Finiki and Arkasa - best west coast villages and beaches on Karpathos.
Finiki Fishing Village
Great food & crystal clear water for swimming and snorkling.
Finiki (also known as Foiniki or Foinikion on some maps) is a small village on the west coast founded by the local fishermen and for us it was a 40-50 minutes drive by scooter from Pigadia where we were staying. The village belongs to Arkasa (Arkesine) and the distance between the two are only one and half kilometer. Until 1900, Finiki was the main commercial port of Karpathos and had an important role in the daily life of the island. It is best known for it's excellent fish taverns which are famous all over the island. We visited Finiki several times during our stay and our favourite taverna was "Mama Cuisine by Kokona" which is owned by a very friendly man named Nektarios. We loved the service and good food and had the best beef Stifado from Greece so far at this place.
Besides Mama Cuisine, there were also a few other tavernas. We tried the fresh fish and mussels in white wine at "Delphini" and got to pick out the food we wanted from the daily catch. All in all we can recommend a visit to Finiki and to the tavernas, to enjoy the water and maybe even plan a stay in one of the villas or apartments for rent.
Finiki Beach
A secluded small beach perfect for swimming, snorkling and enjoying the surroundings.
The beach in Finiki is one of the smaller sand beaches and we liked that it was less crowded and still provided sunbeds, a few tavernas to choose from with fresh food, clear water for snorkling and a beautiful backdrop with the houses located above the beach. On windy days on Karpathos, we found Finiki and this area to be less windy due to the port and mountain which protects from the stronger winds. There are a few boats in the harbour and the locals gather for a chit chat on and off during the days.
The small fishing village of Finiki on Karpathos where people gather for conversation. A gem not to miss!
Surfers and coffee lovers paradise
Arkasa is one of the largest villages on Karpathos and is also known as Arcesine. It is located about 18 km from Pigadia and we stopped at this village a few times before our visit to Finiki. We drove our scooter and would pass through the picturesque village of Menetes meaning we made it to three of our favorite spots on Karpathos during the same day. To be honest we found almost every place in Karpathos to be our favourite. It’s just a magical place!
Arkasa is one of the oldest settlements in Karpathos and an ancient city of Greece which flourished thousands of years ago (!). The population (2011) is said to be only 531 so it is an important town for tourism with a few shops and taverns, apartments and other services. We found the beach to be truly beautiful and popular among surfers, so the waves tend to get a little bigger. There is a cool taverna, “Karpassion”, which is nicely decorated at the beach and we enjoyed a chilled ice-coffee while watching the surfers trying to catch a good wave. It had a bit of a hip surfer-vibe feeling with good music and drinks.
Catching a wave in Arkasa.
If you enjoyed our post about Finiki and Arkasa you might want to check out what other villages and paradise beaches we found on Karpathos. Did you hear about Menetes yet?
