Kommos & Red Beach: The Wilder Sands Beside Matala, Honestly
Two escapes from the Matala scene — the long Minoan-harbour beach at Kommos and the over-the-headland cove of Red Beach.
Matala draws the coaches; its neighbours absorb the connoisseurs. North over the ridge lies Kommos — a huge, dune-backed sweep beside the ruins of the Minoan harbour that once served Phaistos — and south over the cliff path hides Red Beach, the ochre-sand cove that kept Matala’s old free spirit when the town professionalised. Both reward mild effort with major atmosphere.
The honest facts
- Kommos access
- drive to the signed parking above Pitsidia side and walk down (10 minutes), or walk the beach north from Matala’s edge; the southern end has a seasonal taverna and some sunbeds (~€8–12), the long middle and north are gloriously unserviced.
- Kommos rules
- the archaeological site behind the south end is fenced — view it from the path; the beach is a prime loggerhead nesting shore: marked nests are sacrosanct, night lights and beach furniture near them are not okay.
- Red Beach access
- from Matala’s upper lanes a marked cliff path crosses the headland — 20–25 honest minutes each way, steep and stony in stretches; proper footwear, water, and no sufferers of vertigo on the exposed bit. Small boats from Matala run in season as the lazy alternative.
- Conventions
- both, by long tradition, are clothing-optional the further you settle from the entrances — established, relaxed, and easily coexisted with.
- Facilities at Red Beach
- a rudimentary seasonal canteen at best; assume self-sufficiency.
Choosing between them
Kommos is the space play: kilometre-scale sand, room for every philosophy of beach day, the Minoan stones adding weight, sunsets aimed straight down the Libyan Sea. Red Beach is the cove play: enclosed, ochre-glowing, earned by the walk, best owned for two or three unhurried hours. Energetic days do both around a Matala lunch.
The honest downside
Kommos offers little shade past the tamarisk line and real shore-break on wavy days; Red Beach’s path genuinely deters flip-flop optimists and turns hot by noon. Neither suits the full-service beach model — that is Matala’s own bay, one guide over.
Worth your time if: Matala’s crowd sent you looking for the original feeling — it moved next door. Skip Red Beach if the path description raised doubts — Kommos gives eighty percent of the escape for a tenth of the scramble.
Photos on this page: the galleries by Zde and the tamarisks by C messier (both CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons, resized for the web. Everything above was checked for the date shown at the top of this guide. Nobody pays to be featured in a guide — no business, no sponsor, no paid mention, ever. Adverts, where they appear, are labelled as adverts.
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The three sands
1 Kommos beach 2 Matala 3 Red Beach
Tap a name to open it in your map app. These are options, not an order — pick by the day you have.
How do you get to Kommos beach?
Drive to the signed parking on the Pitsidia side and walk down ten minutes, or walk the beach north from Matala's edge. The southern end has a seasonal taverna and sunbeds at roughly €8–12; the long middle and north are gloriously unserviced.
How hard is the walk to Red Beach?
A marked cliff path from Matala's upper lanes crosses the headland — 20–25 honest minutes each way, steep and stony in stretches. Proper footwear, water, and no vertigo sufferers on the exposed bit; small boats from Matala run in season as the lazy alternative.
Are Kommos and Red Beach nudist?
Both are, by long tradition, clothing-optional the further you settle from the entrances — established, relaxed, and easily coexisted with.
What are the rules at Kommos?
The archaeological site behind the south end is fenced — view the Minoan harbour stones from the path. The beach is a prime loggerhead nesting shore: marked nests are sacrosanct, and night lights or beach furniture near them are not okay.
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