Organized beaches in Crete
108 beaches in Crete with facilities: a mapped beach resort, or bars and tavernas close by with toilets or parking. Ranked live for today's wind.
An organized beach here is mapped as a beach resort, or has at least 2 bars, cafés or tavernas within 300 m together with toilets or a car park. This is what the map shows. Sunbeds and umbrellas are not mapped, so ask on arrival what is rented and what is free.
All 108 organized beaches on Crete
| Beach | Faces | Surface | Lifeguard | Bars | Tavernas | Toilets | Parking | Resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapaniana Beach | north-east | – | Lifeguard | 55 bars and cafés | 1818 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Sougia Beach | south | Pebbles | Lifeguard | 33 bars and cafés | 1212 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort |
| Aelos Beach | north | Sand | 1717 bars and cafés | 1313 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | Beach resort | ||
| Episkopi beach | north | Sand | 22 bars and cafés | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| 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 | |
| Kalivaki Beach | north-east | – | 77 bars and cafés | 88 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | Beach resort | ||
| Katalyki | south-west | – | 44 bars and cafés | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Beach resort | |||
| Livadi beach | north-east | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 1010 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Rethymnon Beach | north | Sand | 3333 bars and cafés | 5555 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Stoney Beach | south-east | – | 66 bars and cafés | 1313 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | Beach resort | ||
| Vlihi Nero beach | north | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 77 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Falasarna beach | west | Sand | 11 bar or café | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | Beach resort | |
| Varkotopos beach | north-east | 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 | |
| Falassarna | west | – | 55 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | Beach resort | |||
| Gramméno Beach | south-west | – | 11 bar or café | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | Beach resort | ||
| Ammoudi | east | Sand | Lifeguard | 66 bars and cafés | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | |
| Kitroplatia | east | Pebbles | Lifeguard | 2020 bars and cafés | 3131 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | |
| Palm Bay Beach | north-east | Sand | Lifeguard | 1313 bars and cafés | 1818 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | ||
| Elafonisi Beach | south | Sand | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Beach resort | |||
| Korfalonas Beach | north | – | 11 bar or café | 11 taverna or restaurant | Parking | Beach resort | ||
| Agia Marina Beach | north | Sand | 1313 bars and cafés | 4848 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Agia Pelagia Beach | east | – | 77 bars and cafés | 2121 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Ammos | south | Sand | 1414 bars and cafés | 2525 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Ammoudara Beach | north | Sand | 55 bars and cafés | 77 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Analipsi | north | – | 33 bars and cafés | 77 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Beach of Telonio | north | – | 55 bars and cafés | 88 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Golden Beach | north-east | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 55 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| 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 | ||
| Karterou | north | – | 44 bars and cafés | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Kommos Beach | west | Sand | 11 bar or café | 77 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Limni Beach | north | Sand | 1111 bars and cafés | 2525 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Máleme Beach | north | Pebbles | 66 bars and cafés | 77 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Matala Beach | west | Sand | 1111 bars and cafés | 2929 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Mavros Molos | north | – | 33 bars and cafés | 55 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Mirabello | north | Sand | 88 bars and cafés | 22 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Mononaftis Beach | east | – | 88 bars and cafés | 77 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Nea Chora beach | north | Sand | 88 bars and cafés | 2222 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Nisos Beach | north | Sand | 1010 bars and cafés | 1111 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Paralia Koum Kapi (Kum Kapisi) | north | Sand | 1515 bars and cafés | 1111 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Peninsula Private Beach | east | – | 55 bars and cafés | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Plaka | east | Pebbles | 33 bars and cafés | 1818 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Plakias | south | Pebbles | 1212 bars and cafés | 2020 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Plakias | south-west | Sand | 1616 bars and cafés | 2121 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Platanias beach | north | – | 33 bars and cafés | 3030 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Schisma | east | Sand | 1717 bars and cafés | 2222 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Skinos Beach | south-west | Pebbles | 99 bars and cafés | 1515 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Star Beach | north-east | – | 77 bars and cafés | 1111 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Sunset Beach | north | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 88 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Voulisma | north | Sand | 22 bars and cafés | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Vrisi | south-west | Pebbles | 33 bars and cafés | 99 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Almyros | east | Sand | Lifeguard | 22 bars and cafés | 22 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | |
| Karavostasi beach | east | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 44 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | |||
| Paralia Fragokastellou | south-east | – | 22 bars and cafés | 55 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Damnoni Beach | south | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Fodele Beach | north | Sand | 66 tavernas and restaurants | Parking | ||||
| Geropotamos beach | north-west | Sand | 33 bars and cafés | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | |||
| Lygaria Beach | north-east | – | 33 bars and cafés | 33 tavernas and restaurants | Parking |
Showing 60 of 108 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 organized?
108 of the 268 mapped beaches on Crete have a beach resort, or bars and tavernas with toilets or parking close by. Among them: Rapaniana Beach, Sougia Beach, and Aelos Beach.
Do organized beaches have sunbeds and umbrellas?
Often, but the map data does not list sunbeds, so we cannot promise it. Check on arrival what is rented and what is free.
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.