When You Find the Real Neverland!

Up to this point I only been to beaches in the Caribbean and a few beaches in the States. Most beaches I visited have been big, crowded and loud. Chalkidiki beaches were nothing like that, as a matter a fact they were the opposite. For the most part the beaches were small, quiet and pretty empty. By empty I mean about 10 more people besides us most days. One time we had the entire beach for ourselves the ENTIRE day. I felt like a celebrity. I couldn’t believe it.

The water was crystal clear and different shades of blue. The water was a bit chilly but a good kind of chilly nothing like the freezing temperatures of Coney Island (NYC) beach but a bit cooler than let’s say Puerto Rico (Caribbean) beaches. The water was saltier too and there were no vendors around. It felt good not being harassed by vendors trying to sell to me on a beach day. I also felt secured. I didn’t feel like I had to be so conscious about my belongings all the time and that’s a miracle because is really rare for a New Yorker to put their guard down. Every beach in Chalkidiki had free beach chairs. There was no fee to use them, you just had to consume food/drink with no minimum. That literally means you could consume the cheapest item in the menu and still rent the beach chair for the day. I know what you thinking, everything must cost 3x the price just because they giving you the chair. Nop! It was regular price. Although I wouldn’t had minded paying 3x the price because I’ll be getting a free beach chair rental anyway but it felt good not getting ripped off as a tourist.  

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Each beach had just one family owned restaurant. I thought that was great because the owners were Greek locals and kept things authentic. They took pride in their businesses. All their food was prepared from scratch and was fresh. Often the owners were both the cooks and the waiters. After the meal they will come over and chat with you. They really cared about giving you the best experience. It made me feel like family.

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One beach in particular had two businesses, one that sold drinks and the other sold food. I found that odd because every beach I went to in Chalkidiki had only one restaurant. There was never competition. I later found out one business belonged to the father’s and the other belonged to his son. I thought that was nice how they worked together and not against each other. There was a true sense of family in Chalkidiki and I loved it!  

Side note: All beaches in Chalkidiki were different. Some were rocky some were sandy some had fishes others didn’t. That’s how I met Fernando the crab. I was collecting shells one day and I picked up what I thought was a empty shell then realized there was a little person living in there. I named him Fernando after making sure he was good I released him back to the ocean. 

What makes Chalkidiki beaches unique is that the beaches are enclosed by cliffs. The fact that you could see what looks like mountains far out and cliffs surrounding the beach is very special. It reminded me of Neverland. It felt like the cliffs and mountains? were enclosing us from the real world. It was perfect! At this point I forgot about every worry and every problem I had. I was truly happy. Everyone around me was happy too. There was a chill vibe, some people were listening to music on their headphones others were reading a book others sunbathing. All you heard was the beach waves. I felt like I was in heaven. There’s only a few moments in my life where I felt at true peace and this was definitely one of those moments.