The municipality now boasts 17 Blue Flag beaches—nearly triple the number it had a decade ago.
Apokoronas has officially raised its first Blue Flag of the 2026 season, marking another milestone in the municipality’s steady investment in cleaner, safer and more sustainable beaches.
The season’s first Blue Flag was hoisted at a beach in Kavros by Mayor Charalambos Koukianakis, alongside the owners, management and staff of the LA MER hotel.
The ceremony celebrated more than the start of the summer. According to the mayor, it reflected more than a decade of continuous work to improve beach quality and environmental standards across the municipality.
“When we assumed responsibility for the municipality in 2014, Apokoronas had six Blue Flags. Today, it has seventeen,” Koukianakis said. “These distinctions are not awarded lightly—they are earned through strict environmental criteria, clean and safe beaches, responsible management and daily commitment.”
The mayor credited municipal employees, tourism professionals, local businesses and residents for helping raise the area’s environmental standards while maintaining the quality visitors increasingly expect from Crete.
Blue Flag certification is one of the world’s best-known eco-labels for beaches and marinas, recognizing excellence in water quality, environmental management, safety and visitor services.
Koukianakis also emphasized that Apokoronas intends to continue investing in quality tourism and environmental protection while pursuing additional international recognition.
He congratulated the management and staff of LA MER, as well as every local business participating in the effort to maintain the municipality’s growing collection of Blue Flag beaches.
“Our municipality continues to work, to improve, to compete and to earn international recognition,” he said.
For visitors, the message is simple: another stretch of Crete’s coastline has once again met some of the highest environmental and safety standards in international tourism.
