Akrotiri is very close to the sea and swimming is possible at the nearby beaches; red and white beaches are the most well known of them and the beach of apothikes which is among the few beaches at the side of the caldera. The red beach is one of the most famous and beautiful of the beaches of Santorini. it is situated just a step from the archaeological site of Akrotiri. The beach has taken its name from the impressive red lava cliffs dropping to the sea and surrounding the beach. This impressive beach seems to have been painted on one of the frescoes found in the Minoan settlement.Because it is smallish, the red beach gets quite busy. A number of people come onto the headland just to admire this beach and never make it down to the hot sand.

The reason why it attracts so many people is because of the slabs of red and black volcanic rocks behind. Indeed one walks from the car park over a rocky route before it comes into view. If you look along the rock you can see it gradually turn white and the next beach obtains its name from this. The sand itself is reddish black and painful to sit straight onto. There are thus a lot of sun lounges and shades. Just in front of the clear water is a corridor of large pebbles. You should know that you might find on this beach that the sun seems to beat down particularly strong. The snorkelling is good here due to the interesting rocks. At a walking distance from red beach is the other stunning beach of the island, the white beach . Here again we have the same scenic environment, but the cliffs surrounding the beach are whitish . The White Beach can be reached only by excursion boat, but it is well worth the trip.