Samos Beaches: The Best Beaches on Samos

Samos is a large island with beaches around its whole coast - most are pebble or a mix of sand and pebbles, with the best sand at Pythagorion, Psili Ammos and Limnionas and the wildest coves at Megalo Seitani, Balos and Kedros. This guide describes the main beaches of Samos, north to south and east to west; there are many more small coves besides. For the villages behind the beaches, see the Samos island guide.

Coast

Beaches all round

Best sand

Psili Ammos · Limnionas

Nudist beach

Tsamadou

Wildest

Megalo Seitani

Karlovassi beach

Karlovassi is a large town in the north-west of Samos with a small beach that has a taverna and parasols and sunbeds to rent. Most of the area's hotels sit near the beach. Karlovassi keeps the character of a small town rather than a pure beach resort.

Vathi (Samos Town) beaches

On the outskirts of Samos Town lie several small beaches, most with sunbeds and umbrellas and close to one or more hotels.

Pythagorion beach

Pythagorion in the south of Samos is one of the island's most popular and pleasant beach villages, with a wide choice of hotels, shops, supermarkets, restaurants and nightlife. In the village are small pebble beaches where it can be hard to get into the water, but just around the corner a long beach of mainly sand and a few pebbles is one of the most beautiful on Samos. Tavernas and sunbed hire sit at its start, and it grows quieter and no less lovely further from the village.

Potokaki beach

Potokaki is a pebble beach at the edge of Pythagorion, towards Ireon in the south, with a few umbrellas and sunbeds mostly serving the hotels built around it. There is plenty of sand among the pebbles and the shallow sea makes it easy to get in; in recent years luxury hotels have gone up along the beach and the sunbeds and umbrellas have taken over.

Kokkari beach

Kokkari is a bathing and tourist resort in the north of Samos, not far from Vathi, with many hotels in a pleasant setting. It has a long, pleasant pebble beach lined with tavernas, plus restaurants, supermarkets and shops. Because it faces north there is often some wind, which makes it popular with windsurfers, and several smaller beaches lie nearby.

Agios Konstantinos beaches

In the village of Agios Konstantinos in the north of Samos are a number of small pebble beaches on both sides of the village. They are not spectacular and are used mainly by the villagers themselves.

Tsabou beach

Tsabou is a large pebble beach in the north of Samos near the village of Avlakia. It looks very pretty from above and is certainly picturesque, but it is uncomfortable underfoot with no sand and quite large pebbles, so you need sandals; sunbeds are for hire and there is often a fair bit of wind.

Psili Amos beach

There are three beaches called Psili Amos ("fine sand") on Samos. The best known is a fine sandy beach in the south-west, close to Pythagorion; the sea shelves gently so you wade out to reach deeper water, which makes it popular with families, and there are tavernas and sunbed and parasol hire. Another Psili Amos, also in the south, lies a little east of Limnionas on the other side of the island - a large sandy beach, part organised with umbrellas and sunbeds and the rest left free, with plenty of room for everyone.

Tsamadou beach

Tsamadou lies just outside Kokkari in a splendid bay, with the last stretch reached on foot down a steep path. It is an organised beach of mainly pebbles with sunbeds and parasols and a steep entry into the sea, and it is the only official nudist beach on Samos - part ordinary, part naturist. You can get a drink there but there are no shops.

Kampos and Votsalakia beach

Kampos (Kambos) and Votsalakia form one long beach shared by two neighbouring villages in the south-west of Samos, lined with restaurants, hotels and houses along the road. It looks a little touristy with all its accommodation and tavernas but stays quieter than Pythagorion - a place to relax, swim and eat well rather than to party late.

Ireon and Papa beach

Ireon is a small coastal settlement near the airport, not far from Pythagorion, and the home of the temple of Hera. Its pebble-and-sand beach stretches most of the way to Pythagorion a few kilometers off, a quieter alternative with restaurants along the beach, cosy streets for souvenirs and food, and plenty of hotels, apartments and studios.

Potami beach

Potami is one of the beaches on the north coast of Samos, reached by car or on foot from Karlovassi. If you walk along the river you reach a waterfall and a small lake after about 2 kilometers. The beach itself is pebble.

Limnionas beach

Limnionas is a small village in the green hills of the south-west of Samos with a beautiful sandy beach, backed by the island's highest mountain. It sits off the main road, so there is little traffic, with a few restaurants and limited accommodation that keep it from ever getting too busy - one of the writer's favourite places on Samos, with more good beaches within walking distance.

Kedros, Agios Ioannis and Agios Isodoris beaches

Kedros, Agios Ioannis and Agios Isodoris are isolated beaches on the west side of Samos. Kedros and Agios Ioannis are reached by dirt track from Paleochori in the south-west - Agios Ioannis is said to be the prettiest - while Agios Isodoris, further north between Kallithea and Drakei, is reachable only by 4x4. Being remote, they are not always spotless and can carry driftwood or seaweed, and you need a very capable car or good legs to get there.

Balos beach

Balos is a quiet village in the south of Samos, off the main road and more peaceful than Votsalakia or Kampos, set in a beautiful bay with a large, clean pebble beach and clear water. Next to it is a secret sandy beach - the writer's favourite on the island - close to the Panorama Villas, with yet another beach beside it.

Ormos beach

Ormos is a quiet, friendly fishing village in the south of Samos next to Votsalakia and Kampos, prettier and more authentic than its neighbours, with older houses full of character. The beach of Ormos lies on the edge of the village.

Messokampos beach

Around Messokampos (Mesokambos), a little east of Pythagorion, are several small and larger beaches, mostly of large pebbles that are uncomfortable to lie on. Closer to Pythagorion the beaches turn sandier and the pebbles smaller.

Posidonio beach

Posidonio is a run of small pebble beaches around a bay in the south-east of Samos, reached by turning to Paleokastro off the Vathi-Pythagorion road and then to Posidonio, on a very scenic route through woods. There are tavernas and cafes and sunbed and umbrella hire, and the bay can be windy, which draws windsurfers; the beaches of Kerveli and Klima lie in the same area.

Sidera beach

Sidera lies right next to Posidonio in the south-east of Samos. "Beach" is a big word for it - it is more a stretch of pebbles in the sea, with better beaches nearby - but people come here to escape the crowds, and the bay itself is beautiful with lovely coloured water.

Klima beach

Klima is a pebble beach reached by turning to Paleokastro off the Vathi-Pythagorion road, with sunbed and umbrella hire, a few accommodations and tavernas. Like others in this area it is popular mainly with islanders, especially the people of Vathi; there is good parking and a pretty church on the edge of the little settlement.

Mourti (Mourtia) beach

Mourti (sometimes spelled Mourtia) is a small pebble beach in the north-east of Samos, near the Zoodochou Pigis Monastery on the route from Vathi (or Paleokastro) via Kamara. It looks great from above but is a little disappointing down at the shore, like most beaches on this side - uncomfortable pebbles with only the shade of a few bushes.