Sailing Through Greece: Peleponnese, E13 Elafonisos

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This episode: Peleponnese E13, Elafonisos is a small island between the Peloponnese and Kythira. It lies off the coast of Cape Malea and Vatika. The area of the island is 19 square kilometres (7 square miles). The population is between 300 and 350 during the winter but increases dramatically in the summer months. During July and August the number of tourist visitors reach over 3,000 per day Many people visit the island for its light coloured, sandy beaches. In antiquity, Elafonisos did not constitute an island but a peninsula with the name "Onou Gnathos" (Donkey's Jawbone) Just off the coast of Elafonissos lies the archaeological site of Pavlopetri, a sunken city dating back to the early 3rd millennium BC and thought to have been claimed by the sea around 1000 BC . The island was a peninsula in ancient times and the sandy isthmus which separates it from the Peloponessos is only a few feet underwater which is why the sea has the remarkably alluring colour and the snorkelling is terrific!
The Peloponnese is a peninsula in southern Greece. It is separated from the central part of the country by the Gulf of Corinth. During the late Middle Ages and the Ottoman era, the peninsula was known as the Morea a name still in colloquial use