Greek Islands Portal

Elafonisos is a small island 2 nautical miles from Neapolis on the south-east coast of Peloponnese. It lies off the coast of Cape Maleas and Vatika. It has an area of 19 square kilometers.
The residents of Elafonisos posses one of the bigger fishing fleets in Greece with boats suitable for coastal fishing.
Elafonisos is connected with Pounda on Peloponnese by ferry boat (duration of trip 9 minutes).

In the antiquity, the current area where Elafonisos lies did not constitute island but a peninsula bearing the name “Onou Gnathos” as it is reported from Pausanias. During the 16th and 17th century A.D. the island used as a base for operations of Pirates and Corsairs, since the “Elafonisos Channel” constitutes even today the main passage of vessels in the Eastern Mediterranean where hundreds of ships pass each day and night. The island was re-populated by its current residents in 1850, when the Hellenic Navy put an end to the Aegean Piracy.