Kokkini Paralia

You anchor off Red Beach, one of Santorini's most visually striking spots — the towering cliffs of deep red and black volcanic rock tumbling straight into the sea are genuinely like nowhere else in Greece. The dramatic colors come from the ancient caldera, and swimming here with that raw volcanic scenery all around you is pretty surreal. It's a short swim or dinghy ride to shore, where Akrotiri's famous Bronze Age archaeological site is just a walk away.