CalmBeach Greece
Beaches in Schinoussa
All 8 beaches in Schinoussa, in one list. 3 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
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Gerolimnionas
Sandy - Difficult access (path)
A small cove for snorkelling — A small cove of light-coloured sand, ringed by rocks, on the northwest side of Schinoussa — a tiny…
- Livadi Sandy - Passable dirt road
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Lioliou
Sandy - Easy road access
A wide sandy beach with tree shade — A wide sandy beach with large, leafy trees giving plenty of natural shade, in a small bay on the southeast side. It is flanked by coves of rock…
- Portokali Sand & pebbles - Passable dirt road
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Tsigkouri
Sandy - Passable dirt road
The island’s most accessible beach — About 200 m of darker sand with a row of tamarisk trees behind for shade — the easiest and most popular beach on Schinoussa.
- Fountana Sandy - Easy path
- Fykio Sand & pebbles - Easy path
- Psili Ammos Sand & pebbles - Easy road access
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 Schinoussa are more sheltered from the wind?
3 of the 8 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 8 of the beaches on this page, the open water in front of them is typically 0.85 m in June, 1.01 m in July and 0.99 m in August when the meltemi is at its strongest, and 0.90 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 8 of the beaches on this page the sea is typically 19.0 °C in May, 21.8 °C in June, 23.4 °C in July, 24.2 °C in August and 23.7 °C in September — ideal at the height of summer, mild in June. By October it is 21.8 °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 Schinoussa?
Over the last 20 summers, the hardest week in Schinoussa starts around 17 July: 54 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 20 August, strong wind on about 4 of the 7 days. Once it starts, it lasts about 4 days. Even then, the most sheltered side was the south coast, with beaches fit for a swim such as Portokali and Livadi. 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.