Karydi Beach

Karydi is the beach you point people to when they want the turquoise of Sithonia without the scramble. It sits at the soft southern end of Vourvourou bay, a wide bank of fine white sand held between two low rocky capes, and the sea here does something quietly remarkable. It stays shallow and clear for a long way out, warm and almost still on a settled morning, so the whole bay reads like a natural pool. Pine trees come right down to the sand, and the green against the pale shallows is the picture that sells the place.

For families this is the easy choice on the middle peninsula. A small child can wade out a long way and never be out of their depth, the water has none of the sudden drop you get off the rocks at Kavourotrypes, and the trees give real shade rather than the bare glare of the coves further south. The detail that matters is that shade, because Karydi is largely unorganised, which is both its charm and its catch. There is usually a kiosk or a small bar for cold drinks and a taverna up by the car park, but no tidy ranks of sunbeds and no club. You bring your own umbrella, or you claim a patch under the pines early.

That informality is the honest trade. Karydi is no secret, and in the peak weeks and at weekends the bay fills, the pine shade goes by the late morning, and the parking gets tight. The water stays lovely, but the calm you came for is a morning pleasure rather than an all day one. Arrive early and Karydi is close to ideal. If you want the same gentle shallows with a proper bar and a daybed behind you, the organised sand at Kalogria near Nikiti gives you the service, and for room to spread without the crowd the long cape at Possidi over on Kassandra is the wider, wilder alternative.