The Meltemi Is the Forecast That Actually Matters

Ask anyone who sails in Greece what they check before a summer day and they will not say the temperature.

The meltemi is a dry northerly that funnels down the Aegean, strongest from roughly mid-July through August. It is not weather in the sense of a passing front - it is a season, and on bare islands with no tree cover it reshapes where you can comfortably be.

What it actually does#

• Closes the north coast. On Mykonos, Panormos and Ftelia become an endurance test. On Paros, Santa Maria and Golden Beach are world-championship windsurfing beaches for precisely this reason.
• Cancels crossings. Fast ferries and small charter boats reroute or wait. A good skipper refuses an exposed passage and is right to.
• Moves lunch indoors. Which, on a terrace you booked for the view, is the disappointment people remember.

How to use it instead of fighting it#

Learn the two halves of whichever island you are on. In the Cyclades the south and west coasts sit in the lee and stay calm; the north and east take the force.

Then check the forecast the night before and pick your coast accordingly. On most of these islands that is a ten-minute drive, not a change of plan.

Three specifics worth knowing:

1. On Mykonos, Psarou, Platis Gialos, Paraga and Ornos are sheltered. Book the south coast in August.
2. On Paros, Aliki and Parasporos stay calm while the north coast blows.
3. On a charter, do not build a fixed itinerary in August. Your captain's local knowledge of which bay is flat tonight is the thing you are actually paying for.

And the obvious conclusion#

June and September exist. The sea is warm, the light is long, and the wind is far less insistent. Every experienced visitor to these islands eventually moves their trip, and this is usually why.

More detail in our guides to Mykonos, Paros and chartering in the Cyclades.

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