The northeast coast of Corfu faces Albania across a channel narrow enough to make out individual buildings on the far side. The mountains behind it drop steeply to the water, cypress and olive right down to the shore, and the bays cut into that coast are deep, sheltered and unusually clear. This is the stretch the Durrell family made famous, and it has aged better than most places attached to a book.
Kalami
Kalami is the best known of the three, a curve of pebbles with a small village behind it and the White House at the northern end — the building where Lawrence Durrell lived in the late 1930s and wrote Prospero’s Cell. It still stands, now operating as a taverna with rooms above.
The bay itself is calm and deep, with water that shelves away quickly from the shore. There are sunbeds, a few tavernas along the front, and enough infrastructure to spend a full day without planning ahead.
Agni
A short distance south, Agni is a smaller bay known almost entirely for its tavernas. Three of them sit in a row directly on the pebbles, and for decades people have arrived by boat, moored up, eaten, swum, and left again. There is no village behind it and very little else — the bay is the restaurants and the water.
It is one of the more genuinely pleasant afternoons available on the island: swim, eat, swim again, and watch the boats come and go.
Kerasia
Kerasia is the quietest of the three, a long pebble beach backed by olive groves with a single taverna and far less traffic than its neighbours. If Kalami feels busy on the day you visit, Kerasia is the answer.
Getting Between Them
Half the character of this coast comes from how you move along it.
- By boat. Small self-drive hire boats are available at Kalami and nearby, and no licence is required for the smaller engines. This is how locals and regulars do it, and it turns the three bays into a single easy day.
- By water taxi. Agni in particular is well served, and the tavernas can usually arrange a boat for guests.
- By road. All three are reachable by car, but the descents are narrow, steep and twisting, and parking at the bottom is limited. Go early or go late.
- On foot. A coastal path links parts of the coast and makes a good walk in September temperatures.
Why the Water Is So Good Here
These bays face east into a sheltered channel rather than the open Ionian, which means very little swell and almost no wind chop on a normal day. Combined with the depth and the pebble bottom — no sand to stir up — the result is water that stays clear and still. It is also water that holds its summer warmth late, which makes this coast one of the best September swimming options on the island.
What to Expect in September
The bays stay busy into early September and then quieten quickly. Tavernas keep going through the month, boat hire continues, and the road is far less stressful than it is in August. By the last week you will have Kerasia largely to yourself on a weekday.
Discover the Northeast Coast with Corfu Compass NSK
The roads down to Kalami, Agni and Kerasia are among the more demanding on the island, and the bays reward anyone who can move between them freely. Corfu Compass NSK offers car rental, private transfers to the northeast villages, and guided trips along this coast.
Contact Corfu Compass NSK to plan your day on the Durrell coast.
