Greece / Crete
Preveli Beach
Preveli Beach is a 226 m-long sandy beach facing south-south-east, 18.5 km south-west of Agía Foteiní (Crete, Greece). The sea averages 25.5 °C in August, its warmest month, and 15.8 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in June–November.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Reference
Preveli Beach (Greek: Φοινικόδασος της Πρέβελης, Finikodasos tis Prevelis) is a beach located on the south coast of the Greek Mediterranean island of Crete. It is located in the municipality of Agios Vasilios in the Rethymno regional unit, not far from the Moni Preveli monastery, whose name has passed on to it.
Wikidata item Q25394719.
Month by month
October at Preveli Beach
Beach-day index 8.0/10 · Greece median 7.0
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 16.5 °C | 15.8 °C | 16.0 °C | 16.9 °C | 19.1 °C | 22.2 °C | 24.6 °C | 25.5 °C | 24.9 °C | 23.3 °C | 21.0 °C | 18.4 °C |
| High °C | 14° | 14° | 16° | 19° | 22° | 26° | 28° | 28° | 26° | 23° | 19° | 16° |
| Low °C | 12° | 11° | 13° | 14° | 18° | 22° | 24° | 24° | 23° | 20° | 16° | 13° |
| Rain mm | 88 | 75 | 42 | 22 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 46 | 58 | 86 |
| Cloud % | 70 | 69 | 62 | 54 | 41 | 24 | 14 | 16 | 32 | 51 | 65 | 73 |
| Wind m/s | 6.5 | 6.5 | 5.8 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 6.2 |
| Daylight h | 10.0 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 14.5 | 14.3 | 13.5 | 12.5 | 11.4 | 10.4 | 9.8 |
| Record high/low | 20°/5° | 21°/4° | 24°/6° | 29°/10° | 33°/14° | 35°/17° | 34°/21° | 34°/22° | 33°/19° | 33°/14° | 26°/10° | 23°/6° |
| Beach index | 2.6 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 7.0 | 9.3 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.3 | 8.0 | 5.6 | 3.3 |
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 June–September; July scores 9.5/10 with highs of 28 °C, sea at 24.6 °C and 2 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Greece in the same month.
Across the year the sea averages 20.3 °C, warmer than 64% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
January is the wettest month (88 mm) and July the driest (2 mm); the yearly total is about 460 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.8 hours in December to 14.5 hours in June; in mid-July the sun rises at 06:18 and sets at 20:37 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-south-east (165°). Open water fills about 39% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
At no time of year does the sun set over the sea here: sunset bearings run from 242° to 300°, behind the land.
Sunrise is over the sea in October–February.
Straight out to the south-south-east about 300 km of open sea lies before the next coast, enough for large swells to build. The beach is on an island of about 8,302 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 35 m deep and 577 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 86 m above sea level 500 m inland and 135 m at 1.5 km, so the beach is backed by steep slopes or cliffs.
Within 1 km, the land is 56% grassland, 19% shrubland and 12% tree cover (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 42% of that circle.
- Grass 56%
- Shrub 19%
- Tree 12%
- Built 9%
- Crop 3%
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.
Bathing water quality
The official EU bathing-water site “Asomatos - Preveli”, 80 m from the beach centre, was rated Good for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 10 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Excellent
- 2016Excellent
- 2017Excellent
- 2018Excellent
- 2019Excellent
- 2020Excellent
- 2021Excellent
- 2022Excellent
- 2023Excellent
- 2024Excellent
- 2025Good
Source: European Environment Agency, EU Bathing Water Directive assessments · national site profile. Classes are based on four seasons of bacteriological sampling.
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
- 2Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- 5Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 2Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 9Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 1 restaurant and 1 café. Accommodation: 2 hotels and guesthouses.
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.
Around the beach
Nature
- Μεσοκοριφη peak 1.5 km NW
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chania International Airport Souda | CHQ | 51.3 km | north-west |
| Heraklion International Nikos Kazantzakis Airport Heraklion | HER | 67.4 km | east |
| Sitia Airport Crete Island | JSH | 148 km | east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 1 bus stop within 1.5 km and 5 mapped car parks within 1 km.
No town of 1,000+ people lies within 10 km; within 30 km there are 5 (about 46K).
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 8,568 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in September (1,781 views), 14.5× the quietest month.
Map
Loading map…
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 9.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature r12464312; 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_35SKV_20260906_1_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site ELBW139314009101).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- 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.