There is more than one “red beach” in Greece, a name given to any place where the sand is a little pink or rusty in color, and several of them are often friendly to naturists, including Red Beach in Santorini. Some sources can confuse the different ‘Kokkinos Ornos’, so be sure which island you are referring to when you decide to go.
This favorite beach in southern Crete can be reached by water via a small boat, kayak or, straddling, noisy, turtle-scaring jet skis or walking about 25 minutes from Matala. Access is over a fairly steep slope and a path, leading from a dirt road into the hills, requires climbing over a small area of rocks.
The other path, which is easier, begins at the end of the row of bars on the south side of Matala Bay, where a steep stone-paved ramp leads to the cliffs. While it is still steep in a couple of points, it is not as transparent and most will not need to use their hands to climb. If you deviate from the obvious path, be aware that there are some unexpected caves open at the top in the limestone cliffs, some of them busy, but in any case, it is not a place that you want to discover unexpectedly by walking alone.
At the top of the cliffs above Red Beach, about 300 meters from the trailhead to the bars, there is a goat fence with a gate. Go through this, close it behind you, and begin the descent to Red Beach.
On the way down, you will see large rose-shaped sea shear bulbs in their summer dormancy, just poking out of the ground; they will begin to sprout in late fall.
In the summer, there are sunbed and umbrella rentals at Red Beach, but most of the time you will depend on your own towel or sarong to keep something between you and the sand. The hammock rental hut offers limited drinks, including a large kanalada, but it may not always be working, so bring the essentials with you. The entire beach is reliably nudist-friendly, but the most naked bodies are on the north side of the beach near the rocks that were carved in intriguing ancient Minoan and Egyptian shapes by a Belgian man named Gerard a few years ago.
On a cool spring day, total nudity is the exception rather than the rule, but there are still plenty of visitors in bathing suits. If the waters are rough, be careful, as there are no lifeguards.
