kalamaki beach

Kalamaki beach

The beach at Kalamaki is impressively long, extending about 2.5 km from Kommos beach in the south to Kokkinos Pyrgos in the northwest.

You will find free umbrellas and loungers in front of the tavernas. There is also a small children’s play area and a lifeguard.

The beach is so big that you can set up your own umbrella or spread out your towel without feeling squashed.

Kalamaki beach is a sandy beach with clear water. In some places there are slippery flat slabs of stone where you enter the sea, so be careful.

The beach is open and exposed to the northerlies and northwesterlies that often blow in southern Crete, making the sea quite rough at times and raising big waves.

Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta) lay their eggs on Kalamaki beach. If you see fenced-off areas, these are nesting areas where eggs are incubated in the sand by the heat of the sun.

The beach offers watersports such as canoeing, kayaking and windsurfing.

Other beaches near Kalamaki

the beach at Kaloi Limenes

If you’re on holiday in Kalamaki and would like a change of scenery, trying different beaches nearby, you have several interesting choices:

Matala beach with its famous hippy caves is 13 km from Kalamaki

The beach at Kokkinos Pyrgos with its seafront cafeterias.

The beach at Agia Galini, mainly the part before the river, is 25 km from Kalamaki

The beach at Kaloi Limenes.
Kaloi Limenes is at least 30 minutes’ drive south. The advantage of the large beach at Kaloi Limenes is that it is less affected by north winds than Kalamaki.

Kommos beach

Nudism at Kalamaki

Kalamaki attracts many nudists due to nearby Kommos beach.

Walk about 10 minutes south until you come to Potamos, where the tamarisks reach the sea.

Here you’ll see quite a few people enjoying a swim, with or without a swimsuit.

Another nudist beach near Kalamaki is Kokkini Ammos, south of Matala.

It’s 30-45 minutes’ walk along the path that starts in Matala itself.