Kokkari was a fishing village strung along two small bays on the north coast until tourism rolled in during the 1980s; what remains is the most attractive seaside town on Samos, with whitewashed houses, blue boats hauled up on the cobble beach, and tavernas that genuinely cook their own catch.
The pebble beach at the village itself is good; the better ones — Tsamadou, Lemonakia, and Tzaboú — are within a few minutes' drive west, each in its own pine-fringed cove. The village makes the best mid-island base for travellers who want a beach but also access to the Vourliotes mountain villages above.