Beaches, swimming & sunbathing

Panormos has two main sandy beaches and a few smaller places you can swim from. The main village beach is sheltered by the jettys of the small harbour so is ideal when its windy - and Crete can be very windy, especially in summer. The other beach is a 5-10 min walk from Panormos village towards the German hotel up the Rethymnon road westwards.

Both beaches have sun beds and parasols to hire (€5 for both).

Village beach

In the background (right on the beach) is another little bar

One thing to note is that the sea can be pretty rough due to the high winds that can effect Crete so keep an eye out for the flag system - red means don't swim! Having said that, the village beach is very sheltered and I found no problems swimming when it was pretty rough outside the harbour.