Italy / Calabria
Spiaggia dei Formicoli
Spiaggia dei Formicoli is a 910 m-long sandy beach facing north-west, 1.1 km west of Santa Domenica (Calabria, Italy). The sea averages 26.7 °C in August, its warmest month, and 14.4 °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 Spiaggia dei Formicoli
Beach-day index 6.7/10 · Italy median 6.5
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 15.2 °C | 14.4 °C | 14.5 °C | 15.7 °C | 18.6 °C | 22.6 °C | 25.6 °C | 26.7 °C | 24.9 °C | 22.4 °C | 19.6 °C | 17.0 °C |
| High °C | 11° | 11° | 13° | 16° | 20° | 26° | 29° | 29° | 25° | 21° | 16° | 12° |
| Low °C | 6° | 6° | 7° | 10° | 13° | 18° | 20° | 21° | 18° | 15° | 11° | 8° |
| Rain mm | 126 | 121 | 98 | 64 | 46 | 33 | 22 | 30 | 79 | 90 | 128 | 132 |
| Cloud % | 69 | 70 | 63 | 58 | 51 | 36 | 24 | 28 | 50 | 56 | 65 | 69 |
| Wind m/s | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 4.0 |
| Daylight h | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.9 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.5 | 11.3 | 10.1 | 9.5 |
| Record high/low | 17°/-3° | 18°/-2° | 25°/1° | 29°/0° | 32°/8° | 35°/11° | 38°/16° | 37°/15° | 34°/13° | 30°/8° | 24°/3° | 19°/-1° |
| Beach index | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 5.7 | 9.3 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 8.8 | 6.7 | 3.8 | 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 June–August; July scores 9.6/10 with highs of 29 °C, sea at 25.6 °C and 22 mm of rain.
That matches the median for beaches in Italy in the same month.
At its warmest the water here is 0.9 °C warmer than the Italy median for August (25.8 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 19.8 °C, warmer than 61% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
December is the wettest month (132 mm) and July the driest (22 mm); the yearly total is about 970 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.5 hours in December to 14.9 hours in June; in mid-July the sun rises at 05:43 and sets at 20:21 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-west (315°). Open water fills about 50% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
The sun sets over the sea in every month; in mid-June it goes down at 20:22 local time on a bearing of 301°.
Straight out to the north-west about 800 km of open sea lies before the next coast, enough for large swells to build.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 39 m deep and 118 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 68 m above sea level 500 m inland and 205 m at 1.5 km, so the beach is backed by steep slopes or cliffs.
Within 1 km, the land is 58% tree cover, 17% grassland and 16% cropland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 52% of that circle.
- Tree 58%
- Grass 17%
- Crop 16%
- Built 7%
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 “Spiaggia Torre Marina”, 420 m from the beach centre, was rated Excellent for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 11 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Excellent
- 2016Excellent
- 2017Excellent
- 2018Excellent
- 2019Excellent
- 2020Excellent
- 2021Excellent
- 2022Excellent
- 2023Excellent
- 2024Excellent
- 2025Excellent
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.
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 5Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- 6Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 3Hotels & guesthouses
- 2Campsites
- 2Grocery shops
- 2Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 5Viewpoints
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 5 restaurants. Accommodation: 3 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
Campsites
- Villaggio Formicoli 100 m S
- Villaggio Le Playe 520 m NE
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lamezia Terme Sant'Eufemia International Airport Lamezia Terme (CZ) | SUF | 43.9 km | north-east |
| Reggio Calabria Airport Reggio Calabria | REG | 67.7 km | south |
| Crotone Sant'Anna Pythagoras Airport Isola di Capo Rizzuto (KR) | CRV | 113 km | east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 2 bus stops within 1.5 km, rail station Santa Domenica (1.1 km) and 6 mapped car parks within 1 km.
9 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 13.6K residents); within 30 km there are 41 (about 125.9K).
Map and nearby beaches
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 4.4 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w742124976; 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 S2A_33SWC_20230713_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site IT018102030004).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 480 Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.