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Family beaches in Crete
125 beaches in Crete that are easy to reach and have something useful close by: a lifeguard, a place to eat or drink, toilets. Ranked live, so the flattest sea comes first.
A family beach here is easy to reach (a road or track at the beach, or a car park close by), is not a naturist beach, and has at least one thing families need within 300 m: a lifeguard, a café, bar or taverna, toilets or a mapped beach resort. It all comes from OpenStreetMap, so a beach can have more than the map shows. We do not know how quickly the water gets deep, so check that on arrival if you have small children.
All 125 family beaches on Crete
| Beach | Faces | Surface | Lifeguard | Bars | Tavernas | Toilets | Parking | Resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammoudi | east | Sand | Lifeguard | 66 bars and cafés | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | |
| Almyros | east | Sand | Lifeguard | 22 bars and cafés | 22 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | |
| Palm Bay Beach | north-east | Sand | Lifeguard | 1313 bars and cafés | 1818 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | ||
| Ammos | south | Sand | 1414 bars and cafés | 2525 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Damnoni Beach | south | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Karavostasi beach | east | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Matala Beach | west | Sand | 1111 bars and cafés | 2929 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Plakias | south-west | Sand | 1616 bars and cafés | 2121 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Mirabello | north | Sand | 88 bars and cafés | 22 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Falasarna beach | west | Sand | 11 bar or café | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Palm Beach Vai | east | Sand | 44 bars and cafés | 22 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Kommos Beach | west | Sand | 11 bar or café | 77 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Schisma | east | Sand | 1717 bars and cafés | 2222 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Orthi Ammos | south | Sand | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | ||||
| Vatalos Beach | south-west | Sand | 11 bar or café | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Stavros Beach | north-east | Sand | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | ||||
| Elafonisi Beach | south | Sand | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Beach resort | |||
| Souda Beach | south | Sand | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | |||
| Kalathas | north-west | Sand | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | |||
| Kitroplatia | east | Pebbles | Lifeguard | 2020 bars and cafés | 3131 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | |
| Sougia Beach | south | Pebbles | Lifeguard | 33 bars and cafés | 1212 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort |
| Potamos municipal beach | north | Sand | Lifeguard | 22 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Ammofolos Beach | south-west | Sand | 11 bar or café | 11 taverna or restaurant | Parking | |||
| Melissa Sandhills | west | Sand | 11 bar or café | 11 taverna or restaurant | Parking | |||
| Golden Beach | north-east | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 55 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Voulisma | north | Sand | 22 bars and cafés | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Nea Chora beach | north | Sand | 88 bars and cafés | 2222 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Vlihi Nero beach | north | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 77 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Meatemaki Beach | east | Sand | 11 taverna or restaurant | Toilets | Parking | |||
| Aelos Beach | north | Sand | 1717 bars and cafés | 1313 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | Beach resort | ||
| Agia Marina Beach | north | Sand | 1313 bars and cafés | 4848 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Ammoudara Beach | north | Sand | 55 bars and cafés | 77 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Episkopi beach | north | Sand | 22 bars and cafés | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Fodele Beach | north | Sand | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | ||||
| Georgioupoli | north-east | Sand | 2020 bars and cafés | 2222 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Georgioupolis Beach | north-east | Sand | 1212 bars and cafés | 99 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Geropotamos beach | north-west | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | |||
| Golden Beach | north-east | Sand | 22 bars and cafés | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Kalyves | north-east | Sand | 99 bars and cafés | 1212 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Limni Beach | north | Sand | 1111 bars and cafés | 2525 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Livadi beach | north-east | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 1010 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Nisos Beach | north | Sand | 1010 bars and cafés | 1111 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Paralia Agion Apostolon | north | Sand | 22 bars and cafés | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Paralia Koum Kapi (Kum Kapisi) | north | Sand | 1515 bars and cafés | 1111 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Rethymnon Beach | north | Sand | 3333 bars and cafés | 5555 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Sunset Beach | north | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 88 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Varkotopos beach | north-east | Sand | 11 bar or café | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Eastern Gulf | north | Sand | 11 bar or café | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Blue Coast | north-east | Sand | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | |||
| Rapaniana Beach | north-east | – | Lifeguard | 55 bars and cafés | 1818 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Vourlia beach | south-east | Sand | 22 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | |||
| Gramméno Beach | south-west | – | 11 bar or café | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | Beach resort | ||
| Palaria | south | Pebbles | 11 bar or café | 55 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Plakias | south | Pebbles | 1212 bars and cafés | 2020 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Skinos Beach | south-west | Pebbles | 99 bars and cafés | 1515 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Vrisi | south-west | Pebbles | 33 bars and cafés | 99 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Falassarna | west | – | 55 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | Beach resort | |||
| Katalyki | south-west | – | 44 bars and cafés | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Beach resort | |||
| Polyrizos Beach | south | – | 11 bar or café | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Paralia Fragokastellou | south-east | – | 22 bars and cafés | 55 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking |
Showing 60 of 125 beaches. Use the beach finder above for the full ranked list.
Crete: how busy is it, month by month
Crete is busiest in August. In May and October there are about half as many visitors, or fewer. For a flat sea and fewer people, the best months are May and October.
Visitor levels are nights spent in tourist accommodation in the Crete region (Eurostat, average of 2023–2025), compared with its busiest month. They show when the area is busy, not how many people are on a given beach.
Frequently asked questions
Which beaches in Crete are good for families?
125 of the 268 mapped beaches on Crete are easy to reach and have a lifeguard, a place to eat or drink, toilets or a resort nearby. The best fits are Ammoudi, Almyros, and Palm Bay Beach.
Is the water shallow at these beaches?
The map data does not say how quickly the sea gets deep, so we do not claim it. Sandy beaches usually slope gently, but check on arrival and keep an eye on small children. The live ranking above shows which of these beaches have flat water today.
How do you know which beaches are sheltered?
For every beach we measured how much open sea lies in each of 16 compass directions, using OpenStreetMap coastlines. Waves build over open water, so a beach with land close by in the direction the wind comes from is sheltered. Today's wind forecast from MET Norway is then applied, and the result is refreshed every 2 hours.
Are the forecasts reliable?
They are estimates. The model does not include swell from distant storms, and local gusts can be stronger than forecast. Always follow lifeguard flags and local warnings.