Kakome Beach, Sarandë: The Illegally Built, Gated Private Bay 12km North of Town, With a Monastery Gospel Now in the Louvre

Albania | Sarandë | Albanian Riviera

Kakome Beach is private property. A gate with a 24/7 security guard blocks the road leading to the beach. The resort that was planned for the area — the skeletal construction visible from the water — was declared illegal and the project failed after that declaration. Nothing was finished and nothing was removed. The gate and the guard remain.

The beach itself is one of the most beautiful bays on the Albanian Riviera: a crescent of white pebbles in a sheltered bay surrounded by limestone cliffs and green hills, 12 kilometres north of Sarandë on the Ionian coast. Large boats are officially not allowed to dock because the beach is private property. Smaller boats sometimes turn a blind eye. Visitors posting photographs from the beach appear regularly on social media, which means access happens in practice despite the official restriction. Nothing at the beach except pebbles and a pier to jump off from, so do not even expect to be able to buy a drink.

The visiting pattern that works: join one of the smaller private boat tours from Sarandë rather than the large organised excursion boats (which stop in the bay for swimming but officially cannot land). Or drive to the gate, park on the road, and hike 300 metres to the Monastery of Saint Mary.

Getting There: Gate 12km from Sarandë on the SH81, Boat from Sarandë Promenade, or Hike from Nivica

From Sarandë, drive north on the SH81 toward Nivica Bubar village. The gate with the security guard is on the road leading down to Kakome Bay — approximately 12 kilometres from the city. Cars are left parked on the road beside the closed gate. There is no designated parking.

By boat from Sarandë, the tour departures are from the promenade in the morning. Most boats depart around 9 or 10am and make several stops between Sarandë and Krorëza Beach. The full-day boat tour including Kakome costs approximately €20 to €40 depending on the operator and stops. Private water taxi hire from Sarandë or Lukovë is the most flexible option and gives the most time at the beach.

A dirt road to the left side of the valley, beginning about 200 metres before the gate, runs along the coast toward Cape Qefalit. The road is narrow, rocky, and overgrown; only SUVs can navigate it. It ends short of the cape.

The Failed Illegal Resort: Abandoned Construction, Private Claim, Public Controversy

Once a tourist resort was to be built here, but the project failed after the construction was declared illegal. The skeletal structures — concrete columns, building foundations, partially completed walls — are visible from the water and from the beach. They have not been demolished and have not been completed. The legal status of the land as private property is the reason the gate and security guard exist, and is also the reason the resort construction that justified that private claim was challenged and declared illegal.

The Kakome situation is the Albanian coastal development controversy in concentrated form: a bay of exceptional natural quality, a private ownership claim, an illegal construction project, public access restricted, the structures still standing years after the illegality ruling. The beach receives visitors because the boats come and the photographs circulate, but the formal position remains that the beach is private property and access is restricted.

The Monastery of Saint Mary: 16th-Century Church, German Bombing, Gospel in the Louvre

About 300 metres from the security gate is the Monastery of Saint Mary (Manastiri i Shën Mërisë). The dome-shaped church was built in the 16th to 17th century and was later expanded and fortified in the 18th century. The monastery is now abandoned, though the church still has a roof. The rest of the buildings survive only as outer walls. Inside the main church, wall frescoes, an altar, and several icons have been preserved. The atmosphere is authentic and exudes a medieval charm.

The Germans bombed the once-distinguished monastery during World War II. Among the local relics was a gospel written on 500 pieces of cowhide, now on display in the Louvre in Paris.

A gospel on 500 pieces of cowhide from a 16th-century Albanian Ionian coast monastery is in the Louvre. This is one of the more unexpected facts in the entire Albanian Riviera beach series.

The hike from the gate to the monastery takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes and is accessible without technical hiking equipment. From the monastery, the path continues uphill to viewpoints over both Kakome Bay and the neighbouring coast.

Krorëza Beach: The 3.2km Hike From the Gate, Boat-Only in Practice, the Most Untouched

From the Kakome gate, the trail to Krorëza Beach is approximately 3.2 kilometres and takes 1.5 hours one way — a challenging hike in summer heat over a nearby mountain peak. Krorëza (also spelled Krorëz) is described as one of the most stunning beaches on Albania’s Ionian coast — completely untouched, no road access, reached almost exclusively by boat from Sarandë or by this hike from the Kakome gate.

A few hundred metres above Krorëza Beach, on an elevation, is another monastery. The area around Kakome and Krorëza has the highest concentration of medieval religious sites per kilometre of coastline on the Albanian Riviera.

The Boat Tour Programme: Morning Departure, Swimming Stop, No Landing on Large Boats

Most organised boat tours from Sarandë include Kakome Bay as a swimming stop — anchoring in the bay and allowing passengers to swim while the boat stays offshore. The large boats are not permitted to land passengers because the beach is private. The swimming stop in the bay provides the specific turquoise bay colour that photographs so dramatically; the pier jump and the pebble shore are accessible only to those on smaller private boats or those who walk in from the gate.

The panoramic view of Kakome Bay from a boat or from the road above is worth the trip regardless of whether landing is achieved: the bay sits between mountain ridges in a picturesque valley, the mountains covered with shrubs and trees on both sides, and the water colour at the base of the limestone cliffs is the specific deep blue-green that the enclosed sheltered bay and the clear Ionian water together produce.

Kakome Beach near Sarandë is the restricted private bay 12 kilometres north of the city — a gate and 24/7 security guard on the road, the failed illegal resort construction still standing on the shore, nothing at the beach except pebbles and a pier, large boats not permitted to land, smaller private boats your best access option, the Monastery of Saint Mary 300 metres from the gate (gospel on 500 cowhide pieces now in the Louvre), and Krorëza Beach a 3.2-kilometre challenging hike further.

Drive to the gate. Walk to the monastery. Go by private boat if you want the beach.

The gospel is in Paris.