Blue Flag: With 623 awarded coasts, Greece ranks 2nd worldwide

The Greek Society for the Protection of Nature, National Operator of the International Program “Blue Flag” in Greece, announced the awards for beaches, marinas and tourist boats.

With 623 beaches awarded with “Blue Flag”, Greece again ranks 2nd in the world out of 52 countries. It is worth noting that in our country there is a steady upward trend with an increase in the number of awarded sites every year as the number of awards exceeds 600 again.

In the total of 52 countries participating in the relevant program, Greece holds 15% of the internationally awarded beaches. The country in the first place of the awards is Spain, followed by Greece: Turkey, Italy, Portugal and France.

The first prefecture in Greece was Halkidiki with 93 flags and the Region of Crete maintains the first place with 153 flags.

The International Committee awarded 4,302 coasts, 736 marinas and 158 tourist boats around the world.

See here the detailed map with the Blue Flags

See here the detailed list of the coasts, boats and marinas

What is the Blue Flag
The Blue Flag is the world’s most recognized and widely used international ecological quality symbol. It has been awarded since 1987 to beaches and marinas that meet the strict requirements for the award. A prerequisite for a coast to be awarded the “Blue Flag” is that the water quality of the coast must be “Excellent”. No other quality classification, even “Good”, is acceptable to the Program. The award is valid for one year.

In addition, the remaining of the total of 33 criteria for coasts (38 for marinas and 51 for boats), which relate to cleanliness, organisation, information, safety of bathers and visitors, protection of the natural wealth of the coast and coastal area and environmental awareness, must also be met. Major foreign travel agencies attach particular importance to the Blue Flag when selecting the destinations they propose to their clients, as a guarantee of the high quality of services offered on the coast and of the protection of the environment and public health. This is known and appreciated by all the beach managers, municipalities, hotels and campsites that participate in the Program on a voluntary basis.

In 2017, the implementation of the Program for tourist boats in our country started. The Program applies to companies that manage tourist boats and are awarded for their sustainable management when they comply with 51 criteria in general categories, but also with additional criteria in specific categories, such as diving boats. For 2025, eight new tourist vessels joined the Program and received the Blue Flag award, increasing the number of tourist vessels from nine (9) to seventeen (17).

The founder and International Coordinator of the Program is the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), based in Denmark, with a membership of 82 countries from all continents. It is represented in Greece by the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, the oldest environmental organization of national scope in the country, which in 2021 completed 70 years of uninterrupted action in environmental interventions, in nature conservation programs, in environmental education with 3 international networks approved by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, and in general public awareness and information. (www.eepf.gr).