’re lucky to find some shade from the rocks.
This isn’t an organised beach so there are no facilities except for a food van in the car park. It wasn’t there when we arrived but was open as we left, and it had a good selection of food and drinks, including delicious freshly made juice.
If you’re there before the van has arrived, plan ahead and bring snacks and lots of water. The nearby Mouratos Bakery is a great place to get some takeaway nibbles.
I really loved Sarakiniko; it was such a unique experience exploring the white volcanic rock moonscape and jumping into the beautiful blue waters. This was one of my top activities in Milos so make sure it’s on your itinerary.
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