The first time I came to Plakias I hadn't much idea of what the place was going to be like. I saw the photograph in the brochure showing the beach, which was almost empty and there was almost an empty space behind it from the Alianthos to the far end. I speculated that this was an old photograph they had, to make it more appealing, and that there would be a string of large hotels behind the beach, or hotels under construction. Thankfully, apart from one small block opposite the Alianthos, the photograph was true to life and, apart from the umbrellas and the surfaced road, it is largely like that today. So we can be thankful that development has not come faster than it has.
Like everyone else, I don't welcome this development as it will change the place. However, seeing the website and knowing what has happened in other parts of Greece, I don't think it should be all gloom and doom for far-enders because of the following:
1. The far end is backed by sand dunes, so it can't be seen from the road or any development behind it.
2. The development doesn't look to be directly behind the far end, it looks to be a bit nearer to the village.
3. It is not an hotel, it is private houses. So I would have thought that some would be second homes and so not occupied all the time. And if people are living there permanently, they are unlikely to want to go to the beach as often as people on holiday. (I realise that some, however, but not all, will be bought as investments and let off to tourists for holidays). Also, there appears to be a large pool in the middle of the development, which will lessen the number of people that want to go to the beach.
4. Where I have seen new developments behind clothing-optional beaches in other parts of Greece, it is only the part of the beach directly in front of the development that has been affected.
5. The far end is one of the few places that I know where almost everyone is nude and I think the number of nudists is increasing. In most other places I go, nudists are often in the minority and in decreasing numbers, therefore more likely to be overun.
6. There is always Mikro Ammoudhi, amongst others in the vicinity.
Plakias will always have a certain attraction to it. There was one year (about 1997 I think) when I decided that Plakias wasn't for me because of the way it had developed (That was the first year of the train, first time umbrellas had appeared on Micro Ammoudhi and the year that the 'road' was built around the headland from Damnoni to Mikro Ammoudhi). So I stopped going to Plakias, then after a 5 year gap (partly due to stumbling across this bulletin board and reading it) I went back and have been back twice since.
Greecemad
