Our Greek Island Paradise

Boarding the Blue Star Ferry to Naxos
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The Blue Star Ferry from the Port of Piraeus (Athens' seaport) to the island of Naxos in the Cyclades is usually packed - so get there at least 1.5 hours early and try for a seat on the open upper deck at the back in the middle.  Although the sun is scorching, the views are great and since we left at about 18:00 it got cooler quite soon.  The shades of blue that characterise the Aegean are tough to describe so we will let the pictures speak for themselves (there are more than 40 pics that go with this blog entry - so we have written little to allow you to enjoy them more - we especially like the underwater ones!).  Suffice it to say that the 5.5 hour trip went by quite quickly with so many great photo opportunities.

Leaving Piraeus Harbour
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The ferry stopped at Syros and Panos islands before we finally reached Naxos - where we were met at the docks by Theodore, Elena and their kids to take us back to Pension Sofi (see seperate review of a GREAT B&B).

Naxos was the Perfect Greek Island Paradise

Our original plan was to spend a few days on Naxos and then island hop to see others like Mykonos and Santorini.  After we realised (1) how much there is to do and see on Naxos and (2) how expensive the island hopping would be (55 Euro each to Santorini return for instance), we decided to stay and enjoy our own island - which as it turned out was a slice of paradise!

Enjoying the sun on board our ferry
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For the first two days we rented a 4x4 quad-bike and explored the main beaches - all on the Western coastline of Naxos.  The two best for us were Agios Proleopios (superb white sands, sheltered, and perfect for swimming - although can get a little crowded) and the beach off Alyko (the end of the tarred road on the West side of the island) which was 100% wild, very secluded, and very private.  We spent some time doing a refresher scuba diving course with Blue Fin Diving (at Agios Proleopios (which we can't recommend highly enough - the Dive Master and owner is Panos and he and his team are great!) and then did a 17m dive over the local reef - which was not only our deepest dive to date, but also saw us tangling with an octopus and enjoying the superb 30m+ visibility.

Almost like a cruise!
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For the rest of our time on Naxos we rented a 125cc motor scooter and explored the other parts of the island - which included a number of very quaint villages, ancient temples and churches, Mount Zeus (and the Zeus Cave) - which at 1008m is the highest in the Cyclades, the famous marble quarries, and the Kouros (incomplete ancient marble figures of naked men and women lying in the quarries in which they were being formed).  We were also fortunate enough to be in Chora (the main town) on the night of the festival of St. Nickademus - with a large procession through the streets and some really good fireworks.

Watching the sunset over the Greek islands during our 6h ferry crossing to Naxos
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The food was excellent, the people were perfect, the sunsets were superb, and Naxos was exactly what we had been hoping for from our Greek paradise.