Ask anyone about Mykonos, and you’ll hear the same thing – white streets, crazy expensive clubs, and August crowds so bad you can’t get a chair anywhere. Fair enough, that reputation is earned. The thing is, there’s another version of Mykonos that most visitors totally miss. All around Mykonos, there are these small islands just sitting there — most with nobody on them, a few totally deserted. And the best part? Some are under an hour by boat. No ferry chaos, no loudspeaker announcements, no DJs, no €40 sunbeds in sight. Just rock, scrub, clear water, and maybe one fisherman somewhere in the distance doing his own thing.
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Why barely anyone knows about them
Part of the reason is simple geography — these islets are too small for a real port, so ferry operators don’t bother stopping. The other part is that most tourists never think past the taxi boats lined up at Ornos beach. And that’s kind of a shame when you think about it — Greece has roughly 6,000 islands and islets altogether, and less than 230 are even inhabited.
Delos
Delos is in every guidebook, yeah. But almost nobody stays past the two-hour tour loop. Big mistake. Delos is barely 3.4 square kilometers of rock and ruins — but myth has it that this little patch of earth was where Apollo and Artemis came into the world. By the 2nd century BC, it was one of the busiest trading ports in the Mediterranean — population estimates put it near 30,000 at its peak, which is wild to think about while walking through the ruins today. Now it holds zero permanent residents. Marble columns, stone lions staring over dry grass, and silence — the kind that feels strange after the noise of Mykonos Town. Time it right, show up after the tour groups clear out — better take advantage of boat rental Mykonos — and the ruins are yours for the final hour.
Rineia
A short hop from Delos, maybe ten minutes by boat, sits Rineia, and almost no one bothers. Odd, considering ancient Delians used the island as their burial ground — no one was allowed to die or give birth on “sacred” Delos, so the dead went to Rineia instead. These days it’s mostly goats on scrubby hills and not much else. The coves are sandy, quiet, sheltered from the wind, zero development. No taverna. No umbrella rentals. Nothing. Pack a sandwich, because you’re not buying lunch there — there’s literally no one selling anything.
Tragonisi
This one’s for anyone into wildlife more than ruins. Tragonisi is a rocky islet off Mykonos’ eastern coast, and it’s one of the last known breeding sites for the Mediterranean monk seal, a species so rare that fewer than 700 are thought to survive worldwide. The sea caves along its cliffs aren’t reachable by land at all. Locals recommend GetBoat for this trip as this is really the only practical way in — the water around the caves turns this strange, almost electric blue that never quite comes through right in photos.
Pre-departure basics
Anyone can rent a boat. The ones who actually enjoy it are the ones who prepared, as it matters.
- Go early, ideally between 8 and 10 — the light’s soft and the sea around Tragonisi’s caves is usually glassy.
- Avoid peak season if your schedule allows it — late June or mid-September gives you nearly identical water temperatures with far less boat traffic.
- Bring more water than seems necessary. There’s no kiosk out there, which is sort of the whole point.
One last thing
You don’t need a yacht or a huge budget — a modest half-day charter covers all three islands without much trouble. The real secret isn’t that these places exist. Locals have always known. It’s that hardly anyone visiting ever thinks to ask.
