Red Beach Santorini: Closed on Land, Open from a Boat

Is Red Beach open?

Not from the land. The walk in from the Akrotiri archaeological site side was the way down on foot, and that is the access that was closed after the February 2025 rockfall. Conditions can change, so read the signs at the top of the path, but do not plan a beach day on it. The cliff is the hazard, not the sea: the swim stops boats make in front of the beach are a different thing from sitting under the cliff on the sand.

Seeing Red Beach from a boat

This is how most visitors see it now. The cruises do not land: a catamaran cannot moor on the beach, so the crew anchors at the closest good spot and you swim and snorkel in front of it. Two listings say so outright by naming beach landings as not included. The sunset catamaran gives the stop 30 minutes, and the luxury catamaran describes a half-hour stop off the coast. Snorkel gear is included on most of the catamarans.

Can you swim at Red Beach?

Yes, from a boat. You swim in the sea in front of the beach, not from the sand. Weather decides it: a guest on the luxury catamaran in October wrote that the Red Beach stop was cancelled for wind and the crew went elsewhere. The listings all say stops can change without notice in bad weather.

Which cruises stop at Red Beach

All seven catamaran and wooden-boat trips include Red Beach, and so does the boat rental. The two volcano boats do not; they stay inside the caldera.

• Day catamaran (Gold), from $95 — Red Beach is the first stop, with snorkelling and Greek meze on board. Leaves from Vlychada. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
• Sunset catamaran, from $88 — A 30-minute swim and snorkel stop, after the hot springs and before White Beach. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
• Luxury catamaran, from $123 — A half-hour stop off the coast of Red Beach, up to 20 guests. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
• Small-group catamaran, from $145 — Snorkelling at Red Beach after the BBQ at White Beach, with 14 guests at most. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
• Sailing catamaran, from $85 — Swim stops at Red Beach and Mesa Pigadia. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
• Private catamaran and wooden boat — The private boat ($129 per person) goes to Red Beach by arrangement with the captain; the wooden boat ($112) sails close before its swim stop at the Black Mountain. Both have free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
• Self-drive boat rental, from $291 per boat — Red Beach is the first place the listing suggests. It leaves from Vlychada, the closest marina. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

How to get near Red Beach on land

Take the bus from Fira to Akrotiri, about €2.20 one way, paid in cash on board; the ride is around 20 minutes. A taxi from Fira to Akrotiri costs about €30 to €40. There is a viewpoint above the beach, and the Akrotiri archaeological site, the Bronze Age town buried by the eruption, is close by with a full ticket of €20. If the beach is the point, the boat is the better plan.

Red, White and Black

Red Beach is the first of a row of coves along the south coast that the catamarans work through. White Beach, under pale cliffs, is next along and can only be reached from the sea. Mesa Pigadia is beside it, and the wooden boat stops at the Black Mountain. A five-hour catamaran usually covers two or three of them plus the hot springs.