Prasonisi (also Prassoníssi) cape is a part of the island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

. It is located 92 km from Rhodes town; 40 km from Lindos, at the southern part of Rhodes.

Overview

Prasonisi is the Greek word for "green island". During summer time, and when water levels are low enough, this island is a peninsula attached to Rhodes. During the winter time, and when water levels are high enough, Prasonisi becomes an island. The southernmost tip of Prasonisi contains the Prasonisi Lighthouse. The closest Greek village is Katavia; however, there is a purpose-built settlement on Prasonisi that contains motels, convenience stores, restaurants, and windsurf rentals which are open seasonally. Near Prasonisi is Vroulia, an ancient settlement that contains an old mosaic tiled floor.

Watersports

Prasonisi is noted to be a good place for

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

and

kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

due to predictable and reliable winds with certain qualities (not gusty, constant direction and during particular times of the day). From one side of the cape there is the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

with good waves and views for advanced surfers. From the other side, there is the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

with flat water which is better suited for beginners. The area has its high season for tourists in July and August and the flat side of the water becomes very busy.

Prasonisi Environmental Deterioration

Due to the big number of tourists that gather there, Prasonisi has lost its pristine beauty and there is great evidence of environmental damage. Visitors (mostly tourists) used to drive all around the beach with scooters and cars. As such, the sand has a solid feeling now and it is almost like concrete at certain parts of the beach although this is changing since the creation of a line that cannot be crossed by vehicles. The protected turtle known as

Caretta caretta The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around in carapace length when fully ...

used to hide its eggs at the specific region but this rarely happens anymore due to the lack of environmental management of the territory. For this reason rigorous protective measures have to be undertaken to protect virgin nature landscapes and ancient archaeological sites in the area. The local authorities have been unable to organise any services or take the appropriate steps to ensure the preservation of the area. Large motor homes are allowed onto certain areas of the sandbar without any charged fees which could have been a source of revenue to provide services such as sanitary, water etc. to the motor home users and other Prasonisi visitors.

References

External links

Rhodes map
{{Dodecanese Islands Rhodes Dodecanese Windsurfing Landforms of Rhodes (regional unit) Islands of the South Aegean Islands of Greece Landforms of the South Aegean Peninsulas of Greece