The beach

The beach of Sougia is 1,2 km long and is the longest beach in the South-West of Crete. It is also quite wide (up to 70 meters in places). Although it is a pebble beach, these vary a lot in size and there are plenty of places where they are very small and it is not at all uncomfortable to lie on them.

The beach of Sougia in April

The beach has several quite unique features: nudism is tolerated (and practiced but in no way compulsory) in a large part of the beach, there are no beach chairs and umbrellas to disfigure it, the beach never ever feels crowded because it is so long and wide and the sea in Sougia is one of the cleanest in Greece (not only Crete!) according to a water quality survey made in 1999. The pebbles are also worth a mention: they come in different colours and shapes with all kinds of markings and many visitors collect the nicer ones to take them back home.

There are no buildings whatsoever on the beach so that you feel really close to nature and the views of the coast are superb and unspoilt.
The beach has little shade apart from some tamarisk trees in the eastern area.

Small children who cannot swim will need to wear safety swimming aids or be supervised because the water drops quite quickly. There are no currents.

Photos of the beach Click on the thumbnails to enlarge




Photos of the beach seen from the sea - click here

The sea on the Southwest coast of Crete is a little colder (about one or two degrees Celsius) than elsewhere because there are a number of underground springs that come out in the sea near the shore. You can check the current sea temperature in Crete here.

Sea temperatures: The sea warms up and cools off much slower than the land with the effect that it is still quite cold in April and May but remains warm until December. Below is a chart with the average land and sea temperatures in Heraklion. Bear in mind that the sea temperature in southwest Crete is a good degree lower in the spring because the snow melting on the mountains creates underground rivers which come out into the sea. The air temperature is generally a couple of degrees higher.

MONTH	Max. Temp°C	Max. Temp°F	Average daytime temperature		Water Temp°C	Water Temp°F	Days of rain
January	16	61	12°C	52°F	16	61	14
February	16	61	13°C	54°F	15	59	11
March	17	62	14°C	57°F	16	61	8
April	20	68	17°C	62°F	17	62	6
May	24	75	24°C	75°F	19	66	3
June	28	82	24°C	75°F	22	72	1
July	29	84	26°C	79°F	24	75	0
August	29	84	26°C	79°F	25	77	0
September	27	81	24°C	75°F	24	75	2
October	24	75	20°C	68°F	23	74	6
November	21	70	17°C	62°F	20	68	8
December	17	62	14°C	57°F	17	62	9

Snorkeling: Snorkeling is possible, the water is very clear with an underwater visibility of up to 20 meters but if you want to fish you will need to be able to be a good diver as the bottom drops quickly to a depth of about 20 meters. The best place to snorkle is to the West of the harbour (along the cliff) and to the East of the beach.