Elia Beach, Mykonos: The Island’s Largest Sandy Shore, Quieter Than Its Reputation Suggests

Greece | Elia | Mykonos, Cyclades

Elia is the largest sandy beach on Mykonos, and despite that scale, I found it consistently described, even by people who’d been to the island’s louder beaches first, as calmer than its size and reputation might suggest. The water deepens gradually rather than dropping away suddenly, and the bay stays relatively still even when the Meltemi roughens the sea elsewhere on the island’s exposed coasts.

The beach has a long-established, recognisable geography to it. The central and eastern sections, closer to the access road, draw families and a more conventional beach crowd, with rows of sunbeds and the resorts of the Myconian Collection lining the slopes above. At the western end, a section of free sand has become the established gathering point for the island’s LGBTQ+ visitors and for clothing-optional sunbathing, marked, as more than one account puts it, by a large rainbow flag standing above the straw umbrellas — a fixture distinctive enough that it functions as a landmark in its own right. Beyond that section, a narrow footpath leads further along the rocks to a smaller, quieter bay favoured by naturists specifically. None of this is informal or recent; Elia’s identity in this respect is well established across guides going back years, and it sits alongside, rather than apart from, the beach’s broader appeal to families and to visitors simply looking for a long stretch of clean sand.

The honest detail worth knowing before arriving: sunbed pricing here runs steep by most accounts, somewhere between fifty and seventy euros for two loungers and an umbrella depending on the operator and the season, prompting more than one visitor to recommend either arriving without reserving anything and finding a free spot on the sand, or staying at one of the Myconian Collection hotels specifically to access their private section of beach with sunbeds included.

Getting There: Twelve Kilometres From Mykonos Town, via Ano Mera

The drive from Mykonos Town covers roughly twelve kilometres, taking twenty to twenty-five minutes through the village of Ano Mera, after which several narrow roads descend toward the bay. Free parking exists in the lot behind the beach.

The local bus runs from the Old Port station in Chora, though schedules are seasonal and worth checking in advance, since services don’t run year-round and don’t always stop at every point along the route — telling the driver your destination directly is sensible rather than assuming an automatic stop. Water taxis also reach Elia, departing from Platis Gialos and continuing along a route that passes Paraga, Paradise, Super Paradise, and Agrari before arriving at Elia as the final stop, which several accounts note keeps it somewhat less crowded than the beaches earlier on the same route.

The Beach: Fine Golden Sand, a Gradual Slope, Full Water Sports

The sand is fine and golden, backed by bare hills with a scattering of whitewashed traditional houses visible on the slopes. The water’s gradual depth makes it consistently recommended for families, and a full range of water sports operates from the beach, including parasailing, jet skiing, water-skiing, windsurfing, and flyboarding, along with a water park featuring the largest slide on the island.

Waterfront restaurants serve Mediterranean dishes through the afternoon, and the atmosphere shifts as evening approaches, with music and a livelier social energy building, though every account I found was careful to note this never reaches the scale of Paradise or Super Paradise further along the coast.

Ano Mera: The Monastery of Tourliani and Gyzi Castle

The inland village of Ano Mera, passed on the way to Elia, holds the sixteenth-century Monastery of Tourliani, a Greek Orthodox institution with Cycladic architecture, a gold-plated altar, Byzantine icons, and a small museum of religious artefacts. Nearby, the ruins of Gyzi Castle, built by the Venetian Gyzi family in the late fourteenth century, sit on a hill with panoramic views, once part of the defensive network protecting the island’s population from pirate raids during Venetian rule.

Elia Beach, the largest sandy shore on Mykonos, divides naturally into a family-oriented central and eastern stretch and a long-established LGBTQ+ and nudist section at its western end, marked by a rainbow flag, with a quieter naturist bay further along a footpath beyond that. Fine golden sand, a gradual slope into the water, full water sports, and sunbed pricing that runs steep enough to warrant planning around in advance. Twelve kilometres from Mykonos Town via Ano Mera, where the sixteenth-century Monastery of Tourliani and the ruins of Gyzi Castle are both within easy reach.

Drive via Ano Mera, or take the water taxi as the final stop on the Platis Gialos route. Decide whether you want sunbeds before you go, given the price. Walk the footpath west if you want the quieter naturist bay beyond the main section.