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Sheltered beaches in Santorini
5 beaches in Santorini that stay flat when the meltemi blows. Most protected first, and re-ranked live for today's wind.
A beach counts as sheltered here when its sea stays flat in a strong north or north-east wind (6 Bft), the meltemi. We measured the open sea upwind of every beach on Santorini: where land lies close to the north and north-east, waves cannot build.
All 5 sheltered beaches on Santorini
| Beach | Faces | Surface | Meltemi shelter (0–100) | Lifeguard | Bars | Tavernas | Toilets | Parking | Resort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mesa Pigadia Beach | south | – | 96 | 11 bar or café | 11 taverna or restaurant | Parking | |||
| Red Beach | south | Pebbles | 96 | 11 bar or café | 22 tavernas and restaurants | Toilets | Parking | ||
| Vlychada Beach | south-west | Sand | 96 | ||||||
| White Beach | south-west | – | 96 | ||||||
| Agios Georgios | south-east | Sand | 92 | 55 bars and cafés | 1414 tavernas and restaurants | Parking |
Santorini: how busy is it, month by month
Santorini 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 June and October.
Visitor levels are nights spent in tourist accommodation in the South Aegean 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 Santorini are sheltered from the meltemi?
5 of the 13 mapped beaches on Santorini stay flat in a strong north wind. The best protected are Mesa Pigadia Beach, Red Beach, and Vlychada Beach.
Are these beaches sheltered every day?
They are sheltered in the meltemi, which blows from the north. With wind from another direction the sheltered side changes, so check the live ranking above: it applies today's forecast to these beaches and is refreshed every 2 hours.
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.