Limnos Beaches: Evgatis, Plati, Thanos, Keros & the Gomati Dunes
Limnos has around a hundred beaches, and its best sheltered sandy bays lie on the west and south coasts near Myrina. Evgatis, Plati and Thanos hold organised sand within a short drive of the capital, the east coast at Keros suits windsurfers, and the north keeps the huge Gomati sand dunes. Many of the quieter beaches sit at the end of a dirt track with no facilities, so bring water, shade and, ideally, a car with good ground clearance. Hire a car to explore Limnos at your own pace, covered in our Limnos car hire guide.
- Best beach
- Evgatis
- Windsurf beach
- Keros
- Sand dunes
- Gomati
- Family beach
- Plati
Agios Ioannis (Kaspakas)
Agios Ioannis is a long sandy beach on the west coast of Limnos, 6 km from Myrina and 1.5 km below the village of Kaspakas, so it is sometimes simply called Kaspakas Beach. The beach is ringed by large volcanic rocks and the water runs very clear, with a taverna and a few rooms behind it. Just north lies the lesser-known cove of Karvoulonakis. It makes an easy first stop for the west-coast beaches close to the capital.
Avlonas
Avlonas is a quiet organised beach in the first bay north of Myrina, about 1 km from the capital. The beach has parasols and sunbeds for hire, with tavernas and rooms behind it, and it faces a group of volcanic islets that make the water good for snorkelling and fishing. Avlonas stays calmer than the beaches inside Myrina itself, so it suits a swim close to town without the crowd.
Myrina & Romeikos Yialos
Myrina keeps clean sandy beaches within the capital itself, on either side of its castle rock. Romeikos Yialos is the wide organised beach on the northern bay, shaded by trees and lined with cafes and tavernas, and the nearby Riha Nera, meaning shallow waters, is a popular family beach with facilities. The town beach has parasols, sunbeds and watersports, so you can surf or water-ski a short walk from your hotel. These beaches put you closest to the shops, the harbour and the castle.
Plati
Plati is the beach below the picturesque village of Plati, 2 km south of Myrina in a green and fertile plain. The beach is a 700-metre organised strand with watersports, a small port for sailing boats and yachts, and a spread of tavernas, bars, a supermarket and rooms behind it. Plati is shallow, which makes it safe for children, and it is popular with both visitors and local families, so it counts among the busier beaches of the island. The white village above, with its bell-towered church, overlooks the bay.
Thanos
Thanos is a long sandy beach next to Plati, 4 km south-west of Myrina below the old village of the same name. The beach has crystal-clear water and is ringed by strangely shaped volcanic rocks, with a view across to the small island of Agios Efstratios. Thanos is organised, with parasols and sunbeds for hire, a few tavernas and some hotels, and it keeps a marked section for naturists. The village above holds white red-roofed houses, kafenions, a taverna and a few simple rooms.
Evgatis (Nevgatis)
Evgatis, also written Nevgatis, is a wide 4 km sandy beach in a bay on the south coast of Limnos, 6 km south of Myrina. Evgatis is almost everywhere described as one of the most beautiful beaches on the island, backed by volcanic rocks to the west and split into two parts by a small river. The beach is organised, with parasols and sunbeds for hire, and the Evgatis Hotel stands behind it with a beachfront taverna. Nearby, Cape Tigani holds more coves and small sandy bays.
Kokkina & Diapori
Kokkina is a quiet red-sand beach on the west side of the Fakos peninsula, 11 km from Myrina, whose name means "red" after the reddish colour of its sand against green-blue water. Kokkina is reached only over a 7 km dirt track and has no facilities, so it stays one of the last secret beaches of the island; bring your own water, food and sunblock. A coastal path from the beach leads to the church of Agia Efthimia. Nearby Diapori, close to Tsimandria and Kontias among deserted windmills and volcanic stone houses, is another calm beach with a single taverna.
Nea Koutali & Kontias
Nea Koutali is a small coastal settlement founded about a century ago by refugees from Asia Minor, many of them sponge divers. The village keeps a Museum of Naval Tradition and Sponge-fishing, with sponges, diving gear and objects raised from the sea floor, and a pleasant beach with tavernas and a few rooms. Nearby Kontias is one of the larger villages on Limnos, dating from the Middle Ages, with a castle of 1346 that was later turned into a monastery. Together they make a quieter base in the south of the island.
Aliki
Aliki is one of four large sandy beaches in a row on the east side of Limnos, set just east of the salt lake of the same name. Aliki lets you combine a swim with a walk by the wetland, which fills with birdlife in winter and spring and dries out white in summer. The beach is long and sandy, and its position beside the lake makes it a good stop on a drive through the flat east of the island.
Keros
Keros is a 4 km sandy beach in the east of Limnos, in a half-moon bay 2 km from the village of Kalliopi between the island's two lakes. Keros is counted among the safest windsurfing spots in Greece, because the bay is sheltered and the wind usually blows onshore, though the waves can reach several metres on the southern side. The beach has a surf club and clear, shallow water, with almost no waves on its northern side. It is the island's main draw for windsurfers and kitesurfers.
Makrys Gialos & Louri
Makrys Gialos is a beach several kilometres long in the south-east of Limnos, between Louri and Keros and just south of the ancient site of Poliochni, about 7 km from Moudros. Makrys Gialos is sandy and ringed by green and sandy hills, often windy, and counted an excellent spot for windsurfing, yet it stays well away from the crowds. Neighbouring Louri, near the village of Skandali, is a quiet, unspoiled sandy beach with some rocks in the water and no facilities at all, so carry water and sunblock.
Chavouli, Sagrida & Fanaraki
Chavouli, Sagrida and Fanaraki are three sandy beaches in a row just south of Moudros, set in a landscape of volcanic rock. Fanaraki has a taverna and a beach bar and splits into Mikro Fanaraki in a small cove and the larger Megalo Fanaraki, both organised with facilities. The unpaved road to these beaches suits a four-wheel drive. Quieter sands lie nearby at Parthenomytos, with planted trees for shade and a small coffee bar, and at isolated Skidi below Chavouli, both reached over dirt track and both with calm, greenish water.
Neftina & Zematas
Neftina is a long, quiet sandy beach in the north-east of Limnos, close to the ancient sanctuary of Kabeirio. Neftina is reached over a rough dirt track, on foot or ideally by four-wheel drive, and it has clear, shallow water that suits children but no facilities of any kind, so bring your own water and food. A few hours here pair easily with the nearby ancient sites of Hephaisteia and Kabeirio just to the south. Zematas, a little to the north, is an equally isolated and very quiet long sandy beach.
Plaka
Plaka is a cove beach in the extreme north-east of Limnos, reached by a path from the village of Plaka. Plaka is one of the prettiest villages on the island, with white houses, a white bell-towered church and a lighthouse, and views across to the Turkish mainland and a Turkish island offshore. A second beach lies just south of the cove. It is a remote corner that rewards the drive out to the island's far tip.
Kotsinas & Agios Ermolaos
Kotsinas is a dune-backed sandy beach on the north side of the village of Kotsinas, west of the ancient site of Hephaisteia. Kotsinas keeps a small harbour with fishing boats, a couple of tavernas and the Byzantine castle and Maroula monument above, described in the Limnos sights guide. The Varos Village Hotel runs its own free section of this beach with sunbeds and a snack bar. North-west of the village, Agios Ermolaos is a quiet family beach of shallow water below an 1867 hilltop chapel, reached on foot or by car with no facilities.
Gomati sand dunes
Gomati is a quiet beach in a cove in the central north of Limnos, 3 km north of the village of Katalakko, with the largest sand dunes on the island. The Gomati dunes, known in Greek as the Ammothines, are the biggest in Greece, and locals call them the only desert in Europe. Gomati is reached only over a dirt track from Katalakko, on foot or by four-wheel drive, and the Meltemi wind that blows across the north makes it a spot for windsurfing. The monastery of Megisti Lavra lies in the area, which once belonged to the monasteries of Mount Athos.
