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Summer wind options
Beaches in Thessaloniki area usually better when the summer wind blows
10 sheltered beaches in Thessaloniki area, oriented away from the summer wind. Check live wind & waves on CalmBeach before you go.
- 10beaches
- 6organized
- 4with photos
The summer wind blows from NW/W, and the split shows up clearly in the data. Of the 17 beaches we have modelled, 10 take no open water toward NW/W; they cluster on the east coast, facing an arc of NE–S. The most reliable of them are listed below. The other 5 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 east coast is open to the opposite wind. On days the wind swings from the east, 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 StavrouThe Strymonic Gulf sands with the plane-tree forest at the water — Paralia Stavrou stretches along the Strymonic Gulf, at the eastern edge of the Thessaloniki regional unit, west of the town of Stavros, about eighty…
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Photo: from a visitor -
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Paralia Serraiki AktiAn award-winning shore on the Strymonic Gulf — A sandy beach in the Volvi municipality, on the Strymonic Gulf near Stavros, northeast of Thessaloniki — with a Blue Flag continuously since 2005…
Photo credits
- Paralia Stavrou: Nikolai Karaneschev, CC BY 3.0
- Paralia Stavrou: Nikolai Karaneschev, CC BY 3.0
- Kyani Akti: from a visitor
- Navagio Epanomis: Marousaps, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Paralia Serraiki Akti: Nikolai Karaneschev, CC BY 3.0
Good to know
Which beaches in Thessaloniki area may be better when the summer wind blows?
The bays listed here are shielded from the summer wind 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 10 of the beaches on this page, the open water in front of them is typically 0.20 m in June, 0.21 m in July and 0.24 m in August when the summer wind is at its strongest, and 0.26 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 10 of the beaches on this page the sea is typically 19.4 °C in May, 23.6 °C in June, 26.3 °C in July, 26.8 °C in August and 24.2 °C in September — ideal at the height of summer, mild in June. By October it is 20.6 °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.
Open the live map →