We are thinking of going to Greece in early April, and read that the water temperature might be too cold for swimming in the islands. Is that true? I'd hate to go to the islands and not be able to swim.

I found this- it says for April 60 degrees Fahrenheit- definitely too cold for me. If I were going to Greece in April I would do the mainland- Delphi, Meteora. Definitely, though, there are other things to do on some of the islands besides swimming.<BR><BR>http://www.gnosys.de/felix/engwstats.html

It is too cold to swim in the islands in April and for most of May. People seem to confuse the Mediterranean climate with that of the Caribbean; they are not the same at all.

The waters are &quot;swimmable&quot; from late May/June till late October/early November.<BR><BR>Go to Crete and do some hiking in the mountains! The locals will still probably wear their winter coats, but tourists manage with light jackets. And at daytime you manage with a shirt.<BR><BR>Like Sue said, Med is not Caribbean.

We were in Crete (the southern-most Greek island) in mid-May 2002 and the water was still what I would definitely declare as too cold to swim in comfortably. Now, I live in Minnesota so I can generally take cold but this was too cold for me! Of course, the guys dove in no problem but I was content to lie by the shore (which was still chilly when the wind was blowing). That said- we had an incredible time in Greece. If I had it to do all over again, I'd go in September (still off season) but the waters would retail a little of the summer heat.

In guide books I have read that some parts of the southern coast of Crete has relatively warm water year round; if you're locked into traveling in April and really want to swim, you might look into that area, which is closer to Africa than it is to mainland Greece.