Details
In the south-west of Samos, there is a small beach called Fornaki Beach next to Votsalakia and Marathokampos.
It is much smaller than Tsamadou, but many Barefoot reporters think much nicer. Typically 10-20 people on beach generally nude. There is a lovely little beach bar near the end of beach. Good swimming and snorkelling although the entrance to the water is over pebbles, so beach shoes are recommended. There is fairly easy access. The beach is backed by cliffs so tends to go into shade from early evening (about 6.30 when my reporters were there). There is no shade during the day.
There is a long stretch of isolated beach in front of sand cliffs. If you walk as far west as possible, you will reach a sand beach, sparsely populated, and with a totally different character to either Tsmadou or Avlakia. The beach was 100 metres long, 100% sand extending out into the Aegean for 100-200 metres. No chairs, no taverna, nothing.
28°C
2003 August: There were 4 to 5 couples and 2 or 3 single women lying in the sun on this beach. 100% naturist, very relaxed, and friendly. there is a nice taverna up on the cliff which has fantastic views of the beach. A scooter, or car, is mandatory, or you'll spend your whole day walking.
2000 July: It is easy to find: there is a sign down to the beach just after the village of Kampos. It is said to be about 70% nude, but there are other beaches nearby where you can go nude.
2001 June: A report confirms that Fornaki is about 60% nudist. There are several coves, so walk further if one is textile.
The stones aren't so smooth here, but if you keep on walking another couple of hundred metres there are some little beaches that were being used by naturists - only two or three couples. My contributor found these to be very rocky and evidently was slightly concerned lying under the cliffs which didn't look that safe as they were mud and stone.
A keen Barefooter says that those who say the beach(es) is (are) rocky and not nice haven't walked far enough. The last one has a very nice sandy beach with shallow water and some nice cliffs for snorkelling to the west. This part can also be reached from the road: Drive along the cliff side, when the road turns inland and a telephone line crosses over, turn off the road and park. Walk down a dry riverbed through an ancient olive grove. Someone has painted signs that say "Nocted is forbitten". My intrepid Barefoot reporter made sure he did not do any nocting, nor did he see anyone enjoying this activity, whatever it is.
2003 September: There were every day 4-5 couples at this part, all nude. There were scattered nudes along the rest of the beach towards Kampos, with 6-7 couples in the first cove after the abandoned taverna.
This beach is located at the west end of Votsalakia village, the official name of which is Kampos. There’s a bridge at the end of the village and behind it there’s a sign on the left and a path down to a still closed tavern. Following this path, partly leading through the dry river bed, you come to the beach. It is quite big, mostly covered with pebbles and some sand. After the first 300m long section there is one beautiful cove where a pair of Barefooters spent a marvellous holiday. Further on there are two other coves with a little worse access into the sea. All sections (coves), including the first biggest one were used by naturists for all two weeks. The first one was 80-90% nudist with about 10 to maximum 30 people on the beach, the second and the following ones were completely nudist. There were mostly people from Holland, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Czech Republic. The atmosphere on the beach was very friendly. A few people walked around during the day which caused no problems. They mostly went to see the scenery of the coves towards the west of the island. The beach is surrounded with rocks consisting of stones and sand. These rocks look very dangerous like they would collapse every moment, but not even a stone came down while we were there. My reporters found this beach an ideal place for a naturist holiday.
Follow the path down to the beach - signposted as Fournaki beach - turn left for the main Kambos/Votsalakia beach and right for a series for pebble beach coves. All of these seemed to have a mixture of textiles and naturists. Mostly quiet, for several days out of the week Barefooters had a beach to themselves.
The village of Kambos/Votsalakia is stretched out along the beach for a couple of kilometres with no real centre so you will find yourselves spending a lot of time wandering up and down the mostly quiet road.
2006 July: Barefoot reporters tell me that the western end of the beach was used mainly by nudists, of various countries. The first part of the beach had sun beds on and was used by textiles. There were up to 14 nudists using the beach. The beach was a mixture of large and small pebbles but was sheltered to a certain extent by the cliffs from the winds which seemed to come mainly from the North of the island. My reporters rated the beach 75%.
The Beach bar is up and running and serves drinks and light snacks. It is run by a friendly young couple and is a nice place to escape the very hot sun and get a bit of shade.
2007 July: Reports say that Fornaki beach now has sunbeds, all textile, so Barefooters went to the next bay over the rocks and were sometimes alone or with a maximum of eight people, all naturist. Good swimming and snorkelling. Beach shoes were essential.
2011: Used this beach several times, no sun beds, 90% naturist then and as described above with difficult access to the sea, several coves along this area - just keep walking till one suits you. Late July although high season, these beaches were very quiet. You can either walk from the textile beach at Votsalakia, or park (as described) at the end of town right after the bridge accross the dry riverbed. Both are probably a 5 min walk to the beach. The clothing optional section starts west of the mouth of the dry riverbed. There are a couple of bays west of here, all suitable for nude swimming and relaxing. When we were there (in July) there were very few people here, and often a mix of nude and clothed, bet there were nude people each time. If you continue to the third beach (pebbly), you probably have the entire beach to yourself.
Because it was so quiet, at first it was hard to determine what was nude, and what was not. But if you take it all off, you’ll likely start a trend. Bring your own supplies. I would rate this 80%.
2012 June: situation has remained the same. Spectacular scenery, pebbly but great beach.
2017 August: At Fornaki beach were some nude couples, and one family camping on the end of the beach. We were there three times in one week. Sometimes there were non-nude or topless young couples, women or men visiting the beach but this was not annoying. There are no facilities at the nude section of the beach but this is one of the best places to be. When you walk several metres into the sea the stones disappear and there is only sand! You can walk 100 metres into the sea because it is real flat!
The best place to park is at the parking of the now closed “beach bar” Mistic Ocean”:- https://goo.gl/maps/RaWZBTpibEr
Walk here https://goo.gl/maps/k9Lu5Abvoco downwards where the road turns right a path for some metres and go right and follow the sometimes steep path through the ancient olive grove. Here you can find the beach on Google Maps:- https://goo.gl/maps/pfCgvBCUg3q
About the painted words "Nocted is forbitten" can I say: This must be a mix of English and German and you can interpret it as “Nacktheit ist verboten” but the painter did not speak German or English well. The painting is more than 20 years old and I saw it also in 1995 and 2009.
2018 July: A Barefooter said: For me the description of the beaches in Votsalakia and Fournaki was a bit confusing. Actually: starting from the western end of the textile beach in Votsalakia there is a range of 5 smaller and bigger beaches called Fournaki. The easiest way to get there is to walk from the western end in Votsalakia. They can all be reached by walking over the rocks and pebbles. Or you can start at the last beach, near the parking place of the closed beach bar as mentioned above.
The first beach has beach beds and umbrellas and is textile. On the next (small) beach there was a nude couple. The third beach is larger and more beautiful, also a nude couple. Nobody on the next two beaches. Next day the same numbers. Number of tourists has decreased the last few years.
2024 August: West of Mocambo Bar beach all the beaches were at least CO, sometimes 100% nude. Mostly occupied by couples. Do not forget to bring umbrella and water with you.
Location
Review
Login to Write Your ReviewLeave a Review
Greghory
Visited in June 2025 as a couple
Rather than one beach, Fournaki seems to be a series of connected bays.
It is situated adjacent to the main beach at Marathokampos and you can access it simply by walking west along that beach until you come to Mocambo Bar. Alternatively there is a small car park just off the main road that is clearly marked for Mocambo Bar.
The first beach is serviced and run by the bar. It contains umbrellas and loungers and while it is not uncommon to see topless patrons, nudity is not permitted. If you walk 50m west to the next bay you come to a stony unserviced bay that is frequented by naturists. We visited this four times and we saw up to ten naturists using it, ranging from people in their 20s to their 70s. Access to the sea is stony but the snorkelling is excellent. There are no facilities so bringing your own umbrella/shade and plenty of water is highly recommended.
If you continue to walk west you will come to several more bays that are largely unoccupied but suitable for naturist use. However if you walk to the far end, (half a mile from the first naturist beach) you come to an amazing sandy beach that is clothing optional. It is also possible to access this beach from the road by descending a gentle gulley on a path. We visited three times. Due to this location, it was less populated. Some people chose to wear swimwear but the majority preferred to be naked.