Calm water is ideal for popular beach activities like snorkelling or collecting sand-caked seashells, and it’s also much safer for children to explore.
Hawaiianislands.com has analysed millions of publicly available reviews on Tripadvisor for the top 500 beaches in America and the top 100 beaches in each country around the world. Additionally, they calculated the proportion of reviews from English-speaking travellers that included the words “calm water/s” in order to uncover the beaches with the calmest waters.
In Europe, six out of 10 of the continent’s beaches with the calmest water are in Greece, with Marathi Beach in Crete taking the lead, with 16.17 per cent of reviews mentioning its calm water.
Outside of Greece, Portuguese and Spanish Beaches make the cut. Portugal’s top beach for calm water is Foz de Arelho Beach (Lagoon) in Foz do Arelho, Leria District (9.60 per cent of reviews), situated on the side of a calm lagoon that the Atlantic Ocean feeds.
Here are the Top 10 European Beaches with the Calmest Waters:
Marathi Beach, Crete, Greece
Foz do Arelho Beach (Lagoon), Foz do Arelho, Leiria District, Portugal
Lefkos Beach, Lefkos, Greece
Praia Grande, Ferragudo, Algarve, Portugal
Damnoni Beach, Plakias, Crete, Greece
Mikri Vigla Beach, Naxos, Greece
Glystra Beach, Rhodes, Greece
Playa Flamingo, Playa Blanca, Lanzarote, Spain
Playa de las Teresitas, Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Spain
Kolymbithres Beach, Paros, Cyclades, Greece
So, Greece definitely makes a strong showing on this list of Europe's calmest beaches, offering a stunning variety of options for your next tranquil getaway.
