Afetai or Afetes or Niaou, 27km from Volos, the village is spread out over a verdant ridge of hillside with vast olive groves and a panoramic view of the Pagasitic Gulf; the village houses descend to the pebbled shore. The first inhabitants of the village were shepherds from Macedonia, who settled here in around 1550 and lived in sheepfolds . Hence the name of the village - Niaou means sheepfold. From 1881 to 1912 Niaou, together with Neohori and Afissos, made up the Municipality of Afetai.

In 1955 it was renamed Afetai, from the word afetiria (departure point), since in mythology it was from the beach at Ampovos that the Argonauts departed on their second voyage. The village is now part of the new Municipality of Afetai, created under the so-called Capodistria legislation on local government.