Ikaria’s most beautiful sandy beaches Messahti and Livadi
These are the two largest and most beautiful sandy beaches in Ikaria, in contrast to the otherwise predominant pebble beaches and rocky bays. The road to Raches leads between the two beaches.
Livadi
The first, seen from Armenistis, is called Livadi. A stream (Charakas) that comes from the mountains flows there and forms a pool of fresh water on the beach, in which many freshwater turtles cavort. The sea gets deep relatively quickly. If you have a mask you can watch the skeleton of a boat underwater a few meters from the beach. And of course it is particularly attractive to swim out to the rock. You can rent umbrellas and loungers, but at €5 per umbrella and 2 loungers it’s not particularly cheap. But you can easily take your own umbrella and just lie down on the sand.
Messahti
Messahti can be reached on foot via the cliffs. This beach is even larger than Livadi, the water is very shallow on the far left towards Armenistis. All Greek families with their small children and older people prefer to swim here. You almost only meet Greeks.
In the middle of the beach, where the Meltemi waves are at their highest in August, a real little international surfer’s paradise has developed. Young people hang out there, the beach bars play loud music and the surfers show off their skills. There is even a small surfing school, pedal boats and canoes for rent. This mainly applies to August (Greek school holidays) in the early and late season it is also very quiet and tranquil here.
Swimming naked is prohibited on both beaches and toplessness is not welcome, but tolerated. I would particularly advise you not to do this at Messahti (Μεσακτή) in the shallow family corner.
Wild camping prohibited! is also forbidden. Since the Nas river valley no longer offers shady plane trees and is therefore no longer attractive, the wild campers attack the two beaches like locusts in July and August. This got so out of hand last year that this year the municipality and the police are called in as soon as they suspect wild camping. So if you’re definitely traveling with a backpack and a tent, then it’s better to go straight to an island with a campsite.
If it is stormy, you should be careful of the high waves and I strongly advise you not to swim far out. There are very strong underwater currents on both beaches, which can easily be underestimated. A few unreasonable people drown every year! The surfers always pull out swimmers in distress, but unfortunately there are always accidents where no one wants to risk their own life for a madman.