Agios Pavlos, Aegiali: An Island Across the Water Once Minted Coins, Then Sheltered Lepers

Greece | Aegiali | Amorgos, Cyclades

The uninhabited island of Nikouria, sitting directly across the water from Agios Pavlos, once held a working mint that produced coinage for all three of Amorgos’s ancient city-states — Minoa, Arkesini, and Aegiali. Centuries later, the same small island served a far darker purpose, used as a shelter for lepers sent from the mainland, isolated from the rest of society on a strip of land I reached purely for an afternoon of swimming and snorkelling. Standing on the small chapel’s threshold, the only structure on the whole island, I found that history harder to set aside than the view itself.

Agios Pavlos is shaped by a narrow tongue of sand and pebble pointing nearly a hundred metres out into the sea, its outline shifting slightly from year to year as winter currents rework it. The tip of the spit has flatter, less slippery stones than the rest of the beach, which made for an easier entry into the water than I’d expected from the pebbles further back.

The beach split my own impression of it in half. On one visit I found the water genuinely beautiful, clear enough to see straight down to the bottom near the shore. On a different day, after a stretch of rough weather, I found patches of tar and litter caught against the pebbles near the waterline, and chose not to swim. I’d go in expecting a beach that can look very different depending on recent weather and how recently it’s been cleared, rather than assuming either version is the permanent one.

Getting There: 5 to 8 Kilometres From Aegiali

I drove the main asphalt road connecting Aegiali to Chora, the route passing directly by Agios Pavlos, clearly marked and well paved, with good views descending toward the coast. KTEL buses run from both Aegiali and Katapola, stopping directly at the beach entrance.

Organised parking sits near the hotel and taverna, and I arrived earlier in the day to get a spot close to the small pier, since that’s also the departure point for the boats to Nikouria.

The Beach: Sand and Small White Pebbles, the Spit Itself the Main Event

The shore mixes fine sand with small white pebbles, the spit’s tip offering an easier entry than the rest of the beach. A smaller stretch of sand sits beneath the road, partly shaded for part of the day — a useful spot for relief from the midday sun without paying for a sunbed.

The hotel adjoining the beach runs a bar and restaurant with sunbeds for rent, and the water stayed calm and clear on most of my visits, well suited to fishing, diving, and snorkelling along the rockier edges. The bay and the channel toward Nikouria held up noticeably better than more exposed parts of the island on a day when the north wind was blowing hard everywhere else.

Nikouria: Three Beaches, No Facilities, a Genuine Day Trip

Boats to Nikouria depart regularly from the small pier at Agios Pavlos, the crossing taking about ten minutes. The island holds three beaches, one noticeably longer than the other two, all sandy with scattered rocks, the water clear but genuinely cold even in summer. The small chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary is the only structure on the island — no restaurants, no cafés, nothing beyond what I brought myself.

Agios Pavlos, near Aegiali on Amorgos, points a shifting spit of sand and pebble out toward the uninhabited island of Nikouria — once home to an ancient mint producing coinage for Minoa, Arkesini, and Aegiali, later used as a shelter for lepers sent from the mainland. The beach itself can look very different depending on recent weather, clear and beautiful on a good day, marked by tar and litter after a rough stretch. Boats run regularly to Nikouria’s three sandy beaches, bare of any facilities beyond the small chapel. Five to eight kilometres from Aegiali, reachable by car or KTEL bus.

Drive the asphalt road from Aegiali toward Chora, or take the KTEL bus. Judge the water for yourself on the day rather than expecting it to look the same every time. Take the boat to Nikouria and bring everything you’ll need, since the island itself offers nothing beyond the chapel and the sand.