CalmBeach Greece
Beaches in Anafi
All 14 beaches in Anafi, in one list. 10 of them are not exposed to the meltemi, which gives them the better odds on a windy day. Open any of them for live wind and waves.
The beaches
- Agii Anargyri Sand & pebbles - Difficult access (path)
- Vagia Pebbles - Passable dirt road
- Exo Roukounas Sand & pebbles - Easy path
- Kalagkathi Pebbles - Difficult access (path)
- Katalimatsa Sandy - Passable dirt road
- Katsouni Sandy - Easy path
- Klisidi Sandy - Easy road access
- Livoskopos Pebbles - Easy path
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Megas Potamos
Sand & pebbles - Easy path
A wild beach at a gorge mouth — A wild beach on the south coast, where the Megas Potamos gorge meets the sea — sand and white pebbles. It lies on the Chora–Zoodochos Pigi hiking…
- Mikros Roukounas Sandy - Easy path
- Prasies Pebbles - Passable dirt road
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Prassa
Pebbles - Passable dirt road
A beach at the island’s old port — A small (~40 m) pebble beach on the remote northwest side, where the depth increases quickly (water shoes help). Until 1970 this was the island’s…
- Roukounas Sandy - Easy road access
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Flamourou
Sand & pebbles - Difficult access (path)
A small south cove next to Katsouni — No road — a path from Klisidi/Katsouni (~10-15 minutes) or a swim around from Katsouni. Wild, with no facilities or shade; an informal naturist spot.
Pick by what you are looking for
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Meltemi options
The coves that face away from the prevailing wind — the shortlist for a windy day.
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Snorkeling
Rockier seabed and clearer water, where there is something to look at underwater.
- Sandy
- All beach guides →
Good to know
Which beaches in Anafi are more sheltered from the wind?
10 of the 14 face away from the meltemi, meaning less open water in front of them for a wave to build across when it blows. It is not a guarantee — the same beach changes character when the wind turns. Check the live reading before you drive out.
How is this list ordered?
By which beaches have the best conditions at that hour, so the order changes through the day: a beach that leads in the morning can drop down the list in the afternoon, once the wind picks up. When there is no live weather data, they are listed by how well known each one is — not by a score of ours.
When is the sea calmest here?
Across 14 of the beaches on this page, the open water in front of them is typically 0.80 m in June, 0.85 m in July and 0.82 m in August when the meltemi is at its strongest, and 0.80 m in September. June is the calmest month of the season. We calculate these figures ourselves from European Copernicus wave-model data at 4.2 km resolution. They describe the sea offshore, not the shelter of an individual cove — a bay protected by a headland will usually be calmer than this.
How warm is the water, month by month?
Off 14 of the beaches on this page the sea is typically 19.2 °C in May, 22.3 °C in June, 23.8 °C in July, 24.9 °C in August and 24.3 °C in September — ideal at the height of summer, mild in June. By October it is 22.3 °C. August is the warmest month. Satellite measurements, 1995–2024, from a sea cell about 5 km offshore; shallow bays usually run warmer than this.
When does the meltemi blow in Anafi?
Over the last 20 summers, the hardest week in Anafi starts around 10 July: 47 days in 100 had wind of 5 Beaufort or more. When it blew hard, it came from the north 100% of the time — the meltemi. In a week's holiday between 3 July and 30 July, strong wind on about 3 of the 7 days. Once it starts, it lasts about 3 days. Even then, the most sheltered side was the southeast coast, with beaches fit for a swim such as Roukounas, Katalimatsa and Mikros Roukounas. These are typical figures from 20 summers of European reanalysis (2006–2025), not a forecast for any single day.
How busy does it get, month by month?
August is the busiest month. When it fills and empties is measured for the Cyclades as a whole, not for this place on its own: in October it drops to 20% of that peak, while in May it sits at 36%. From official overnight-stay figures 2024-2025: it counts whoever sleeps in the area, not day trippers or cruise passengers. It is a historical average, not a forecast for this year.
Weather and sea conditions change. CalmBeach uses the app view for live beach recommendations.