Simos and Sarakinikos Beaches, Elafonisos

At a distance of 4 km from the settlement of Elafonisos, on the southern side of the island are the twin beaches of Simos (small beach) and Sarakinikos (long beach or Tserakiniko for the locals). Access is by car and during the summer months sailings are made by the old harbor of Elafonisos (Skala). Characteristic of the landscape is the fine golden sand, the shallow, turquoise waters, the clear waters, the dunes that reach even the 10 m high and the cedar forest that spreads over the two beaches. The endless, white sand and turquoise waters give the scenery an exotic beauty. On the beaches of Simos and Sarakinikos you can admire the pink sand that comes from the red corals that exist at the bottom, the countless colorful shells and the rich underwater space.

The beach of Sarakinikos was used as a base by the Saracens, of whom it was named. Ormos of Sarakinikos (or Tserakinikos) or Porto di Cervi of the cartographers, was a refuge for wild Cilic, Saracen, Turks, Barbarians, Maltese, Knights, English, French, Maniatans and others pirates and corsairs. Proposed group graves, with broken human skulls, found on the beaches of Simos and Sarakinikos, testify to the brutality that these beautiful regions have experienced. Viktor Hugo, in his poem on Kythira, refers to the corsairs of the region (Steno of Elafonisos) as well as I. Vern … In 1572, the 1st Venetian Battleship of Elafonisos began in Sarakiniko. Don Juan, Uloudzalis, Cervantes (writer of the leading work in Don Quixote’s World Literature) participated in this. In Sarakiniko, the decision was also taken on Navarino’s naval battle. On 8 October 1827, at dawn on Saturday, the Admiralty War Council (Kodrington, Derigny, Heyden) received the most critical decision in Modern Greek History in the blue waters of Sarakinikos: “either Ibrahim stops all hostilities and returns with all his the fleet and forces in Alexandria, or on the spot accepts the united fire of the Allied Fleet… “.