Vrika and Voutoumi on Antipaxos

Antipaxos is a small island of vineyards and scrub about twenty minutes south of Gaios by boat, with two beaches on its east coast and almost no permanent population. Vrika is white sand in a shallow bowl; Voutoumi, a headland further on, is coarse pebble and shelves faster, which is what turns the water the improbable pale turquoise it is known for.

The shots that work here are the wide ones taken from above. A stone path climbs from Voutoumi to a taverna terrace on the ridge, ten minutes up, from where both bays and the boats read as a single frame. Down at the water, keep the horizon high and let the colour of the sea fill the picture; a polariser helps, but the clarity does most of it.

Everything depends on the boats. The first day trips from Corfu arrive around eleven and the bays go from empty to loud in half an hour, so a session has to be early. There is no road, no shade beyond the taverna and no shop — bring water. Check the last return crossing before you plan anything late; nobody stays on Antipaxos overnight.