Thanks for talking about the beach club issue. It seems to be a pandemic lately, where the entire beaches are taken over by private companies. It's worse in developing countries, where it is easier to bribe the officials to get a permit to do that. I was to go to Albania for a beach break, but seeing your video I will definitely go somewhere else. It must be so hard for the Albanians not to be able to enjoy the beautiful coastline they have. Let's hope they will get their beaches back.
It’s like 5 dollars for two seats for the whole day it’s worth it all you bring is a towel and everything else is there for you. I hate going to public beaches in the US
I was the entire month of August 2021 in Sarandë and discovered that there are beautiful public beaches ( not private) north of Sarandë about 20 minutes by bus such as Bunec and Lukovë. Also 1 hour 15 minutes north of Sarandë in Himare , Dhërmi, and Vlorë, the beaches are all public, very long and with less people than in Sarandë . Tons of space to relax and enjoy the quietness of the surroundings. I just hope this won’t change in 2023 and the years to come. If you stay in Sarandë, there is one public beach in front of the town.
Umm, yeh, nah. I was in Dhermi a few years back and had your problem and the fact that everywhere they expected cash only payments. Water in Dhermi was amazing. Vlore had a public beach but the water isn’t as clear. I also found the beach club problem in Corfu town too. Try Parga and Lefkhada and prices are comparable to that of Albania but prettier surrounds. I drove back from Albania to the neighbouring country after 10 hours because of private beaches and expectations. Beautiful sea though. I’m from Australia so this was a shock to me. No private beaches here.
That is a wise decision, if you want a nice vacation, Albania is not gonna give you that. It will be a headache most of the time. Italy and Greece are way better
Was there second half of August 2022, out of 17 beaches visited in the Himara area, Gjipe was hands down the best in terms of having a relaxing beach vibe with no cabanas and no loud beach club. Likely reasons: its a 25min walk down from the car park and the "road" to supply sunbeds/cabanas etc to the beach is strictly for 4x4 lifted vehicles who have experience driving up/down the difficult route. Boat companies are not allowed to drop off/pick up people there anymore because of a 7 year old girl being killed by a boat so I think these factors explain why the beach is more peaceful than all the others.
Glad you’re exposing the truth about this ugly trend about how they try and restrict access to beaches and try and exploit anyone who visits. Not only is it a huge turnoff but it’s bad for the environment and for tourism but also for the locals.
I stayed in Albania for 3 weeks (for the 6th time in 3 years) and with locals found beautiful public beaches with water full of fish, crabs, tiny jellyfish and limpets. We even found a completely secluded beach which we enjoyed by ourselves - each time completely alone - no one else in sight. This beaches are there if you walk a little bit and ask local people.
Hiya Chris, and Carol, gorgeous intro. Good idea to get a car. Nothing worse than a red-hot coach. Gorgeous beaches. Lovely drone footage. That is a crazy amount of beach beds. Beautiful water. That was a bit savage that they told that couple to leave because they brought a shade. Bless them. Thank you for the tour around. Pretty old town. Gorgeous views. My fav chill-out time. I always look forward to watching your travels and adventures. Great video. Liked and shared, as always. Thank you for sharing. Have a wonderful week.
We have been to Albania and loved it. But I guess its the time of the year when we travel. We travel either June or Sept/Oct in the Mediterranean. Still good weather, less tourists and everything much cheaper. We have been following you since the days when you got stuck in Palawan. If you get once to Norway & Svalbard, I am sure youd love it. Although its not on the cheap side.
Yeah we were thinking that it will probably be amazing during the shoulder seasons. I doubt all the beaches will be occupied by beach club sun beds during that time.
@@JumpingPlaces official beach club season is from 1.June - 31.August plus/minus a couple of days before and after. But since the summers are getting pretty much longer and hotter one can perfectly enjoy beach time from May to end September. I would actually recommend it to bypass the masses
Hi...just started following when you on your last leg in Turkey. I must admit that i just love your videos. Carol, you such a beautiful and soft spoken person..🥰 Your background music is so relaxing.. Wish you all the best in Albania. From Johannesburg..South Africa
The beaches there are so beautiful and the coastline is long! There are indeed disputes over beach management rights in many countries! My country closed all the beaches and can only enter the paid area, the advantage is that it can avoid destroying the beach by people! I'm curious who brought the chair on the mountain, so sweet! Thank you for sharing such a beautiful video! 👍😃👏
Closed all the beaches :( that is so sad. In Oregon state in the US there are NO private beaches. Every inch of beach is public access even if it looks like it someone's property it isn't and you can put your beach towel down and relax
@@duc25xr Oregon state is great, I support partial opening, some places are private, some are public, and dangerous places should be closed! Otherwise, people sneak into unmanaged places, and accidents often happen！
what are you talking about? this is LIES. The are is many free beaches in greece. Also everyone needs a drink on the beach or a water. or music. Greece is modern country. Μοιάζεις σαν να ζεις σε άλλη χωρα.. τι μαλακίες λες?
Yes we visited another beach in the next video that was supposed have a public area but once again the beach clubs had taken over. In the next video we show Ksamil too but that place is like Disneyland. We knew that before going to Ksamil though so we weren't really disappointed, just wanted to see how it was.
@@JumpingPlaces Ksamil beaches are horrible, they hate foreigners, charge extortionate prices for everything and the beaches are man made too..... Hilarious how social media and youtubers hype the place up id rather go to Blackpool beach. You really have to drive death roads to find secret beaches and even then sometimes they are full of litter such a shame I imagine a few years ago it was so beautiful. Appreciate you guys honesty I thought you were the type to say everything is amazing but I'm wrong!!
@@timetoventureout189 But they were already put on the spot like sardines in a can ruining the view even though Ksamil was almost empty this May. I was there too.
We made two videos from there, both are going to be awesome :D We visited some extremely beautiful places there. the most beautiful greek islands that we have visited so far
Thanks for the imfo. So sad these beautiful places become spoiled by greed. I have heard there are still places on that coast more people friendly but I guess those may be less known. Understandably so. Good video though and always helpful. Thanks ✌
@@JumpingPlaces Gjipe Beach: It takes about 15-20 minutes walking to get to the beach but it is definitely worth the effort despite the scorching heat and sweat. On the way back, up the hill it is even more challenging but you won’t regret it as the beach is gorgeous. You can leave your car at the parking place which is chargeable 300 Lek. On the beach there are sun beds for rental and plenty of space to sit on your own blanket or a towel but make sure you have your own umbrella or tent to hide as there isn’t much shade nearby. A few beach bars to get refreshing drinks and crystal-clear water to cool down and have a swim. You may also take up the hiking trail into the canyon and explore the sight if you feel like. Gjipe Beach is one of the most incredible places in the coast of Albania and if you happen to drive by, make a stop and have a look around.
Another interesting day in Albania. Very winding mountain roads. Good driving Carol. Nice white sand beach if you can find a spot to sit. Great prices for food.
Oh my gosh…I had Albanian riviera on my list but seeing this video it reminds me so much of the stupid Bulgarian beaches and how they turned them into one big scam…I heard from other places that Albania has changed regarding the beaches and now I am determined not to go on the riviera. I loved the mountains you showed though in your other video. Too bad though for the beaches, it is just ugly to be kicked out of a public place because you don’t want to pay a mafia person for his stupid sunbed!
Yeah another viewer just mentioned that Bulgaria is the same, we have never been there so we didn't know it was also like this. Possibly in the shoulder seasons they don't do this but not too sure. On a positive note the nature was definitely the highlight of our Albania trip, very impressive!
did Albanian riviera last year spent a lot of time in Albania..really love it..I hope you guys did the the full stretch of the riviera..Especially Vuno, Dhermi,Gjipe, lukove, Qeparo, Porto Palermo and so many others all the way to greek border near Ksamil
hey there, which beaches are the ones with no sun beds? we were having a hard time finding any. all the ones on google maps that we clicked on that could be accessed by car looked like these beaches in recent pictures. the ones that you mentioned all looked the same as these from what we saw. Recent reviews said it’s gotten way worse this year, beaches that previously were places with no sun beds now have sun beds everywhere.
After seeing comments from other albanians it appears that going north of himare there are more beaches without beach clubs everywhere. but in the south between Ksamil, Sarande & Himare there aren't many anymore, during summer anyway
@@JumpingPlaces Hey :) Probably the best public beach (with no sun beds at all) with hardly any people even on peak season is in Lukove, just next to "Gate to Horizon-Bio Camping Lukove". The road is a bit bumpy but its our peace of heaven. Even Albanians are mostly going to different countries during summer because of the exact reasons you have mentioned in the videos unfortunately.
Myself and my wife just came back from saranda and surrounding town's etc and found the whole beach club thing so disappointing up to 1000 lek for sunbeds on some beaches (with sand) in ksamil. We didn't like saranda except for the promenade area, at night it's very nicely lit up but very crowded. Like your drone footage ❤
Too funny - I've been watching your videos on Mexico. you two sure get around! Quite disappointing about all the sunbeds on the beaches. Hopefully that will change.
Very interesting video! Carol, all of the driving all of the time, nota dez! Too bad about the beach club situations. É triste ver tantas cadeiras e barracas com quase ninguém. Um golpe com certeza. Can’t wait to see where you go to in Asia! Safe travels lovely people! Beijos da California!🌻
@@JumpingPlaces Like in the UK with cash only nail bars and the Oxford street candy shop scam. The Mexican cartels use the Playa Cancun and Playa De Maya Hotels. Balkan states are rinsing money and shifting product like nobodies business.
I think people making statements like this are just idiots.. Albania is no different to other countries like Greece, Italy, Croatia or Montenegro. Why wouldn't you bet for these countries laundring money through loungers? Where does this stop?
@@id2888 As a Criminologist and a retired professional money launderer I categorically and emphatically assure you all those countries are and the worst culprits are BANKs. Don't NIEVE!!! And don't call me an idiot. Thanks.
@@werewolvesandfriendsuk I don't think you're an idiot, I don't know you, but your comment certainly is idiotic and offensive. You have no idea of the work people do to maintain these beaches clean and safe. They earn their living and provide for their families through the work they do. They pay very high rental prices for these beaches to local authorities. Why should people demand free service and make false accusation about Albania but they wouldn't dream to do the same in other countires? Would you make same statements for London which is the world capital of money laundering? Or is it just easy to pick on few people in remote villages of Albania?
there are plenty of reasons to visit the Albanian Riviera - its stunning beaches (that aren't jam packed with other tourists), its world heritage sites, its weather, its food and of course the price - its extremely cheap (think Greece or Croatia without the price tag).
@@plonkerification The natural beauty of the Southern Albania RIviera (North Epirus) is the same with Epirus riviera in Greece so he is not wrong. He speaks about the natural beauty after all, not the infastructure.
@@plonkerification Yeah I know cause I live in Epirus Greece and I have visited Albania. Even though Epirus is the poorest region of Greece it's far richer than Albania. When it comes to natural beauty though I meant that they are very similar. Beautiful blue beaches with a lot of green plantation that reaches the sea. High mountains that create beautiful valleys with tradition villages and great food. If you compare the civil part though, yes you are right, as it's expected, the EU countries are far richer.
@Slovojed sry you missed touring the untouched mountains and valleys in the north, the wild limestone canyons in the south and historic cities. As for the cuisine you cant beat the prices for the variety and quality especially when coming from EU- countries. No need for dismissing the fact that Croatia and Greece only updated their infrastructure to modern standarts with EU - backed financing when being accepted in the Union. Their only contribution to the EU is being generally cheaper tourist spots than Italy, France and Spain. Yeah we are neighbours. We remember the transformation before and after the EU. Like you said the difference between Paris and Kisiniev
July 2023 I'm not willing to pay up to a 100 $ for sunbeds depending on location. Beach is wonderful but it's still Albania and not Bahamas. The rest is daylight robbery as well. Prices are not as cheap as they were 2 years ago. Long term this is not going to work out for them. I was excited to come here but after 2 days I'm already fed up.
it's true, as a local resident I can't find a good place beach to swim in saranda or ksamil or any other city so many good places are occupied by different restaurants, although they are not allowed to do so according to the law but it is not respected laws shame
These beach clubs with thumping music are annoying! Sad. Have you thought of going to Croatia? Also amazingly beautiful and historic. Love your vlogs , wait every night to see if there is one to watch . Very well done , thank you. X
Private beaches? No way, that is like a cancer to any tourist country. There was attempt in Croatia one hotel made the sign like it is a private beach and people gathered and demostrated. They made pressure on local community, tgen they made a bad reviews online and like hundreds and they removed it after few days
Sad we went out of season and it was beautiful 0 tourists atall yet in summer looks terrible they are milking it so much, charging that much for sun beds is hilarious for a country like albania, things can only go downhill from now as it seems to have skyrocketed in popularity sad reality.... Over tourism and greed really destroys places completely
It's the same case here in lebanon they possess every spot in the beaches all around the country we don't have any free spot to lay down under the sunlight 🇱🇧🇱🇧🇱🇧
@@JumpingPlaces I was in vacation for 2 weeks in the riviera and went to almost every beach there and there are plenty of beaches that are public although some of them less known and others only accessible by boat. If you go to the most popular beaches it's common to have to pay cause most of them are private but we have plenty of public beaches also
@@kristina1991.h was that in july/august and this year? Every beach that I checked recent pics all looked like these places during august. Even the smaller ones unless it was one that you get to by boat
We actually go to one of the smaller ones in the next video that requires a bit of a hike and was supposed to be public. So there is one part that is rented by a beach club but they also put all their sun beds on the public beach. Which beaches are the ones that aren’t like these?
Just curious what you thought of Sarandë in general? For maybe a longer term stay? Not related to beaches. That is too bad about the beaches...they really should save at least one nice beach to be a public beach.
Yeah, damn shame that they have companies coming in and buying up the beach properties to where the locals can no longer enjoy their coastlines without paying, California in America is doing the same to certain beach is not being welcoming. I know there is a place I really want to eat at there in Albania and the food looked amazing and the people in the small town were very friendly. I am trying to find it to see if you are traveling up that way. I suggest trying a real friendly looking almost fast food stand looking places that cook great foods. Loved the video and the prices are great for rooms and food. please show some drone footage if you can and some really down to earth eateries to enjoy the the foods.God bless and peace my friends and Lanette sends her love.
Leagally they are actually not bought up by private actors only rented out. Generally for the whole summer season to the highest bider and sometimes as longtime leases to Resorts.
Dear @I D, i´ve been reading your comments and I have to disagree. I repeat : Beach Clubs are a luxury service and as every luxury commodity they should be available for everyone who WANTS to pay for them. But they are NOT a PREREQUISITE for having clean or safe beaches as you argue, and available parking space or beach showers for that matter. That falls under the tasks and duties of the local authorities who got the right to manage their corresponding coastline by the central goverment. Thats what the TAXES are paid for BY EVERY ALBANIAN CITIZEN. If you didn´t know now you do.Thats how it works in other neighbouring countries. So yes, its nice to have them as an option as I myself sometimes feel like going there. But the extensive renting out by the goverment of the mostly state owend coast line on one hand and the illegall land grab by some beach bar owners on the other has taken surreal proportions.
As far as we are talking about the free public beaches they are specifically labeled as such with signposts. In 2022, just like the previous year the municipality of Kavaje has rented out 198 sand slots to the private sector and only 40 are designated public beaches. Thats a ratio of 80 to 20. These rules of engagement have been generally applied by all local authorities along the coastline from Shengjin to Saranda. That is hard Data given by the goverment istelf. Be my guest and check it out. In regard to the "free and as public" labeled beach of Himara it streches for about 650m along the promenade and is not one of the most aesthetically pleasing ones around the area or clean just as all the other free municipality beaches aren´t. Albania for sure is not advertising itself online to the world with those ones. On the other hand it´s true that in the other 2 adjacent beaches and Potam, Qeparo, Borsh, Dhermi and ect one can still find open spaces next to private beach bars. But they are not legally labeled as free public beaches. It just happens that no private investor bid for them for the season as the waterline might have a lot of big rocks or in that part cold currents are regularly flowing. Next summer the picture might look totally different. They might be occupied too.
Now regarding the honest, hardworking beach bar businesses and the high taxes they are paying to the goverment for their seasonal licensing they are obviously still making good profits considering they keep applying for the licence every summer and over the years have extended their businessess by adding another storey to the building, an adjacent restaurant to their hotel or more sunbeds. And if they are struggeling financially since covid and inflation started let me remind you so is any other honest and hardworking tax paying business and household in the country. I won´t comment on the current sunbeds situation in Turkey since it´s been 4 years since I was there and in Italy even longer than that but I was in Greece this June/July. In almost every beautiful beach of Paros and Antiparos we indeed found beach bars but they were confined to only I wanna say 30/40 % of the beach. The rest was free to the public and not once did we see trash lying around in the piblic area. So apparently local authorities do work there. On the other hand we do not have a similiar law like the greek one stipulating that sunbeds and umbrellas are not allowed to cover more than 50 % of any beach. In reality by no means do I believe that there are no cases of abuse in Greece by private businesses bending the law to their will as corruption exist everywhere but in our country it seems like sunbed business is on steroids.
There are a lot of places in the Albanian riviera where there’s no beds and you can use your own. Saranda too has a public beach. But of course if you to a private one you have to pay for the bed.
Which beaches? People keep saying there are many but they never say the names of any lol. Yes sarande and himare both have public beaches in the main town centers but they are not the nicest since they have concrete buildings for the backdrop. We just wanted to find a nice natural one on the coast with cliff/mountain backdrops as they are the nicest. I know there are some deserted ones you can get to by boat but whenever I checked any beach that had a road going to it, it seemed to be the same thing with beach clubs everywhere
@@JumpingPlaces Gjipe beach you can go by car and then you have to walk a little bit. I don’t know if they changed it now, but what I see from the pictures it still has remained virgin and no beach clubs over there. If you ask the locals they normally help and are very friendly in Albania
A local advised us to go to a beach in the next video that had a public area only for us to find that the beach club also illegally took over the public part too lol. It is kind of hard at the moment because beaches that seemed to be fine last season now have beach clubs
i just checked that Gjipe and looks a bit better in the recent pics, a little more than half of it seems to be a beach club but there still seems to be some public areas. Basically any beach that you can get to easily by car without a hike is completely taken over by the beach clubs sunbeds from what we have checked. The only way to get to beaches not taken over is to go on some hikes i guess. maybe coming during a shoulder season is better, i doubt they would put sunbeds on every corner of the beaches when its not peak summer season
Yes it's true, in Gjipe one can still find a public spot and relax and enjoy the beautiful view that the backside of the sunbeds offer and maybe see a little blue in between them. Or just hope that no other visitors had the revelation to squeeze themselves on the narrow sides of the beach and then pack up just before the tide comes sweeping in. That's what? Around 4pm? Is this what passes as a perfectly acceptable "also public beach"? And pls don't get me started on advertising the municipality beaches like the one in Saranda located near the Port that is about 800m long by max. 10m wide. What a poor excuse for a public beach in the southern riviera.
Glad you are enjoying it! We haven't had any issue with it in any countries that we have been yet. Pretty amazing that you can get internet that way without having to visit a store or even downloading any app. Which country are you using it in?
@@JumpingPlaces We live in Mexico but had to go to the states and we said let’s use jumping places code and get Holafly. What an easy procedure and no issues at all!! Very happy you guys mentioned this app and keep up the good Fun work !! Blessings from Puerto Vallarta 🇲🇽🇲🇽🙏
Saranda (full name: Agioi Saranda, in Greek it means 40 Saints). It is where the officially recognised Greek minority villages in south Albania (Northern Epirus) are. The place used to be part of ancient Greece, it is geographically, historically, culturally, and ethnologically connected to the northern Greek region of Epirus since antiquity and so you can find many ancient Greek monuments, theatres, churches and artifacts, while most locals are of Greek origin (e.g. Rama is half Greek lining from ethnic Greek Spuro Koleka). After the Ottoman occupation, the area was officially recognised in 1912 as the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus (another independent Greek state, such as Cyprus) by the Great Powers under the Protocol of Corfu (signed by Albania too). Following the Balkan wars, the area was given to the Greeks again under the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (which is not met). The Greeks fought for over 6 months the Germans and Italians in the mountains, when the Albanians had sided the Axis powers, so the area is full of Greek soldiers cemetaries - being systematically vandalised by Albanians fascists. Today, although the area is recognised officially as a Greek minority area, the Albanian Gov confiscates illegally the properties and land of local Greeks, while Greek indigenous populations are being threatened and attacked for speaking Greek, raising the Greek flag or exploiting their land (these are official rights under their recognition as minority villages/population) and even killed (e.g. Katsifa's killing 3-4 years ago). Pyrros Dimas, an ethnic Greek and multi-gold Olympic weight-lifter is from Himara. Most recently the elected Greek Mayor of Himara village (Mr Beleris) has been imprisoned as he is resisting against the illegal confiscation of Greek properties. The matter has been brought to the European Commission.
Greece doesn't exist.. It was made up by bavarian empire .Koine is a made up language , that's why greek parlament voted to change it from albanian native language to some made up koine that sounds spanish. It was voted in your parlament. All your 100 heros of 1821 of greece independence are arvanite (albanian) origin. That's why you changed their names. Epirus was is and will be albanian , that;s why you massacred and killed thousands of Chams (albanians from Chameria) Northen greece. Napoleon Zervas was in command who BTW was of albanian orthodox origin. That's why you won't find "greeks" in S. Italy but only arbereshe (albanians) that left during ottoman occupation.(there were no greeks back then) You're just orthodox albanians who wanted a different identity from muslim albanians but covered with all the ancient glory you could find. Don't make me go on with historical facts , just enjoy our lands without the use of your imagination online. As for the greek minority bullshit... Stop giving them "pensions" and you'll see how greek they are. #paidmercenaries.
@@vendetta4033 Exactly! It will always be a geographical, historical, cultural, administrative region located in Northern Greece, as it used to be for 3000 years. Greeker than Greece. Nothing to do with the Slavs and former Bulgarian lands where the newly founded state of Northern Macedonia is
είναι μια μικρή χώρα έχασε έδαφος ανάπτυξης πήγα πέρυσι δεν έχει αρχαιολογικό χώρους και γενικά δεν είναι κάτι ιδιαίτερο αλλά οι άνθρωποι μας καλοδεχτηκαν
The reason there are so many sunbeds and beach clubs popping up all along the coast is they are a lot criminal run,they make a real lot of money on them for next to no expence,that,s why they asked the couple to leave with their own umberella
Been a watcher / subscriber since early in the pandemic. Really like and appreciate your content. Have enjoyed your trips / vids through the Mediterranean region. Thanks! Was wondering why you did not venture to Palestine and Israel. The beaches, food, people and history there are so amazing. I remember you tried from Jordan but logistically it did not work out due to the problems there at that time. You did go to other countries that have a lot of similar problems (Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon). Just curious. Hopefully you will get a chance to go back someday. Thanks again for all the great content. I've been to Brazil a few times and your videos just confirmed for me how much I still have to see there. It's huge and diverse! Just like Canada where I am 🇨🇦! Peace! ☮️
The umbrella means they can stay without having to take shelter in a pay for shade sun bed. Just sitting without an umbrella doesn’t look like competition! No wonder it’s all empty.
Another cool presentation, although the weather was hot, pardon the pun. Well done, amazing drone coverage. Well done both of you and Carole stunningly beautiful in the black bikini..👍🏻🏊♂️
