IOS Island Beaches – Greek Landscapes

Ios island has several beautiful beaches. The most popular are Mylopotas and Magannari. Even though the island is well known for its party atmosphere, you will find the beaches a relaxing and mostly quiet place to enjoy the sea and sun.

Mylopotas Beach – The most popular of Ios Island Beaches

General view of Mylopotas beach, the most popular one in Ios island.

Mylopotas beach in Ios island.

Name: Mylopotas beach (Μυλοπότας)
Location: Ios island, Greece
Click here to see it on the map and to get directions
Overall Rating: 4/5
Joy Index (What the Water Felt Like): 4/5
Beach Berm: Sand
Seafloor: Sand
Access: A paved road runs all the way to the beach. You will find ample parking within walking distance.
Busses connect the beach to Ios Chora every 15-20 minutes (1.60 euro). It is possible to walk from Chora to the beach since it’s only 3k away.
The way there is downhill, but you might find walking back to Chora taxing on the steep uphill road.
Amenities: A variety of shops, cafe, bars, and restaurants are within walking distance at the edge of the beach. You will find plenty of waterspouts available as well.
Notes
Mylopotas beach has fine sand, is clothing-optional, has many options for food and drink, and has a variety of water sports and boating experiences.It caters mainly to younger crowds, but it is a peaceful beach and not rowdy.
It is the most popular of Ios island beaches.

Gialos Beach

Yialos Beach — Gialos beach near the port is a nice place to cool off as you wait for your ferry to arrive.

Name: beach (Ελληνικα)
Location: , Greece
Click here to see it on the map and to get directions
Overall Rating: 3/5
Joy Index (What the Water Felt Like): 3/5
Beach Berm: Sand
Seafloor: Sand
Access: The beach is adjacent to the main port of Ios. It’s a good place to cool off as you are waiting for your ferry to arrive.
Amenities: The small port of Ios is within walking distance. There you will find shops, restaurants, bars, and hotels.
Notes: It’s not the most popular of Ios island beaches. Mainly because it’s right next to the port. But if you are staying in the vicinity, you will find it a pleasant one to swim at.

Magannari Beach

Name: Magannari beach (Μαγγανάρι)
Location: Ios island, Greece
Click here to see it on the map and to get directions

About Our Beach Rating

Our beach reports are based on personal on-site visits.

Beach Rating Scale:

5 = Superb! Best we visited. We would travel around the world to swim there again.
4 = Excellent. We would travel across Greece to swim there.
3 = Good. We would choose it among other beaches if we were in the area.
2 = Average. We would return to this beach if we were in the area, but not as our first choice.
1 = Disappointing. The beach was fine for one visit. We would return if desperate.

Sea Water Rating Scale:

5 = The sea water felt wonderful and clean. We would go way out of our way to swim there again.
4 = The sea water felt good and we would go out of our way to swim there again.
3 = The water felt nice and clean. We would swim there again if we were in the area.
2 = Nice sea. We had a good swim but did not notice anything special or unusual about the water.
1 = The sea water was not very inviting when we visited.

The beach reports and ratings are based on our simple (and unscientific) observations during our visit.
We enjoy the sea water when it’s crystal-clear and cooler rather than warm. We don’t enjoy swimming among flotsam any kind.
We also like the sand to be clean of debris, and a bit more more coarse than the fine, “sticky” kind. We also prefer the more undeveloped beaches (ie. the ones without bars, music, loud crowds, or salespeople).
Certain beaches we have visited once, while many we have seen several times. It is possible that conditions have changed since our visit, so use these reports as another point of reference in your research.