Bananarama
Beach Bar

Bananarama holds down its stretch of Banana Beach, the bigger of the two crescents over the headland from Koukounaries, and it has one job: keeping the tempo up. Music runs from late morning, climbs through the afternoon, and by six the bar has become an open air club with dancers and a floor of Greek students on their summer migration, topped up by day trippers from Koukounaries. Nothing about this is a secret, it is the most dependable party on the island.

Our question for every venue on the Skiathos club directory is the same: what does the money actually buy, and what does the free version of the day look like. Bananarama comes out of that test better than its party reputation suggests. The reported bed prices are ordinary for a Greek island in season, and the premium you really pay is at the bar, one drink at a time.

The day has two halves and you should know which one you are buying. Before about two in the afternoon, Bananarama is simply a well placed lounger operation on one of the prettiest crescents on the island, with jet ski and wakeboard operators working the water in front and enough space to swim in peace. That version of the day is decent value. From mid afternoon the DJ takes over, the bar top becomes a stage, and by early evening you are inside a beach party whether you planned to be or not.

Run the numbers the way a careful traveller would. Two beds and an umbrella from a reported 30 euros splits to 15 a head, which undercuts plenty of quieter Greek beach bars that charge the same for silence. The catch is the meter running at the bar. With soft drinks reported around 5.50 euros and cocktails above that, a couple staying from lunch to sunset can spend double the bed fee without trying, and the staff turn away picnics, so there is no cheating the system. Decide before you commit whether you want the party enough to fund it.

Where it falls short is no mystery and the bar would not apologise for it. Reviews in peak weeks describe service that can be short with people who are slow to order, and anyone hoping to hold a front row bed all day on one frappe is fighting the business model. If that is the day you want, the free stretch of sand and the gentler bars over at Koukounaries exist precisely for you.

Banana is really two beaches. The main crescent, sometimes called Big Banana, is where Bananarama and its neighbours line the sand with beds, music and water sports, facing west into the afternoon sun and the island’s best mainstream sunset. Climb over the rocks at the south end and you reach Little Banana, a smaller cove with a long standing clothing optional tradition and a single bar of its own, Black Bird, which we profile separately. The full Banana Beach guide covers the swimming, the two coves and the walk between them.

The bar sits about twelve kilometres from Skiathos Town at the far southwest tip of the island. The Koukounaries bus drops you at the end of the line and leaves a short walk over the headland, or you can drive and use the parking above the beach and walk down. In summer, beach boats from the old port also call at Koukounaries. Getting a bed is first come for most of the season, and the front line on an August Saturday goes to whoever arrives before the music does.

There is no online booking system, just a listed mobile number and the walk up queue. If you would rather land with the day already arranged, put a date and a headcount in the enquiry box below and we hand it to the bar, which can confirm bed availability and the current price for that day. It costs nothing and saves the midday scramble.