A pebble bay four and a bit kilometres west of Mykonos town. Quieter in August than it has any right to be, and the reason we built here.
Houlakia means “little pebbles”, and that is the entire explanation for why it stays quiet in August while Ornos does not. Bring something for your feet. The water is clear and cold well into June.
There are no sunbeds, no beach bar, no shade to speak of and no shop. It is a swimming bay with a restaurant above it, and that is deliberate.
Mornings are flat. From about 15:00 the wind comes across the bay hard from the north and stays until early evening, by which time it has usually dropped again for the 20:00 seating.
So: swim before lunch, eat, and let the afternoon happen on the deck rather than in the water.
Every one of these is longer in the second half of August.