Blue Flag beaches in Sithonia for the 2018 season are listed at 16 gorgeous beaches. This number has remained the same from the previous year. For the Halkidiki peninsula there is now a total of 76 awarded Blue Flag beaches.
What is a Blue Flag beach?
Blue Flag is a world-renowned eco-label that gives prestigious awards to beaches based on stringent criteria. It doesn’t mean that these are necessarily the best beaches or most beautiful beaches, but it gives a guarantee of a certain standard of cleanliness and safety.
What determines a Blue Flag beach?
To get the Blue Flag rating, every May the Blue Flag team goes out and tests the beach for 32 different criteria before it can be given the Blue Flag.
Among the criteria are points such as…
- – Water quality (less than 500 coliforms and 100 faecal coliforms per 100 ml of water.)
- – The beach must be clean
- – Must have waste disposal bins
- – Lifeguards and/or life-saving equipment
- – No industrial of sewage discharges
- – Water quality information displayed
- – Toilet facilities
It must also have recycling facilities and a water supply which can mean that an amazing rural beach will be ruled out for a Blue Flag rating.
Blue Flag or no flag?
So if you are going to Sithonia this summer, there are around 100 fantastic beaches to be enjoyed. Most have amazingly clear water and beautiful white sand!
The Blue Flag beaches are mainly located where there are plenty of tourists and enough facilities to maintain the beach. The Blue Flag means that you will have everything you need close by and guarantees a high standard of cleanliness.
Tourists seeking isolation will no doubt still be delighted to sit on a white sandy cove with no beach bar, no people, and no rubbish! So don’t let the Blue Flag debate determine where you will travel to in Sithonia, almost any beach is going to make you quite happy!
Interesting Blue Flag facts…
The number of beaches and marinas with Blue Flag status increases every year – 4423 was the count for 2017 in some 45 countries.
In the last few years, Greece has consistently come in second place as having the most “Blue Flag” awards, only being topped by Spain. In 2017 Greece had a total of 486 beaches on the list.
The Sithonia Blue Flag beaches are as follows from west to east going around the peninsula.
- Gerakini
- Sargani/Blue Dolphin
- Makrya Lagada/ Porfi Beach
- Nikiti
- Elia 2/Anthemus
- Lagomandra beach
- Paradisos
- Neos Marmaras
- Porto Carras 2
- Porto Carras 1/Kochi
- Toroni
- Sykia
- Sarti
- Platanitsi
- Armenistis
- Livrohio
