Mediterranean Sea Beaches

An almost enclosed sea with negligible tide, low swell and warm summer water, which is why its beach culture is older and more organised than anywhere else in the register. The Mediterranean beach is frequently a licensed concession with numbered umbrellas, a Roman ruin within sight and a season of four months. Its geology divides cleanly: limestone coasts — the Adriatic, the Balearics, the Algarve, Sardinia — cut into coves and produce clear water and pebble; volcanic ones give black sand at Santorini and the Aeolians; and the deltaic coasts give long sand strands. What almost no Mediterranean beach has is surf, and what almost all of them have is a great deal of history immediately behind the sand. Practically: the tide is negligible, lifeguard cover is seasonal and concentrated, and the free public sections of concession beaches are marked and usually smaller than visitors expect. The season runs May to October almost everywhere.

They spread across ten beach worlds, the largest group being six hidden coves. Together they account for 64 km of shore. · computed from the 25 records below