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When planning a trip to Santorini, choosing the right place to stay can greatly enhance your experience. While Fira and Oia often steal the spotlight, Kamari offers a unique and equally captivating alternative. Here are compelling reasons from experience why you should consider making Kamari your base when visiting Santorini.

Overall Cost of Stay
Staying in Kamari allows you to enjoy Santorini’s beauty and culture without the higher costs associated with the more well-known towns of Oia and Fira. Oia and Fira are known for their luxurious, high-end hotels and resorts, often with premium prices due to their stunning caldera views and proximity to popular tourist spots. Accommodation in Oia and Fira can be extremely expensive, especially during peak season. Kamari on the other hand offers a wide range of accommodations, including budget hotels, guesthouses, and mid-range resorts.
We found eating out to be very reasonably priced in Kamari. Most main courses at restaurants along the beachfront were priced between €10-€20. A half-litre carafe of local wine was typically between €8-€10. Takeaway gyros and souvlaki places were around €4. Whereas in Oia, in many of the cafes and restaurants, an orange juice would set you back €10!
Sunbeds at the beach are owned by the bars and restaurants and at every place that we went to we were able to use the sunbeds all day for free as long as we purchased food or at least one drink which I found to be generous compared to other places I’ve been!
Kamari Beach

Kamari is renowned for its striking black sand beach, which is a result of the island’s volcanic origins. The beach stretches for over five kilometers making Kamari Beach one of the longest beaches in Santorini. It’s made up of dark sand and pebbles and there are plenty of loungers available that you use for free with the purchase of a drink or food. The clear water here is great for swimming and there are also watersports such as jet skiing and banana boating available!
Along the beachfront, there are plentiful bars, restaurants, and takeaways where you can grab lunch, cocktails, smoothies and icecreams etc during your beach day!
Food and Drink

Kamari’s beachfront promenade is a culinary haven. There are dozens of restaurants lining the beachfront. There is a a wide range of options, from traditional Greek tavernas to international restaurants so there is plenty to please everyone. Fresh seafood is a highlight, with many restaurants offering the catch of the day. Most places have traditional Greek gyros kebabs (I won’t admit how many of those
I ate!) and souvlaki as a menu staple!

Many of the restaurants offer al fresco dining with stunning sea views, allowing you to enjoy your meal in a picturesque Santorini setting.
Accessability
Kamari is just a 5-10 minute drive from the airport making it extremely convenient. I also enjoyed watching the planes fly in to land!
The bustling capital of Santorini, Fira is just a 15-minute bus ride away and a ticket is only €2. We travelled into Fira a few times during our week stay in Kamari so this was really handy! You will also find the main bus station in Fira, so from here you can easily visit any other towns or villages you’d like such as Oia, Perissa and Akrotiri. For this reason we didn’t feel the need to hire a car during our trip, however we did hire a buggy for 24 hours to visit some other beaches along the bottom of the isand which was great fun.
Fewer Crowds
We found Kamari to be relatively quiet and peaceful when we visited. However, when visiting some of the more popular towns such as Oia and Fira we were struck by the vast crowds and huge tour groups. Also in Oia, when walking around the town, we had a full view of many hotel guests in their swimming pools and while I envied their incredible views, I wouldn’t have liked to be overlooked by large crowds while relaxing. I’d also recommend visiting Santorini in the shoulder seasons as crowds are much smaller and prices are lower! We travelled at the end of May and it was the perfect time to go as it wasn’t too busy and the weather was perfect.
Where We Stayed

We stayed at the Amara Suites Kamari which we booked via booking.com and it was incredible so I’d definitely give it a recommendation if you’re looking for a luxury boutique hotel in Kamari.
Overall, we loved our stay in Kamari so I certainly suggest considering it as the perfect base for your Santorini travels!
My husband and I love these kinds of places that are off the beaten path.
Great advice! I like the look of Kamari to avoid staying right in the crowded areas when visiting Santorini.
Kamari is exactly the type of place we’d like to stay at. I hope we get to Santorini one day soon.