A few miles south of Stoupa is Agios Nikolaos, a small pretty fishing village with a taverna lined harbour and plenty of accomodation options that is popular with holidaymakers. It has a tranquil, lazy feel about the place.
There is not much to actually see and do in Ag Nik so that makes it the perfect place to relax or as a base to explore the Mani. The restaurants are of the usual high standard but seemed to be a little more expensive than those in Stoupa.
You can swim from the rocks from various points in the village but Pantazi Beach is a couple of kilometres out of town to the south.
Pantazi Beach
However, I think the best place to swim is just off the Stoupa path as it enters the village.
It’s called Gnospi and there are caves, a small church built into the rock and wonderful views over the bay to Stoupa.
Although there are no ancient sites in the vicinity there are the remains of a large German WW2 Machine Gun emplacement just outside of the village towards Stoupa. I attempted to climb up to the entrance but in a rare flash of common sense I changed my mind as I was scrambling up the rock.
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