Ta Delfinia Tavern

Ta Delfinia is a family fish tavern on the water at Akrotiri, on Santorini’s southern tip, trading since 1994 and open all year. The kitchen has no printed prices and the catch changes with the weather, because the fish comes off the family’s own boat rather than a supplier’s list. Two things trip people up before they arrive. The tavern answers to at least four names, and there are same-named restaurants on Chios and near Athens that are frequently mistaken for it. And the Red Beach it sits beside is the landmark most visitors plan the trip around, yet the cliff path down to that beach has been officially restricted since February 2025. This page sorts out which restaurant is which, what the kitchen actually serves, and how to reach it now that the beach path is closed.

Last updated 28 August 2026. Opening hours, dishes, contact details and the operator’s history were re-read from the tavern’s own website on that date; ratings were read the same day. This tavern publishes no menu prices, so none are quoted here.

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Which “Ta Delfinia” is this?

This page is about the fish tavern at Akrotiri on Santorini, reachable on (22860) 81151, whose own website is thedolphins.gr. At least two unrelated Greek restaurants trade under the same name, and the confusion runs in both directions: searches for the Attica one land on Santorini pages, and photographs of the Chios one circulate labelled as Santorini.

TripAdvisor adds a further wrinkle. Its Akrotiri area currently carries three separate listings under variants of the name: The Dolphins, TÁ DELFÍNIA and Delfinia. The Dolphins listing is the one with the long review history and the details that match the operator’s own site. From outside the platform there is no way to confirm whether the other two are duplicate entries for the same tavern or separate businesses, so treat a booking made through them with care.

The name in its four forms

Where is Ta Delfinia, exactly?

The tavern sits at sea level on the Akrotiri shoreline, next to Red Beach and a short distance from the Akrotiri archaeological site. The dining tables are on a pier, close enough to the water that the operator’s own description leans on it. The postal address is simply “Acrotiri (at the beach), Santorini, Cyclades 84700”; Greek-language records give it as Κόκκινη Παραλία (Kokkini Paralia, meaning Red Beach), Akrotiri 847 00.

One caution about mapping tools. Reverse-geocoding those coordinates through OpenStreetMap returns a restaurant node named “The Dolphins” at the right spot, but files it under the village of Megalochori and the Fira–Perissa road. That is the nearest named administrative unit, not the tavern’s actual neighbourhood. The operator says Akrotiri, and the operator is right.

The Red Beach problem

Most people plan this meal as lunch after Red Beach. That plan needs adjusting. Access to the beach itself has been officially restricted since February 2025 following the earthquake swarm and repeated rockfalls; signage at the head of the cliff path warns against entry, and authorities have asked hotels and operators to discourage the walk down. The clifftop viewpoint is still reachable, and small boats from Akrotiri harbour run a Red Beach and White Beach loop for anyone who wants to actually swim there.

For the tavern this matters in one practical way: the footpath many older guides describe as the route from the beach to the tables is not a route you should count on. Arrive by road instead. Our full guide to Red Beach covers the current access situation, the boat option and the fares in detail.

What is on the menu?

There is a menu, but not a fixed fish list. What is available on any given day depends on what Captain George brings in on the family boat, and the operator is explicit that species vary “depending on the season and weather”. Bream and cod are the two the tavern names itself. If the wind has kept the boat in, the fish side of the menu shrinks.

On price, the honest answer is that the tavern does not publish one. Its own menu page advertises “unique quality, at best prices” and lists no figures, and fresh fish in Greece is normally sold by weight, so the bill depends on what you pick and how big it is. Ask for the price per kilo before the fish is weighed, which is standard practice and not considered rude.

Because nothing is published, recent diner photographs are the most reliable guide to portion sizes and what the boat has been landing lately. They are collected on the Akrotiri listing for The Dolphins.

Opening hours

The operator states, in two separate places on its own site, that the tavern stays open throughout the year, seven days a week, from morning until late at night. That is broader than the “daily 12–10 PM” window shown in some directory listings, including an older record of our own. Because the tavern’s website has not been substantially updated in years, treat the year-round claim as the operator’s position rather than a guarantee and ring ahead in winter. The venue is also available for private events, which can take a section of the pier out of general service.

Who runs it

The tavern has been in the same family since 1994. Two people are named on its own site: Captain George, who supplies the kitchen daily from the family fishing boat, and Mama Vangelitsa, who runs the kitchen. Descriptions circulating elsewhere add sons by name; those are not confirmed by the operator and are left out here.

What reviewers actually say

Scores differ by platform, and the gap between them is the useful signal.

The pattern across all three is consistent. Praise concentrates on the setting and the freshness of the fish, with reviewers repeatedly describing tables a few feet from the water and a working family kitchen. Criticism concentrates on consistency: service that varies with how busy the pier is, and fish that some diners found poorly cooked. A 3.9 on TripAdvisor against a 4.3 on Google is the signature of a place that delivers strongly when it is on form and less so when it is stretched.

Read the two together and the practical advice is to go for the location and the day’s catch, at a quieter hour, and to keep expectations for polished service modest.

You can read the full review history on the tavern’s TripAdvisor listing.

Getting there

Akrotiri is at the far south-western tip of Santorini, past the archaeological site, and the last stretch drops down to the shoreline. There is no realistic walking route from the main resort villages.

Current KTEL times and the official fare list are on our Santorini bus schedule page, and getting around Santorini covers taxis, car hire and the cable car if you are working out transport for the whole trip.

Is it worth the trip?

It suits you if the setting is the point. Eating on a pier with the water directly beneath the table is uncommon on Santorini, where most of the celebrated restaurants are on the caldera rim looking down at the sea rather than sitting in it. Combining it with the Akrotiri excavations makes a coherent half-day in a part of the island most visitors skip.

It suits you less if you need a fixed menu and a known price before you commit, if you are travelling in winter without ringing first, or if you are choosing on service polish rather than location. For a comparable black-sand alternative further east, Lava Tavern works the same catch-of-the-day model on the Perivolos strip, and our roundup of the best restaurants in Santorini covers the caldera options.

Common questions

Is Ta Delfinia the same as The Dolphins?

Yes. Τα Δελφίνια is the Greek name and The Dolphins is the operator’s own English trading name for the same Akrotiri fish tavern. Restaurant Guru and some aggregators shorten it to Delfinia.

Does Ta Delfinia have a menu with prices?

It has a menu, but the operator publishes no prices anywhere, and fish is normally sold by weight. Ask the price per kilo before the fish is weighed.

Is it open in winter?

The operator states it stays open all year, seven days a week, from morning until late. Its website has not been substantially updated in some time, so ring (22860) 81151 before travelling out of season.

Can I walk there from Red Beach?

Not reliably. Access down to Red Beach has been officially restricted since February 2025 because of rockfall risk, and the shoreline route should not be part of your plan. Arrive by road.

Do I need to book?

There is no online booking system. Phone (22860) 81151. The tavern also takes private events, which can occupy part of the pier, so a call is worth making for a group or a specific evening.

Sources

• The Dolphins fish tavern official website (thedolphins.gr): home, about, menu and contact pages, read 28 August 2026.
• OpenStreetMap Nominatim reverse geocoding of 36.34877, 25.39826, queried 28 August 2026.
• TripAdvisor and Restaurant Guru listing data for The Dolphins, Akrotiri, read 28 August 2026.
• xo.gr business directory listing for Ta Delfinia, Artemida, Attica, read 28 August 2026.
• Red Beach access status cross-checked against our own Red Beach guide and current reporting, 28 August 2026.