Milopotamos beach and its rock arch

Milopotamos is the beach on every Pelion postcard, and for once the postcard is honest. A fin of grey rock runs out into the sea and splits the sand in two, and near its base the water has cut an opening tall enough to walk through. From one side you frame the arch with the second bay and the cliff behind; from the other you shoot back through it at the open Aegean.

The water is deep blue, the sand is coarse and pale, and the cliffs behind are thick with trees right down to the beach, which is the Pelion signature — greenery over sand rather than dry scrub. Low sun through the arch in the first hour of the day gives the strongest image of the two directions.

This is a working beach with sunbeds and a canteen in season, so from July to late August it is busy from ten in the morning. In June and September you may have the arch to yourself, and in May the sea is cold but the light is beautiful.

Access is down a long flight of steps from the road; there is no way to drive to the sand. The arch is passable when the sea is calm and can be waist-deep or closed off when there is swell — check conditions before planning your shots around it.