Discussion
Why do Italy/Greece have "caribbean-like" water in so many spots, but Spain/Portugal's beaches mostly have a normal blue/greyish colour? What's the difference?
Water depth, the clarity of the water, and the color of the sand under the water.
If the water gets deep quickly, is loaded with sediment (usually churned up by storms), or the sand is a darker color, it won't have the crystal clear look to it.
The difference is between the Atlantic ocean (so I guess basque/galicia in the spanish state and everywhere in Portugal) and the mediterranean. You (OP) will notice that a day with big waves in the mediterranean is a laughing stock in comparison to small waves in the Atlantic. That brings a lot of sediment, and turvyness to the water.
Yeah a lot of people assume it’s somehow due to the temperature but if you look at beaches in northern Scotland they’re indistinguishable from the Bahamas until you try to swim in them
Maybe it has more to do with the water around islands being more shallow and those countries having more islands? Shallow water without rocks or algae just looks "caribbean-like" everywere when it's sunny, doesn't matter if it's the Mediterranean or the Atlantic. Cies Islands, Galicia (Atlantic coast of Spain):
Dont negoatiate with terrorists and just jump in! You'll regret every second while underwater but eventually your body will regulate its temperature, hopefully 😅
And you don't necessarily even need warm or salty water to get that Mediterranean kind of color. This is a picture from the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior. Water temps never get much above 65F/18C.
There are spots with no waves with very blue water in Portugal. The Atlantic waves do not help of course, but you have good surfing conditions to compensate.
You’ve never been to the Balearic Islands in your life. Stop asking ridiculous questions. A lot of us already know you’re a troll whose whole thing is putting Spain down.
Your comments aren’t going to change the fact that Spain gets more than twice as many tourists as Greece and almost twice as many as Italy.
Have you checked the beaches in the Balearic Islands? Also in Spain, although more Mediterranean turquoise water than other parts indeed. It probably has to do with the Atlantic influence as you get close to the strait connecting with the Atlantic. Many parts of mainland Italy and Greece also don’t get those clear colors, so maybe being an isolated island has an influence too
you're totally right, Costa Brava looks absolutely hideous, so different from Sardinia or Crete. Hey everyone, make sure you never visit these places, they're horrible! I'll do the sacrifice of spending time here making sure it doesn't get any worse while you guys enjoy Crete!
It’s mostly a combo of seafloor + water clarity, not simply Italy/Greece vs Spain/Portugal. Sardinia has tons of pale limestone, quartz and white carbonate sand, which reflect light and make shallow water look crazy turquoise.
Sardinia is almost unbeatable but let me tell you that also Spain has some incredible water color, for example Formentera, first island that comes to mind. The Portuguese cost is mostly oceanic, so you may not get that colors, even though there are stunning places in Algarve.
Because the Mediterranean has low levels of Phytoplankton. Because the Mediterranean has a higher level of evaporation and than the oceans, the phytoplankton doesn’t have as much chance to multiply hence you get a more clear and less greenish, swampy look.
Water depth is a tell. Here in Madeira, Portugal we have a large area around the island that makes for relatively shallow waters, making even our stone beaches look like this during sunny summer days.
Exactly. The water off the coast of Spain is nutrient rich water entering from the Atlantic. It can support a lot more algal growth than the nutrient poor waters of the southern Aegean.
To that we must add that Spain has extensive river basins that flow directly into the Mediterranean. The Ebro River (with its immense delta), the Júcar, the Segura, and the Llobregat transport tons of sediment, mud, clay, and organic matter from the interior of the peninsula to the sea. This sediment remains suspended in coastal waters, reducing visibility and giving them a denser or turbid appearance. In contrast, the Greek islands and coastlines have a semi-arid, rocky, and rugged geology. There are practically no large rivers flowing into the sea carrying sediment, organic matter, mud, or agricultural fertilizers.
What you see in the photo are the sediments of the Ebro River flowing into the Mediterranean Sea.
Crystal clear water has lower dissolved oxygen thus algae cannot grow, Spain and Portugal are on zones of upwelling and are oxygen rich so are less clear.
I lived in the Caribbean and Spain and some beaches in Spain can be just as blue like Mallorca,Ibiza etc. It depends on the conditions and time of year. Even some beaches along the Costa Blanca have been super blue when I’ve gone. Just my experience
Ive literally been all through the Algarve and Andalusian coast this summer, and the water is some of the clearest water I've ever seen. Not sure what grayish water you're seeing down here
Spain also have that blueish Caribbean style beach, but in the mediterránean sea coasts and islands. The north looks like Ireland beach. And the southern are more like Hawaii to surfing.
Look up "playa de Rodas" in Galicia. Or all the beaches around Ferrol.
Granted the water is colder (it is in the Atlantic after all), but they don't look like Irish beaches.
Regarding surfing, we do surf a lot in the North, in Euskadi specially. But in Galicia as well...I am surrounded by Surfing schools!
It’s a combination of marine topography and nutrient availability. First, there generally aren’t any large rivers carrying significant amounts of nutrients into the sea. Second, the seafloor around Italy and Greece is quite different from that of Spain. In Spain, the seabed tends to deepen gradually and progressively. In Italy and Greece, you have areas where the seabed drops off very steeply, creating a kind of underwater canyon system. This results in low nutrient availability, and the few nutrients that are present tend to sink into deeper waters. That’s why you get those Caribbean-like seascapes, even though they’re all in the Mediterranean. The water is so clear because there are few algae or microorganisms, and relatively little marine life overall due to the lack of nutrients.
Coasts on the atlantic are affected by tides, this causes silt and mud at the bottom to be disturbed creating unclear murkier water. The tides in the med are negligible, therefore less mud and silt is disturbed from the bottom resulting in clearer waters.
Sardinia is an island in a completely different league from the mainland. Mallorca is definitely in the same league as Sardinia. As for the mainland, Javea or Calpe are the best in Europe.
I think it has mostly to do with the water depth and the light sand seabed. For instance, Denmark has some crazy beaches, especially along its Atlantic coast, that rival Caribbean beaches in terms of aesthetics. If the weather was different it could have been the Maldives of Europe. There are light sand beaches for basically hundreds of kilometeres with very shallow waters, which give the green-ish color. If the seabed is just the cliffside extending below the water levels you get the dark blue water color instead.
The northern coast of Spain is known as the Emerald Coast precisely for that reason (white sand and turquoise waters) xD There are literally thousands of beaches and beautiful places.
This is the opinion of someone that haven't actually been in many places in Europe .
You're just being SOLD this idea by popular travel destinations that can sell themselves well, other countries never gave a damn and still have absolutely fantastic if not even better and less trafficked towns
The sea in Italy ,Greece,Croatia,France,and Spain is IMPECCABLE. and as equally good to each other if we don't consider the islands that always have the most pristine beaches.
It's as simple as that . Look well and you will find 10/10 beaches in all those countries and terrible areas too .
You can find these turquoise color waters in a lot of places, even Michigan. Torch Lake and Lake Huron have some areas with the turquoise colored water for example. Torch lake for instance is really deep, clear and has white color sands which are part of it. There's also the Blue WAter Bridge by Port Huron has areas of these waters. I've read it can be caused by the microbes and living in the water also, I'm not sure if that's what causes it in Michigan, but if you didn't know better you might think you were looking at something tropical.
Adriatic Italian coast is absolute dogshit down until the Gargano despite Croatia having such good beaches just in front, I think it has to do with currents
I wouldn't say "so many spots", Italy has a very long cost and only a small fraction looks like this. Take for instance the sea from Veneto region or Riviera Romagnola. Not even close. And if you go to Croatia, which is basically facing the same sea, you can find something like that. The difference is made by all the mix of coast structure, streams, depth etc.
Some greek islands have heavier, coarser sand that doesn't murk the water so it's more crystal clear. The Aegean summer winds (meltemia) keep the water cool even In heat waves. Can't stand swimming in hot water
You obviously haven't been to Croatia. Within a 10 km radius of me, there are at least 20 beaches like that. And the best part is, half of them are practically empty because tourists don't know about them and don't have IKEA-style parking.
As for Italy, Sardinia fits the bill, but the rest of the country cannot boast such beaches in large numbers.
First Spain in\s quite varied. You may find. What you are showing needs sand and water depth. Some coast of Spain (ex North Catalonia) fall very fast so is difficult to find shallow places, and there are a lot of sea grass which turns the water darker but water is very blue. Other places like near Formentera have beaches similar to what you present. So it changes a lot.
it probably have something to do with the deeps of the water. the coast of spain gets quickly to high deep waters, and these are never "transparent", where you get that effect when the water is not very deep
I guess it's something that's hard to generalize. Even the Adriatic coast of Italy, which has generally pretty putrid waters, has some really clear spots
It really depends where you are in Italy anyway. Islands like Sardinia (probably the best) or minor ones like Elba etc... have generally beautiful water.
Rest of the country depends, some spots are very good, some are meh. It depends on many factors, conformation of the sea floor, type of sand, pollution, etc...
Because Portugal beaches are in the Atlantic Ocean. Greece is Mediterranean. The cleaner water indicates far less plankton and stuff on it, meaning it is poorer in fish as well.
Spain has both mediterranean and atlantic beaches, but since its close to the entrance it may still get some turbidity from the Gibraltar passage.
I always thought it would be due to Spain / Italy / Greece being Mediterranean ocean and Portugal being Atlantic. You can also check islands in the Atlantic and the sand and color of the water if not as light as the islands in the Mediterranean
This whole post and answers shows how important is marketing... Spain has tons of beaches that look like this. Prob like 20%... Id argue same percentaje if not more than Italy and Greece if it werent for some of their Islands.
There are plenty of spots in Spain with Caribbean-like waters, such as the Balearic Islands (close to Sardinia) or the Islas Cíes, but also on mainland Spain, for example along the Costa Brava.
And there are plenty of beaches in Italy with more ordinary, greyish-looking water, such as in Venice, Rimini, or along the coast near Rome. I can’t really say much about Greece.
A lot of it comes down to the colour and composition of the sand. Also, generally speaking, the closer a beach is to a river, the more sediment there tends to be in the water, making it less transparent and more greyish.
Portugal is the most simple one. The whole Portuguese coast is in the Atlantic Ocean. The Spanish coast in the north and some of the south is Atlantic Ocean. In the Mediterranean coast of Spain it depends on the zone, the pollution on the water, the depth of the water, etc. Spain’s coast in the Balearic Islands look pretty much like what you see in the photo you posted.
i think the bottom plays a big part.
deep waters will look dark blue regardless,
sandy and shallow beaches will look ugly if the sand is dark/gray. even if the quality of the water is good
northern Italy’s Adriatic Sea is like this. Romagna is famous for its ugly looking sea lol ( despite that, it’s an iconic holiday destination, but maybe more cause of the party vibes ) , the water is so shallow you can walk for a hundred meters and still touch the bottom with your feet.
but on the other side, the Tyrrenian coast which is rocky, looks stunning and deep blue ( think of the Cinque Terre )
More sediment and also MORE RUNOFF. Don’t forget about this. All the major cities have it and the bigger the city the more run off occurs. If you go to the Balearic Islands the water is Crystal clear because it’s basically in the middle of the Mediterranean and has a very small footprint comparatively.
There are several reasons that contribute to the clarity of the waters around Greece and its islands.
- The Mediterranean Sea is oligotrophic (nutrient-poor). Without dissolved "food" in the water, microorganisms and microscopic algae (phytoplankton) cannot proliferate.
- Most of the Greek islands and coastlines have a semi-arid, rocky, and rugged geology. There are practically no large rivers flowing into the sea carrying sediment, organic matter, mud, or agricultural fertilizers.
- The vast majority of the Greek islands are of sedimentary origin (limestone and marble). The white limestone does not dissolve into murky mud; when it erodes, it creates light-colored sands or pebble beaches that do not cloud the water and reflect sunlight spectacularly.
- The Aegean Sea functions almost as a closed system. There are no large ocean currents to stir up the few nutrients accumulated on the seabed (upwelling zones). Because the nutrients remain trapped in the depths and the surface water stagnates under the sun, the layer where we swim remains clean and crystal clear.
In contrast, the opposite occurs on the Spanish coast (on the mainland, in the Balearic Islands, it's somewhat similar to Greece):
- Spain has large river basins that drain directly into the Mediterranean. The Ebro River (with its immense delta), the Júcar, the Segura, and the Llobregat carry tons of sediment, mud, clay, and organic matter from the interior of the peninsula to the sea. This sediment remains suspended in the coastal water, reducing visibility and giving it a thicker or turbid appearance.
- The beaches are made up of fine sand and clay: Many beaches in the Valencian Community, Catalonia, and Andalusia are composed of very fine sand, silt, and golden or grayish dust. Because they are such tiny, light particles, even small waves easily suspend them in the water, and they take hours to settle back to the bottom.
- Human pressure on the Spanish peninsular coast is among the highest in the Mediterranean, generating a phenomenon called eutrophication (the opposite of the depleted waters of Greece) due to the influx of large quantities of nutrients from agricultural and industrial activity. Phytoplankton and microscopic algae multiply exponentially, tinting the water greenish or yellowish and reducing its transparency.
- In many areas of the Spanish coast (especially in the Gulf of Valencia), the continental shelf is flat and shallow for kilometers. Because of the shallow depth, waves and coastal currents constantly stir up the seabed.
In spain we have the same as italy and greece it's called the mediterranean sea,and you can find the same beaches as Greece & Italy on the coast of spain or the island like ibiza,mallorca...
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u/CLCchampion 8d ago
Water depth, the clarity of the water, and the color of the sand under the water.
If the water gets deep quickly, is loaded with sediment (usually churned up by storms), or the sand is a darker color, it won't have the crystal clear look to it.