Photo spot in Sifnos
Vathi bay and the potters' workshops
A near-circular sandy bay with a chapel on the shoreline and the workshops that made Sifnos a byword for Greek ceramics.
About Vathi bay and the potters' workshops
Get directionsVathi is a deep, almost enclosed bay on the south-west coast with shallow water, a strip of sand and tamarisk trees for shade. Until a road was cut in the 1990s it could only be reached on foot or by boat, and it still feels like the quiet end of the island: a handful of tavernas, the little church of the Taxiarchis right on the water, and fishing boats pulled up on the sand.
The bay is also the reason Sifnos is known for pottery. The clay here is good, and family workshops still throw and fire on site — stacked unglazed pots outside the doors, wheels turning in the shade. They photograph beautifully and the potters are used to visitors, but ask before you point a camera at anyone at work.
Because the bay faces roughly west-north-west, it stays soft into the evening and takes a proper sunset over the water, which is unusual for the east-leaning parts of Sifnos. The sand is fine and the shallows run out a long way, so this is the family and barefoot spot rather than the dramatic one. It is fifteen to twenty minutes by road from Apollonia.
Best time to shoot
Late afternoon into sunset, when the bay faces the light and the water goes flat
Tips
Ask before photographing anyone at a wheel — these are working studios, not a display. The shallows go out a long way, which is ideal for children. Parking is limited in August; go before six or leave the car at the top and walk down.
Other spots in Sifnos
Kastro and the Seven Martyrs chapel
A ring of medieval houses built as a defensive wall on a headland, with one white chapel alone on a rock in the sea directly below it.
The Chrysopigi monastery causeway
A white seventeenth-century monastery on its own spit of rock, reached by a small bridge over a cleft the sea runs straight through.
The Steno lane through Apollonia
The island's one pedestrian street: a narrow marble-paved lane climbing between whitewashed walls, bougainvillea and open doorways.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know Vathi bay and the potters' workshops — free of charge.