Nature And Outdoors in Santorini

Nature on Santorini is entirely geological. The island sits on an active volcano, and in the middle of the flooded caldera stand two young cones — Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni, both grown since the catastrophe. On Nea Kameni you land from a boat and walk up over black scree: about twenty minutes to the crater rim, cinder underfoot, sulphurous steam drifting from the cracks in places. Neighbouring Palea Kameni is older, and warm springs rise along its shore — the water there is cloudy and rust-red with iron, and you swim to it straight off the boat.

The second subject is the water itself. The caldera is deep and the winds are changeable, so most outings go under sail or by motor yacht: the route runs along the cliff to the Red beach beneath its iron-stained rock, on to the White beach with its limestone debris, and further to the hot springs. There is fishing too — a five-hour trip with a local crew, tackle on board, the catch cooked on the spot. Thirasia stands apart: a fragment of the old island opposite, almost free of visitors, holding three villages.

The island also reads well on foot. The caldera-rim path from Fira through Imerovigli to Oia runs about ten kilometres along the edge, with a fair climb and the drop always below you; go early, before the heat and the crowd. The inland half is another matter entirely: gentle fields, basket-trained vines coiled at ground level, villages with neither view nor precipice. The highest point is Profitis Ilias, from where the whole island is visible at once, caldera and open sea behind it.