Greece / Crete
Balos Beach
Balos Beach is a 1.0 km-long sandy beach facing north-west, 11.2 km north-west of Kíssamos (Crete, Greece). The sea averages 25.4 °C in August, its warmest month, and 15.4 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in June–October.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Balos Beach
Beach-day index 7.6/10 · Greece median 7.0
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 16.0 °C | 15.4 °C | 15.5 °C | 16.4 °C | 18.6 °C | 22.0 °C | 24.6 °C | 25.4 °C | 24.5 °C | 22.8 °C | 20.4 °C | 17.9 °C |
| High °C | 15° | 15° | 16° | 17° | 20° | 23° | 26° | 27° | 25° | 22° | 20° | 17° |
| Low °C | 13° | 13° | 14° | 16° | 19° | 22° | 25° | 26° | 24° | 21° | 18° | 15° |
| Rain mm | 102 | 92 | 52 | 27 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 55 | 81 | 104 |
| Cloud % | 66 | 65 | 57 | 49 | 38 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 25 | 43 | 59 | 68 |
| Wind m/s | 7.4 | 7.4 | 6.7 | 5.9 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.8 | 6.3 | 7.2 |
| Daylight h | 10.0 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 14.0 | 14.6 | 14.4 | 13.5 | 12.5 | 11.4 | 10.3 | 9.8 |
| Record high/low | 18°/7° | 19°/5° | 20°/8° | 22°/11° | 26°/14° | 30°/19° | 29°/22° | 30°/23° | 28°/20° | 26°/14° | 25°/11° | 22°/9° |
| Beach index | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 5.7 | 8.6 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.4 | 7.6 | 5.2 | 2.9 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in July–September; July scores 9.7/10 with highs of 26 °C, sea at 24.6 °C and 3 mm of rain.
In July that is 0.3 points above the median of the 415 beaches in Greece covered by this atlas.
Across the year the sea averages 20.0 °C, warmer than 62% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
December is the wettest month (104 mm) and July the driest (3 mm); the yearly total is about 570 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.8 hours in December to 14.6 hours in June; in mid-July the sun rises at 06:20 and sets at 20:42 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-west (305°). Open water fills about 28% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in September–April; in mid-December it goes down at 17:13 local time on a bearing of 242°.
The opposite shore is only about 500 m away to the north-west, which keeps the water sheltered from big waves. The beach is on an island of about 8,214 km².
The sea floor is still within the shallow coastal margin 1 km out; 3 km offshore the depth is about 526 m. Behind the beach the ground is about 194 m above sea level 500 m inland and 114 m at 1.5 km, so the beach is backed by steep slopes or cliffs.
Within 1 km, the land is 68% grassland, 11% tree cover and 11% bare ground, sand or rock (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 32% of that circle.
- Grass 68%
- Tree 11%
- Bare 11%
- Shrub 10%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 7.4 m/s in January, the windiest month.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- –Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- 1Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 1Viewpoints
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Nearest services
The nearest place to eat or drink is 7.7 km south (Gramboussa Restaurant), the nearest grocery shop is 10.6 km south-east (Σκλαβενίτης), the nearest fuel station is 11.4 km south-east (ΚΟΝΤΟΠΥΡΑΚΗΣ Χ. - ΜΠΑΡΙΩΤΑΚΗΣ Β. ΟΕ) and the nearest pharmacy or clinic is 10.7 km south-east (Αννουσάκειο Θεραπευτήριο-Γηροκομείο).
| Service | Nearest mapped | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food and drink | Gramboussa Restaurant | 7.7 km | south |
| Groceries | Σκλαβενίτης | 10.6 km | south-east |
| Accommodation | Balos Beach Hotel | 6.8 km | south |
| Pharmacy or clinic | Αννουσάκειο Θεραπευτήριο-Γηροκομείο | 10.7 km | south-east |
| Fuel station | ΚΟΝΤΟΠΥΡΑΚΗΣ Χ. - ΜΠΑΡΙΩΤΑΚΗΣ Β. ΟΕ | 11.4 km | south-east |
| Car park | Balos | 900 m | north-east |
| Public toilets | — | 200 m | north-east |
| Bus stop | KISSAMOS PORT | 8.2 km | south-east |
Straight-line distance to the nearest feature within 20 km, from OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps places. A category is missing when nothing is mapped within 20 km.
Around the beach
Viewpoints
- Balos beach trail 340 m NE
Islands in view
- Βαλέντι Χανίων 2.1 km NW
- Πεταλίδα 2.2 km N
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chania International Airport Souda | CHQ | 51.0 km | east |
| Heraklion International Nikos Kazantzakis Airport Heraklion | HER | 147 km | east |
| Santorini International Airport Santorini Island | JTR | 193 km | north-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 1 mapped car park within 1 km.
No town of 1,000+ people lies within 10 km; within 30 km there are 3 (about 8.4K).
Reference
Balos Beach has an article on the EL Wikipedia: Λιμνοθάλασσα του Μπάλου.
Wikidata item Q805498 · classified as lagoon.
When people look it up
The EL Wikipedia article was read 6,362 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in August (2,007 views), 19.3× the quietest month.
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
- Elafonisi Beach34.7 km SCompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 5.8 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature r537023; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2C_34SGE_20260906_1_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Nearest services: OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps places within 20 km.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 320 Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.