-> listed by distance <-

There are many beautiful beaches in no more than 3-8km distance from Kamilari. These are (listed from the lowest distance):

Kalamaki Beach (about 3 km)
Kalamaki has a lovely long sandy beach with sunchairs and parasols behind a nice promenade with tavernas, cafes and shops. It's the closest beach from Kamilari and can easily be reached within 30 minutes walking distance.

Komos Beach (about 5 km)
The beach of Komos, between Matala and Kalamaki, is one of the largest and one of the most beautiful beaches with crystal clear water in the South of Crete. It is thus never crowded and has an area also for nudists.It reaches from the rocks after Kalamaki to the north to the steepen cliff end in the south, where you can even find a little taverna to rest.

Behind this cliff there's the bay of Matala. Its name comes from an antique minoan settlement "Komos", where you can still find the archaeological excavation just a little way up the beach. This old Minoan port (not opened to the public) perfectly integrates itself into the landscape. If you're lucky, you might see one of these protected sea turtles that come to nest in the sand during summer.

Afrathias/ Dasaki/ Kalyva tou laou Beach (about 5 km)

This is the sea-side area north to Kalamaki, before the military airport. This area has been improved within the last years, and it became possible to swim there (initially it was quite rocky and it still has some sea urchins, that might cause a lot of pain if you step on them).

When the military airport area is not closed, you can walk all the way south to Kokkinos Pirgos along the beach and hardly meet people on the way. To get there, turn left after a couple of kilometers on the Kamilari-Timbaki road. The curious thing about this place is a palm-trees "forest", a bit further behind the beach, which has been planted years ago with a small church on its ground. It's quite a strange landscape with palms, beach and in between also a bit of a marsh area. It is twice protected by "Natura 2000" (a networking protection program from the European Commission) because of migrating birds and sea turtles among other species.

Katalyki Beach (the beach of Kokkinos Pirgos)-(about 8 km)
The northern section of the Messara bay is occupied by the Katalyki sandy beach, which is probably one of the most pleasant beaches of the area, with its several fish tavernas, greek bars and sunbeds. It is an authentic, Greek place, where you can spend hours, just swimming and drinking cold coffees...

Matala (about 9 km)

Red Beach (Matala) - (about 10 km)