🏖️ Essentials
Beach rules: sunbeds, free space and MyCoast
Every beach in Greece is public. A law passed in 2024 limits how much of it can be covered in sunbeds, keeps a strip by the water free — and 251 beaches have no sunbeds at all in 2026.
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The beach belongs to everyone
The Greek seashore is public land. Nobody can charge you simply for walking onto a beach or sitting on your own towel, and nobody can fence off access to the water.
What Law 5092/2024 actually says
- A concession — the part a business rents from the state — can cover at most 50% of a beach.
- Inside that concession, sunbeds and umbrellas can occupy at most 60% (30% on protected beaches).
- A strip of 4 metres along the water must stay free.
- Blocking free access to the beach is fined from €2,000 to €60,000.
You will read that "70% of every beach must be free". That is media shorthand, not the wording of the law — the actual rules are the ones above.
Beaches with no sunbeds at all
For 2026 the Environment Ministry listed 251 beaches where sunbeds are banned outright, to keep untouched stretches untouched. Bring shade and water.
Reporting a violation: MyCoast
The government's MyCoast app lets anyone report a beach bar that has taken over the free strip, blocked the path or put out more sunbeds than allowed. It is used: between mid-May and 17 August 2025 it received 11,512 complaints. A photo and a location are enough.
Turtles
On nesting beaches — Laganas Bay on Zakynthos above all — parts of the beach are closed at night from May to October, and umbrellas are restricted near the waterline. Respect the marked zones.
Prices
Sunbed prices are not regulated. What they typically cost, and the extremes, are on what Greece costs.
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