Kamari Beach

Kamari runs along the south-east coast of Santorini, beneath the Mesa Vouno headland that separates it from Perissa on the other side. It is around two kilometres of black shingle and is the island's main organised beach.

It is where Santorini's geology becomes usable. The famous side of the island is the caldera cliff, which has no beaches at all — the villages sit three hundred metres above the sea. The eastern coast is where the land comes down to the water, and where the volcanic material has been worked into beaches. Ancient Thera, the Greek and Roman city, sits on the ridge directly above.

The shore is coarse black pebble rather than sand, which stores heat and becomes painfully hot by midday; the sunbeds are not a luxury here. The water deepens quickly and is clear and cool. There is no natural shade anywhere on the beach and the cliff behind puts the northern end into shadow in late afternoon. The shingle continues underwater, so the entry is a scramble rather than a wade, and swimmers here get in and stay in rather than paddling at the edge. The far northern corner under the cliff is the quietest part of the beach at any hour.

Development is a full resort front: hotels, tavernas and shops along a paved promenade, with sunbed concessions covering most of the shingle and a free public strip at the edges. An open-air cinema operates in summer, and a footpath climbs the headland to Ancient Thera in about an hour.

Black volcanic pebble hot enough to burn, deep water within a few strides, and the Mesa Vouno cliff at one end with ancient Thera on top of it. Bring something for your feet. The caldera villages get the photographs and this side of Santorini gets the swimming.