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Othoni Cultural Association

CHOOSING A DAY TRIP

The famous one, or the quiet one

If you are in Corfu and looking for an island day trip, you will hear about Paxos and Antipaxos first. They are beautiful, and they are busy. The Diapontia islands are the other direction — further, quieter, and much less visited. Here is the difference.

Getting to the Diapontia

What you are really choosing between

Paxos and Antipaxos are to the south, and they are the classic Corfu excursion for a reason — turquoise water, sea caves, the famous beaches of Antipaxos. But they are popular, and in July and August it shows. The boats carry around a hundred people, several go out on the same day, and at the small beaches you can find yourself swimming inside roped-off areas because of the number of boats. It is a lovely trip if you go early or late in the season; in high summer it is a crowded one.

The Diapontia — Othoni, Erikousa, Mathraki — are to the north-west, out past the tip of Corfu. They are further, and there are simply fewer people: fewer boats, no roped swimming areas, no queue for the good spot. The trade-off is simple — they are less developed, the connections are fewer, and everything depends more on the weather. You are choosing quiet over convenience.

Which one is for you

Go to Paxos if you want the famous water and the sea caves, you do not mind sharing them, and you would rather have an easy, well-served trip that runs like clockwork. In June or September, it is close to the best day out from Corfu.

Come to the Diapontia if what you are chasing is the absence of a crowd — a beach you might have to yourself, a taverna that is not on a rota, a night sky with nothing in the way of it. It is more effort and more weather, and that is exactly why it stays quiet.

If the crowds are the point, go south. If getting away from them is the point, come north.

The comparison

What people ask when they are deciding.

Are the Diapontia islands less crowded than Paxos?
Considerably. Paxos and Antipaxos are the busiest day trip from Corfu, with large boats and, in high season, roped-off swimming areas at the popular beaches. The Diapontia get a fraction of the visitors — fewer boats, no queues, and beaches you can sometimes have to yourself.
Which is easier to reach from Corfu?
Paxos, generally. It has more operators, more departures and a shorter, more reliable crossing. The Diapontia are further out to the north-west, with fewer boats and a greater dependence on the weather. You trade some convenience for a lot more quiet.
Which is better for a family day out?
If you want an easy, well-organised trip with famous beaches, Paxos and Antipaxos are the straightforward choice. If your family would rather have space, quiet and simple beaches without the crowds, Erikousa in the Diapontia is the gentlest of the northern islands.
When is the best time for either?
June and September for both — warm enough to swim, calm enough for the boats, and without the peak crowds of July and August. For the Diapontia in particular, the shoulder months are quieter still, though connections thin out and the weather has more of a say.

If quiet is the point

The Diapontia are reached only by boat from Corfu — the Corfu Town line or the faster boat from Agios Stefanos in the north. Here are the routes and times.

Boat routes & times