CalmBeach Greece
Meltemi options
Beaches in Rethymno usually better when the meltemi blows
34 sheltered beaches in Rethymno, oriented away from the meltemi. Check live wind & waves on CalmBeach before you go.
- 34beaches
- 16organized
- 16with photos
The meltemi blows from N/NE, and the split shows up clearly in the data. Of the 48 beaches we have modelled, 34 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 12 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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PreveliThe palm grove at the river mouth — On the south (Libyan) coast, where the Megalopotamos river leaves its gorge, a palm forest and a freshwater stream form a channel you can swim up…
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Agia Galini
The harbour from which, the myth says, Icarus flew — The beach belongs to a seaside settlement and small harbour on the south coast of Crete, in the Agios Vasileios municipality of Rethymno, where the…
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TriopetraThe "Three Rocks" on the Libyan coast — The name means literally "three rocks", after the three large rocks rising at the shore. A small peninsula divides two beaches, on the south Libyan…
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Damnoni
The bay with hidden coves — A wide bay with turquoise water and coarse white sand, ~5 km east of Plakias. The western end is organised (sunbeds, sports, diving), while the…
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SchinariaThe little cove below Lefkogeia — Schinaria lies on the south coast of Rethymno in Crete, in the Lefkogeia community of the Agios Vasileios municipality, a few kilometres east of…
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SoudaWhere the river of palms meets the sea — Souda is the westernmost beach of the long Plakias shorefront, on the south coast of Rethymno in Crete. It forms at the mouth of a narrow, deep-green…
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Plakias
The resort at the foot of the gorge — About 1.3 km of fine golden sand shelving gently into the bay, backed by mountains and facing the Libyan Sea, ~21 km south of Rethymno. The name…
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KalypsoThe pirate fjord between the cliffs — Kalypso lies on the south coast of Rethymno, Crete, between Plakias and Preveli, about 33 kilometres from the town. It is a long, narrow rocky inlet…
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Mikro AmmoudiThe little white cove of Plakias — Mikro Ammoudi, also known as Ammoudaki, is a small cove on the south coast of Rethymno, Crete, next to Damnoni and a few kilometres east of Plakias…
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LigkresThe long shore with the waterfall — Ligres spreads along the south coast of Rethymno, Crete, about 7 kilometres south of the village of Kerames, at the foot of Mount Siderotas. It is a…
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Mikri Triopetra
Beneath the three rocks — Mikri Triopetra, also known as Koumado, lies on the south coast of Rethymno, Crete, below the village of Akoumia, just south of the three huge rocks…
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Ammolofi Agiou PavlouThe great sand dunes of Cape Melissa — The Ammolofoi (Sandhills) of Agios Pavlos stretch along the south coast of Rethymno, Crete, on the western side of Cape Melissa, between the small…
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Photo: from a visitor -
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Photo credits
- Preveli: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
- Triopetra: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
- Schinaria: Uoaei1, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Souda: Olaf Tausch, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Kalypso: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
- Mikro Ammoudi: Olaf Tausch, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Ligkres: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
- Ammolofi Agiou Pavlou: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
- Peristeres: from a visitor
- Agios Georgios: Schuppi, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Klimata: Lourakis, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Finikidia: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
- Chochlakas: Eleni Roussou, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Rodakino: Olaf Tausch, CC BY-SA 3.0
Good to know
Which beaches in Rethymno 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 34 of the beaches on this page, the open water in front of them is typically 0.44 m in June, 0.42 m in July and 0.39 m in August when the meltemi is at its strongest, and 0.43 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 34 of the beaches on this page the sea is typically 19.4 °C in May, 22.2 °C in June, 24.4 °C in July, 25.6 °C in August and 25.4 °C in September — ideal at the height of summer, mild in June. In October it is still 23.9 °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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