Which beaches in Zante have a Blue Flag in 2026?
In 2026 the Blue Flag flies over 12 beaches in the Municipality of Zakynthos, out of 624 in the whole of Greece. The Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, which runs the programme in Greece, announced the list on 14 May 2026.
The flag is not a beauty prize. It is awarded on four groups of criteria: bathing water quality, environmental management, environmental information and education, and safety and services on the beach.
It is not permanent either. During the season the society withdraws the flag from beaches that stop meeting the criteria and posts those withdrawals on its website; on 4 November 2026 it listed none for 2026.
Where are they? Zante's beaches coast by coast
The sand is in the south and the east. The Bay of Laganas and the Vasilikos peninsula hold the long sandy beaches and the turtle nesting beaches, while the Blue Flags of the north-east line up along the coast road from Tsilivi to Alykes.
Distances are by road, calculated on OpenStreetMap data and rounded to the kilometre, from the centre of Laganas and from the centre of Argasi.
Four Blue Flag beaches have no distance: Bouka, Gaidaros, Katragaki and Psarou are not mapped as beaches in OpenStreetMap. The official Blue Flag map puts them on the same north-east stretch, between Alykanas and Tsilivi.
| Beach | Coast | Blue Flag 2026 | Turtle nesting beach | From Laganas | From Argasi |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laganas | Bay of Laganas | No | Yes, the eastern part | On the strip | 10 km |
| Kalamaki | Bay of Laganas | Yes (Kalamaki 2) | Yes | 6 km | 7 km |
| Marathonisi | Islet in the Bay of Laganas | No | Yes | By boat | By boat |
| Limni Keriou | Bay of Laganas, west end | Yes | No | 9 km | 18 km |
| Sekania | Bay of Laganas, east end | No | Yes, no public access | — | — |
| Dafni | Vasilikos peninsula | No | Yes | 18 km | 8 km |
| Gerakas | Vasilikos peninsula | Yes | Yes | 22 km | 12 km |
| Banana | Vasilikos peninsula | Yes | No | 19 km | 9 km |
| Tsilivi | North-east coast | Yes | No | 12 km | 10 km |
| Amboula Tragaki | North-east coast | Yes | No | 15 km | 12 km |
| Alykanas | North-east coast | Yes (Alykanas 1) | No | 18 km | 17 km |
| Alykes | North-east coast | Yes (Alykes 1) | No | 19 km | 18 km |
| Bouka, Gaidaros, Katragaki, Psarou | North-east coast | Yes | No | — | — |
Which beaches are turtle nesting beaches, and when can you go?
Six beaches in the Bay of Laganas are where loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) lay their eggs: Marathonisi, East Laganas, Kalamaki, Sekania, Dafni and Gerakas, about 5.5 km of sand in all. They belong to the National Marine Park of Zakynthos, set up by presidential decree in 1999 and run today by Greece's Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NECCA).
The public may use them from 07:00 until sunset; after dark the sand is left to the turtles. Sekania, the beach with the highest density of nests, is closed to the public at all hours.
By day, keep your towel within about 5 m of the water, because the nests are further up the beach. Your own umbrella is not allowed at Gerakas, Dafni and Marathonisi, and cars, motorbikes, bicycles, horses and dogs are banned from every nesting beach.
The full rules, the hatching season and what to do if you find a hatchling are in Zante's turtles and the Marine Park rules.
What is the rest of the coast like?
Mostly cliffs. The National Marine Park describes the south-west coast as steep limestone with sea caves used by the Mediterranean monk seal, and the west and north as farming country where tourism never grew as it did in the east and south.
That north-west coast is where Navagio, the Shipwreck Beach, and the Blue Caves are; they are not an ordinary beach day, so we cover them in Shipwreck Beach and the Blue Caves.
Inside the park's waters, jet-skis, water-skiing and other motorised water sports are banned all year, and boats must stay under 6 knots. In the Bay of Laganas, a beach day means swimming, diving or paddling a canoe.
Which beach goes with your night out?
Pick the beach on the side of the island where your night is. If you are going out on the Laganas strip, Laganas beach is at the end of the road and Kalamaki is 6 km away; two of the strip's beach clubs, Infinity and El Paradiso, stand on Laganas beach itself.
If your night is in Argasi, around Club Barrage, the Vasilikos beaches are the close ones: Dafni is 8 km away and Gerakas 12 km, against 18 km and 22 km from Laganas.
Tsilivi is 12 km from Laganas and 10 km from Argasi. Afternoon events on the sand are on our beach parties page, and the strip hour by hour shows how a summer evening moves from the sand to the clubs.
