CalmBeach Greece
Meltemi options
Beaches in Heraklion usually better when the meltemi blows
27 sheltered beaches in Heraklion, oriented away from the meltemi. Check live wind & waves on CalmBeach before you go.
- 27beaches
- 1organized
- 11with photos
The meltemi blows from N/NE, and the split shows up clearly in the data. Of the 53 beaches we have modelled, 27 take no open water toward N/NE; they cluster on the south coast, facing an arc of SE–W. The most reliable of them are listed below. The other 20 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 south coast is open to the opposite wind. On days the wind swings from the south, 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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Kokkini AmmosThe red sands behind Matala — Kokkini Ammos, the Red Beach, lies on Crete's south coast about 800 metres south of Matala, hidden behind the hill of Kastri. It owes its name to its…
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AgiofarangoThe "Holy Gorge" of the hermits — A gorge ~1.5 km long with vertical walls full of caves ends at a remote pebble beach with crystal-clear water. The name ("Holy Gorge") comes from the…
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Listis
The bandit's rock on the Libyan Sea — Listis lies on the south coast of the Heraklion prefecture, in the Viannos area near Keratokambos, facing the Libyan Sea. It takes its name from the…
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Photo credits
- Kokkini Ammos: User:Anna.Tsolidou, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Agiofarango: Nikolaos Alexopoulos, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Vathy: B.psycha, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Karavovrysi: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
- Makria Ammos: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
- Skouros: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Macha: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
- Chrysostomos: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
- Glykos Kolympos: Dretakis Manolis, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Aliori: Rolf Dietrich Brecher from Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0
Good to know
Which beaches in Heraklion 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 27 of the beaches on this page, the open water in front of them is typically 0.52 m in June, 0.50 m in July and 0.46 m in August when the meltemi is at its strongest, and 0.49 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 27 of the beaches on this page the sea is typically 19.3 °C in May, 22.5 °C in June, 24.7 °C in July, 26.0 °C in August and 25.6 °C in September — ideal at the height of summer, mild in June. In October it is still 24.0 °C — warmer than June. 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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