Perivolos Santorini – Beach Clubs and Black Sand

Perivolos Santorini: The Beach Club End of the Black Sand

Perivolos Santorini is the southern continuation of Perissa – the same unbroken run of black volcanic sand on the south coast, three kilometres along, where the beach bars get smarter, the loungers get better and the music gets louder. Book with Santorini Tours, a licensed local operator.

Together with Perissa above it and Agios Georgios below it, this is around seven kilometres of continuous beach, the longest on Santorini. Perivolos occupies the middle stretch and it has quietly become the island’s beach club strip: proper day beds, cocktail lists, DJs in the afternoon, volleyball courts on the sand and restaurants that stay open until the small hours.

None of which stops it being a beach. Walk fifty metres away from the clubs in either direction and it is black sand, deep blue water and space.

Where it is

On the south coast, three kilometres south of Perissa, fifteen minutes from Fira, ten from the airport, ten from Emporio and Megalochori, twenty-five from Oia.

Why go

For the best organised stretch of sand on Santorini, a Blue Flag, water sports, beach volleyball, food from early to late and rooms at a fraction of caldera prices.

Perivolos Beach

The sand at Perivolos Santorini. Black, coarse and volcanic, exactly as at Perissa. It holds heat and by late morning in August it is too hot to cross barefoot. Take something to walk in.

The water. Clear and deep quite quickly over a dark bottom, which gives it a colour you do not get on a pale beach. It suits swimmers rather than paddlers.

The organisation. The most developed beach on Santorini. Day beds and umbrellas in ranks, beach bars behind them, showers, changing facilities, volleyball courts, water sports and a diving base along the strip.

The Blue Flag. Awarded for water quality, safety and facilities, as at Perissa.

What it costs. Two loungers and an umbrella run from around 20€ a day at the ordinary bars to considerably more at the smarter clubs, where the charge is often set against a minimum spend on food and drink.

The clubs. Music from mid-afternoon, cocktails, and a scene that runs from sunbathing into the evening without a break. This is what distinguishes Perivolos Santorini from every other beach on the island.

The quiet stretches. Between and beyond the clubs the sand is empty. Walk south towards Agios Georgios and within ten minutes you will have it largely to yourself.

The wind. The south coast takes the meltemi across it rather than head-on, so this beach is usually swimmable when the north-facing ones are not.

What to Do at Perivolos Santorini

Beach volleyball

Proper courts on the sand, used seriously through the season. There is nothing comparable elsewhere on the island.

Water sports

The full range along the organised strip – jet skis, ringos, paddleboards, windsurfing when the meltemi cooperates.

Diving

Volcanic walls, reefs and wrecks offshore, with a base working this coast.

The beach clubs

Day beds, food, cocktails and music from the afternoon onward. Booking is worth it in August; the front row goes early.

Eating

Everything from a gyros behind the beach to a full fish dinner on the sand. Perivolos Santorini has the best concentration of beachfront restaurants on the island.

Walking the sand

North into Perissa in about forty minutes, or south into Agios Georgios and the emptier end. Seven kilometres end to end if you want it.

Sunset

The south coast does not get the famous caldera sunset, but the sun goes down over the sea to the west along the line of the beach, and the black sand takes the last light unusually well.

Staying in Perivolos Santorini

What you get. The best beach on the island on your doorstep, at a fraction of caldera prices. Hotels, studios and apartments, more of them set back from the front than at Perissa, and a growing number of smarter small hotels with pools.

What you give up. The caldera view, entirely. Perivolos Santorini is on the south coast and faces the open sea.

The price. Roughly a third of the rim for an equivalent room, and slightly above Perissa because the standard here is higher.

Who it suits. Beach holidays first and foremost; couples who want a lounger, a cocktail and a long lunch rather than a queue for a photograph; groups; and anyone who intends to swim every day.

Who it does not suit. Honeymooners set on a caldera view, and anyone looking for a traditional village. This is a beach strip and it does not pretend to be anything else.

Noise. The clubs run music into the evening. Rooms set back from the front are quiet; rooms above a bar are not. Ask before booking.

Getting around. The Fira–Perissa bus serves this coast frequently, and a car makes the villages inland easy.

Alternatives nearby. Perissa three kilometres north, Agios Georgios further south for the quiet end, Emporio ten minutes inland for a real village. Perissa · Agios Georgios · Emporio.

Eating and Drinking at Perivolos Santorini

Perivolos Santorini has the best beachfront eating on the island, and not expensive by the standards of this island.

What it costs. Roughly 20€ to 32€ a head with wine on the sand, against 45€ and up for a caldera table. Behind the beach it is cheaper again.

What to order. Fava, the yellow split pea purée with its own protected designation, warm with raw onion and capers. Tomatokeftedes, fritters of the small dense Santorini tomato grown on the plain behind. White aubergine, sweeter than the purple kind. Caper leaves. Chloro, the fresh goat cheese that never leaves the island. Fresh fish by the kilo – ask the price before it goes on the grill.

What to drink. Assyrtiko from the estates ten minutes inland, and whatever the beach bar is mixing after five.

The sunbed deal. Most of the bars at Perivolos Santorini set the lounger charge against what you eat and drink, which usually works out in your favour if you are there all day.

When. Lunch runs late, dinner starts around nine, and the clubs carry on afterwards.

If food is why you travel, our food tour visits producers on the plain behind this coast and finishes with a sit-down meal.

Getting to Perivolos Santorini

By car. Fifteen minutes from Fira, ten from the airport, ten from Emporio and Megalochori, twenty from Kamari round the mountain, twenty-five from Oia. Parking behind the beach.

By bus. The Fira–Perissa route serves this coast frequently for a couple of euro; from the Perissa stop it is a short walk or a very short drive south.

On foot from Perissa. About forty minutes along the sand, and a pleasant walk in the early evening.

By taxi. Possible, though the island’s licensed fleet is very small and in August effectively fully booked.

On a tour. Perivolos Santorini sits on our southern itineraries alongside Akrotiri, the beaches and the inland villages. The south part tour and the full day tour both work this coast.

By transfer. Our private transfers run from the airport and both ports from 40€ per vehicle, with flights and ferries monitored.

Perivolos Compared With the Other Beaches

Against Perissa. The same beach, three kilometres north. Perissa is cheaper, younger and closer to the path up to Ancient Thera. Perivolos Santorini has the better loungers, the better food on the sand and the beach clubs. More on Perissa.

Against Kamari. Over the mountain on the east coast: a traffic-free promenade, an open-air cinema and a more family feel. Better for a week with children; this is better for a week with a cocktail. More on Kamari.

Against Agios Georgios. The quiet southern end of the same sand, where the clubs stop. More on Agios Georgios.

Against Vlychada. Ten minutes west: wind-carved white cliffs over black sand and a marina, strange and largely unserviced. More on Vlychada.

Against the Red and White beaches. Dramatic coves on the southwest coast reached by boat or a rough track, for looking at rather than a day out. Red Beach · White Beach.

Against Baxedes and Monolithos. The quiet family beaches on the north and east coasts – shade and shallow water, almost no facilities. Baxedes · Monolithos.

When to Visit Perivolos Santorini

April and May at Perivolos Santorini. The clubs open up through May and the sea becomes swimmable at the end of it. Quiet, cheap and pleasant.

June. The best all-round month. Warm water, everything running, and the August weight of people not yet arrived.

July and August. Peak. Front-row loungers go early, the clubs are at full volume and the sand is punishing at midday. Book beds and tables ahead.

September. The warmest sea of the year with the crowds falling away. For most people the best month at Perivolos Santorini.

October. Swimmable in the first half; the clubs wind down through the month.

November to March. Shut. The beach is empty and worth walking, but there is nothing open.

Time of day

Morning for a quiet swim, afternoon for the clubs, and the last hour of light for the walk south along the sand.

What Perivolos Santorini Costs

Coffee at Perivolos Santorini. 3–4.50€ on the beach, less behind it.

Lunch on the sand. 15–25€ a head.

Dinner with wine. 20–32€ a head, against 45€+ on the caldera.

Cocktail. 10–14€ at the beach clubs.

Two loungers and an umbrella. From about 20€ a day at the ordinary bars; more at the clubs, usually offset against a minimum spend.

Hotel, shoulder season. From around 55€ for a studio to 200€ for a small hotel with a pool.

Hotel, August. Higher, but still a fraction of Imerovigli or Oia.

Transfer from the airport. 40€ per vehicle for one or two people, a ten-minute drive.

A private tour. From 220€ for the whole vehicle, pickup from Perivolos Santorini included.

The beach itself. Free, if you bring your own towel and walk past the loungers.

Practical Notes for Perivolos Santorini

Shoes on the sand. Black volcanic sand burns bare feet from mid-morning in high summer.

Swimming. Deep water close in, and undertow when the sea is up. Watch children.

Book the loungers. In August the front rows at the clubs go by ten in the morning.

Ask about the sunbed deal. Most bars set the charge against food and drink.

Rooms and noise. Music runs into the evening along the strip. Book back from the front if you want to sleep early.

Shade. Only what you rent. There are no trees on this beach.

Money. Cards everywhere along the front, ATMs behind it.

Winter. Perivolos Santorini closes almost completely from November to March.

Driving. Park behind the beach. The service road gets tight in August.

Frequently Asked Questions About Perivolos Santorini

Where is it? On the south coast, three kilometres south of Perissa, fifteen minutes from Fira and ten from the airport.

Is Perivolos the same beach as Perissa? Yes – the sand runs unbroken from Perissa through Perivolos to Agios Georgios, about seven kilometres in total.

What is the difference between Perissa and Perivolos? Perissa is cheaper and younger, with the path up to Ancient Thera behind it. Perivolos has the beach clubs, the better loungers and the better food on the sand.

Is it black sand? Yes – coarse black volcanic sand, which gets extremely hot in summer.

Does it have a Blue Flag? Yes, for water quality, safety and facilities.

Is the water deep? It shelves away quickly, so it suits swimmers rather than paddlers.

Is there a caldera view? No. Perivolos Santorini faces the open sea on the south coast.

Are there beach clubs? Yes, this is the island’s beach club strip – day beds, cocktails and music from mid-afternoon.

Is it expensive? The loungers at the smart clubs are, everything else is a fraction of caldera prices.

Is it good for families? Reasonably, though the water is deep, the sand is hot and the music is loud in the afternoon. Kamari or Monolithos suit small children better.

Is there beach volleyball? Yes, proper courts on the sand.

Can I walk to Perissa? Yes, about forty minutes along the beach.

Is it open in winter? No. Almost everything closes from November to March.

How do I get there without a car? The Fira–Perissa bus serves this coast frequently, and it is a short walk south from the Perissa stop.

Tours That Include Perivolos Santorini

We are a licensed local operator with guides who live on the island year round. Prices are per vehicle rather than per person, pickup is included from anywhere including both ports, and an 80€ deposit confirms the date.

South part tour – five hours from 280€, Akrotiri, the black sand beaches and the inland villages.

Full day tour – eight hours from 460€, the whole island with a traditional village stop.

Wine tour – four and a half hours from 650€, three estates with all tastings included, ten minutes inland.

Historical tour – Akrotiri and Ancient Thera, the two great archaeological sites of the south.

Personalised tour – from 220€, built around whatever you actually want to see.

Every itinerary and all prices are on the santorini tours page. If you are staying at Perivolos Santorini, our private transfers cover the airport and both ports from 40€.

Is Perivolos Santorini Worth It?

If you came to Santorini for the caldera, this is not what you came for and you should go and look at it.

If you came to swim, eat well on the sand, have a drink somewhere with a view of the sea rather than a view of a crater, and pay a third of what the rim charges, then Perivolos is the best beach on the island and it is not particularly close.

Take a lounger in the morning, eat lunch late, walk south until the clubs run out, and drive twenty minutes to Oia one evening so you can say you have seen it.

Send us your dates and party size and we will build the days around wherever you are staying at Perivolos Santorini.

Perivolos Santorini Month by Month

January and February. Closed. Seven kilometres of empty black sand and nothing open on it.

March. The first hotels reopen; the clubs are still boarded up.

April. Open but cool, and the sea is still cold. Good for walking the beach end to end.

May. The clubs come back through the month and the sea becomes swimmable at the end of it.

June. The best all-round month at Perivolos Santorini. Warm water, everything running and space on the sand.

July. Hot and busy. Front-row beds go by mid-morning.

August. Peak of everything. Book loungers, rooms and tables ahead, and expect music from the afternoon onward.

September. The warmest sea of the year with the crowds thinning. For many people the best month here.

October. Swimmable early in the month; the clubs close through it.

November and December. Shut. Check before booking anything at Perivolos Santorini out of season.

Who Perivolos Santorini Is For

Beach holidays. The strongest case on the island. If the plan is a lounger, a long lunch and a swim whenever you feel like it, this is the place.

Couples on a budget. A third of caldera prices for the room, and better food on the sand than most rim restaurants serve.

Groups. Beach clubs, volleyball, water sports and a strip of restaurants that can absorb a large table.

Swimmers. Deep clear water straight off the sand.

Anyone visiting in the shoulder season. The south coast holds its heat into October.

Less suited to honeymooners set on a caldera view; small children, because the water is deep and the sand is hot; anyone wanting a traditional village, which Perivolos Santorini is not; light sleepers who book a room on the front; and winter visitors, since the strip closes entirely.

Day Trips From Perivolos Santorini

The south coast sits close to almost everything worth seeing on the island.

Emporio – 10 minutes. The best-preserved medieval kastelli on Santorini. More on Emporio.

Megalochori – 10 minutes. The wine merchants’ village and its bell towers. More on Megalochori.

Pyrgos – 15 minutes. The castle village and the best all-island view. More on Pyrgos.

Vlychada – 10 minutes. Wind-carved white cliffs over black sand, and the marina. More on Vlychada.

Akrotiri – 20 minutes. The Bronze Age town under its shelter, and the Red Beach. More on Akrotiri.

Ancient Thera – 20 minutes. The Hellenistic city on the ridge above Perissa. More on Ancient Thera.

Fira – 15 minutes. Museums, the cable car and the caldera path. More on Fira.

Oia – 25 minutes. The northern tip and the sunset. More on Oia.

Everything on that list is inside half an hour of Perivolos Santorini.

Photographing Perivolos Santorini

The sand. Get low. Black volcanic grain against deep blue water is the picture, and it is one you cannot take anywhere else in Europe.

The loungers. Rows of white beds and umbrellas on black sand – graphic, and best from an angle rather than head-on.

Late light. The sun sets over the sea along the line of the beach, so the last hour throws long shadows down the whole strip.

Mesa Vouno to the north. The mountain closes the view up the coast towards Perissa.

The empty stretches. Walk south until the clubs stop and the frame has nothing in it but sand, water and sky.

Technical. Black sand fools automatic metering into overexposing – dial down a stop or expose for the water.

Courtesy. Perivolos Santorini is a beach club strip full of people on holiday. Photograph the place, not the sunbeds around you.

Common Mistakes at Perivolos Santorini

Walking barefoot at noon. The most common injury on this coast every summer.

Arriving at midday in August. The good beds have gone. Take one at ten or accept the back row.

Not asking about the minimum spend. At the clubs the lounger charge is usually set against food and drink, which changes the maths entirely.

Booking a room on the front and expecting silence. Music runs into the evening.

Assuming the water is shallow. It is not.

Never leaving the strip. Emporio, Megalochori and Pyrgos are ten to fifteen minutes inland and none of them looks anything like this.

Booking Perivolos Santorini in winter. Almost everything closes from November to March.

A Final Word on Perivolos Santorini

This island sells one view and charges accordingly. Down here you get the other half of it: seven kilometres of black volcanic sand, deep clear water, food on the beach that is better than most of what the rim serves, and a bed for a third of the price.

It is not traditional, it is not quiet in August, and there is no caldera. What there is, is the best organised beach in the Cyclades and an island’s worth of villages and archaeology fifteen minutes inland whenever you feel like moving.

Take a lounger early, eat late, walk south until the music stops, and go up to Oia once so nobody can say you did not.

Send us your dates, party size and where you are staying at Perivolos Santorini, and we will build the days around it. Prices are per vehicle rather than per person, pickup is included, and an 80€ deposit holds any date.

The Seven Kilometres: Perissa, Perivolos and Agios Georgios

It helps to understand that these are not three beaches. They are one beach with three names, and knowing which stretch you are on is most of what you need.

Perissa, the northern end. Under the mountain, cheapest, youngest, busiest with backpackers, and the starting point for the climb to Ancient Thera. The bars are loud and the rooms cost very little. More on Perissa.

Perivolos, the middle. Three kilometres south, where the beach clubs are: proper day beds, cocktail lists, volleyball courts and the best food on the sand anywhere on Santorini. Slightly smarter and slightly more expensive than Perissa, and still a third of the rim.

Agios Georgios, the southern end. Where the loungers finally run out. Quiet, thinly developed, and the stretch to walk to when Perivolos Santorini feels busy. More on Agios Georgios.

Walking it. End to end takes around ninety minutes on the sand, and the character changes completely as you go. It is the best long walk on the island that does not involve a hill.

Choosing. Book Perissa for price, Perivolos Santorini for comfort, Agios Georgios for quiet. They are ten minutes apart by car and you can use all three in a week without moving hotel.

A Week at Perivolos Santorini

Day one. A lounger, a late lunch on the sand and an early night.

Day two. The beach in the morning, then Emporio’s medieval kastelli ten minutes inland in the late afternoon when it cools.

Day three. The caldera – Fira for the museums, Oia for the sunset, back to Perivolos Santorini for dinner at a third of the price.

Day four. Akrotiri and the Red Beach, or a boat out to the volcano and the hot springs.

Day five. The wine villages – Megalochori, Pyrgos and two or three estates, with somebody else driving.

Day six. Walk the sand north to Perissa or south to Agios Georgios, and swim wherever you stop.

Day seven. Ancient Thera at eight in the morning, and the beach for the rest of it.

Nothing on that list is more than half an hour away, which is the practical argument for basing yourself on this coast.

Water Sports and Diving at Perivolos Santorini

This is the most active beach on the island, and the reason a lot of people book here rather than on the caldera.

Beach volleyball. Permanent courts on the sand, in use through the season and played properly. Nothing comparable exists elsewhere on Santorini.

Jet skis and towed rides. Run off the beach along the organised strip from June to September.

Paddleboarding and kayaking. Best in the morning before the wind gets up. Paddling north towards Mesa Vouno gives you the mountain from the water, which almost nobody sees.

Windsurfing. The meltemi crosses this coast rather than blowing onshore, which makes conditions workable rather than brutal.

Diving. A base works this coast, and the diving here is genuinely interesting rather than a resort extra: volcanic walls, reefs, caves and wrecks, in water that is clear well beyond twenty metres.

Snorkelling. Best at the rocky ends of the bay rather than off the open sand.

Boat trips. Small boats run west along the coast in season towards Vlychada and the southern capes.

Booking. Most of it can be arranged on the day at Perivolos Santorini, except diving, which wants a day’s notice in August.

Booking a Tour From Perivolos Santorini

Pickup is included from any hotel, studio or apartment on this coast at no extra charge, at whatever hour the itinerary needs. Prices are per vehicle rather than per person, so a family of four pays exactly what a couple pays, and an 80€ deposit holds the date.

Two things here are worth a guide rather than a hire car: Ancient Thera on the ridge above Perissa, which has almost no signage and makes little sense without one, and the wine estates ten to fifteen minutes inland, where somebody has to drive between tastings.

Tell us your dates, your party size and where you are staying at Perivolos Santorini, and you will get a straight answer the same day about what fits into the time you have – including when the honest answer is to hire a car for an afternoon and go on your own.

Perivolos Santorini in the Shoulder Season

The strongest argument for this coast is not August. It is the end of September and the first half of October, when the sea is at its warmest, the clubs are still open and the island has emptied out.

The sea. The Aegean lags the air temperature by about six weeks, so late September water is warmer than late June water. The black sand holds heat and the south coast holds it longest.

The crowds. Front-row beds are available at ten in the morning rather than gone by then, and you can walk into any restaurant on the strip.

The prices. Rooms fall by a third or more once the schools go back.

The light. Lower and softer, which suits black sand far better than midsummer glare.

The rest of the island. Ancient Thera, Akrotiri and the villages are all pleasant to walk at this point in the year, and unbearable in August.

The risk. By mid-October the clubs start closing and by the end of the month Perivolos Santorini is largely shut. Book the first half.

Spring. May offers the same emptiness and the same prices, but the sea is still cold. Come in spring for the island and in autumn for the water.

Everywhere We Can Reach From Perivolos Santorini

Any of these can be built into a private itinerary. Each has its own page with what to see and how long to allow.

Caldera villages: Fira · Firostefani · Imerovigli · Oia · Finikia · Baxedes

Inland villages: Pyrgos · Megalochori · Emporio · Mesaria · Karterados · Vothonas · Vourvoulos · Exo Gonia · Mesa Gonia · Pigadia

Beaches: Perissa · Kamari · Vlychada · Monolithos · Red Beach · White Beach · Agios Georgios · Agia Paraskevi

Sites and landmarks: Akrotiri · Ancient Thira · Akrotiri Lighthouse · Nea Kameni · Palia Kameni · Thirasia · Athinios Port

All our tours: All Santorini tours · Full day tour · Sightseeing tour · Personalised tour · North part tour · Horse riding · South part tour · Sunset tour · Shore excursion · Caldera tour · Food experience · Wine tour · Historical tour · Small group tour

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