Santorini, though an island, is not known for its beaches. Because the island is essentially the remnants of a 3,500 year-old volcanic explosion, what beaches there are tend to be rough and rocky. The Vedema Hotel had a stretch of beach on the south shore of the island to which they would drive us. Rather than sand, the beach was covered with volcanic cinder and the ocean floor was a shelf of solid rock that was very slick to walk on. There was another beach that we visited near Akrotiri that was more conventional, though still fairly rocky. From there, one could take a boat white or red sand beaches that were otherwise inaccessible, but we didn't.

Near the beach at Akrotiri are some very impressive ruins. An entire town, that was apparently quite technologically advanced for 1,500 B.C.E. was buried whole by the volcanic eruption. Today, for roughly $5, you can walk through the ongoing excavations of the town, which was quite well preserved under all of the ash.

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Greece 1996

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