Greece

Where to surf in Greece

Greece is not usually associated with surfing unless there is a sail or kite attached, despite being surrounded by six different seas. The northwest Epirus coastline faces the Ionian Sea and along with Crete, receives some of the longer fetch, larger waves from any W direction.

Other Greek Islands

Corfu sits at the entrance of the Adriatic but looks for swells coming from the S quadrant to hit Agios Giorgios or Glyfada. Athens and Peloponnisos have a number of marginal breaks with Vouliagmeni receiving the most traffic when a S swell arrives or Lagkouvardos and Kalo Nero in a W. On Crete, waist to shoulder-high windchop is the norm with a few dozen spots spread around the island. Head for Preveli in the south, Falasarna in the west and Mirabello Bay on the north coast. The Aegean islands are famous among sailors, so occasionally winds are heavy enough to kick up a bit of swell. In the south, Tinos pulls in N swells from the Meltemi winds and can even have a few waves in summer at Livada and Kolimpithra. Tourists islands like Mykonos, Naxos and surprisingly Kos and Rhodes all get swell on their north-facing coasts, plus Rhodes gets any E and S swells too, where Prasonisi will be biggest. Winter is the best time and if there is summer windslop, there can be clashes with lifeguards when red flags go up in tiny surf conditions at tourist beaches that are usually flat.

Cyprus

Cyprus catches swell on the west and south coasts. Akdeniz Beach is a swell and wind magnet, shallow, sucky reefbreaks dot the Akamas peninsula, Potima has a sectiony right pointbreak, Helios Bay holds consistent peaks and Akrotiri reefs on the south coast regularly fire on any W swell. There are even waves on the east coast at Pernera Beach and Fig Tree in the Turkish half of the island.