CalmBeach Greece
Meltemi options
Beaches in Athens area usually better when the meltemi blows
22 sheltered beaches in Athens area, oriented away from the meltemi. Check live wind & waves on CalmBeach before you go.
- 22beaches
- 16organized
- 1with photos
The meltemi blows from N/NE, and the split shows up clearly in the data. Of the 26 beaches we have modelled, 23 take no open water toward N/NE; they cluster on the southwest coast, facing an arc of SE–W. The most reliable of them are listed below. The other 0 sit wide open to it.
The reason is the shape of the coast itself: these beaches have land behind them on the side the wind comes from. They are not necessarily enclosed bays — they simply sit in the wind shadow of the shore opposite.
The trade-off, plainly: the same southwest coast is open to the opposite wind. On days the wind swings from the southwest, the shelter reverses and the far side is the better call. So this list narrows the choice — it does not replace the forecast; check live wind and waves on the beach page before you go.
The beaches
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Paralia Agiou Alexandrou
The white chapel among the pines — Paralia Agiou Alexandrou lies at Elliniko, on the seafront of the Athens Riviera between Alimos and Glyfada. It takes its name from the whitewashed…
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Paralia Glyfadas Akti A
The free sandy shore of the Riviera — Paralia Glyfadas Akti A stretches along the seafront of Glyfada, in the southern suburbs of Athens, and is one of the best-known free sandy beaches…
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A' Plaz Voulas
The beach that raised generations of Athenians — A' Plaz Voulas sits on the seafront of Voula, in the southern suburbs of Athens, with fine sand both on the shore and into the sea. It is one of the…
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Mikro Kavouri
Sand and pines on the peninsula — Mikro Kavouri lies on the wooded Kavouri peninsula at Vouliagmeni, about sixteen kilometres south of central Athens. Together with neighbouring…
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Paralia EdemThe city beach with a paradise name — Edem beach lies in Palaio Faliro, on the Athens waterfront, and is one of the sandy shores closest to the city centre. Its name is said to come from…
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Akti tou Iliou
The palm-lined city beach — Akti tou Iliou sits in Alimos, on the Athens Riviera, and is cited as the organized beach closest to the Athens city center. Its shore mixes fine…
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Paralia Glyfadas Akti V
Glyfada's free stretch of sand — Glyfada Akti B stretches along the Glyfada waterfront in Athens' southern suburbs, one of the municipal sections of the long sandy shore near the…
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Paralia Bati
The breeze that named the shore — Batis lies on the Palaio Faliro waterfront, one of the sandy shores closest to the center of Athens, next to the neighboring Edem beach. It is said…
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Limni Vouliagmenis
The thermal lake with the spa fish — Not the sea but a brackish thermal lake at the foot of Mt Hymettus, fed by underground springs: the water stays ~22-29°C year-round, rich in hydrogen…
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Astir Beach / Asteras Vouliagmenis
An upscale organized beach with an ancient temple — About 400 m of fine sand with shallow, clear water — one of the most upscale organized (private, paid-entry) beaches on the Athens Riviera, set among…
Photo credits
- Paralia Edem: Robert Freeman, CC BY-SA 3.0
Good to know
Which beaches in Athens area may be better when the meltemi blows?
The bays listed here are shielded from the meltemi in the exposure model, so they may be more comfortable when it blows. Local conditions still vary, so confirm wind and waves before you go.
Does this guarantee low waves?
No. Shelter shows which coasts are shielded from a wind direction, not guaranteed calm or low waves. On strong-wind days follow local flags and check live wind and waves in the app.
When is the sea calmest here?
Across 22 of the beaches on this page, the open water in front of them is typically 0.33 m in June, 0.33 m in July and 0.32 m in August when the meltemi is at its strongest, and 0.34 m in September. August 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 22 of the beaches on this page the sea is typically 18.9 °C in May, 22.8 °C in June, 25.5 °C in July, 26.4 °C in August and 25.4 °C in September — ideal at the height of summer, mild in June. By October it is 23.1 °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.
Wind and waves change every day. See live conditions for any of these beaches before you drive out.
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