WorldGreece › Kriti › Stalida Beach

Stalida Beach 40.5

#4735 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇬🇷 Greece · Kriti · near Iraklio

Wind is the enemy here, gentle enough to learn.

Beginner friendlyBeginner
Stalida Beach, Greece
Photo: Алексей Шулик · CC BY 3.0 · source · photo taken 1.2 km from the spot
Surf score40.5 /100
Surfable days61% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.7 m 2.4 ft median
Water20°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Stalida Beach

It rarely works. The nearest airport is HER (24 km) and the nearest town is Iraklio (27 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan65%0%0.9 m17°C3/2
Feb69%0%0.9 m16°C3/2
Mar66%0%0.8 m16°C3/2
Apr49%0%0.6 m17°C3/2
May45%0%0.6 m18°C3/2
Jun53%0%0.6 m22°C2mm
Jul73%0%0.8 m24°Cvest
Aug79%0%0.8 m25°Cboardies
Sep71%0%0.8 m24°Cvest
Oct54%0%0.7 m22°Cvest
Nov53%0%0.7 m21°C2mm
Dec54%0%0.7 m19°C3/2

What is under Stalida Beach

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 88 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 420 m against 88 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out88 m
Depth 4 km out56 m
Channel beside it420 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 40.5

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
11.4
Best days 22.4%
6.3
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
7.0
Season spread 4.1%
3.4
Water comfort 6.1%
3.1
Access 4.1%
3.8

The detail

Faces 25° with 33% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 61% of days. Mean peak period 5.5 s. Days over 3 m: 1%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.6 m, with a peak period of 6 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 60%. Months that work: 10 of 12. Coordinates 35.295, 25.428 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,330/ month
typically €1,170 – €1,490
Rent, one bedroom€700
Groceries€280
Eating out€160
Getting around€95
Phone + internet€100
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,600/ month
typically €2,290 – €2,910
Somewhere to stay€1,540
Eating out€545
Car, transfers, fuel€355
Data + extras€165
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Greece (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

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Spots nearby

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