Kardamena in October: what is still open, and what the sea is really like

October in Kos averages 23.6 °C by day, and the sea is still at 23.2 °C, warmer than the air on plenty of mornings. Direct flights run to about mid-October, some businesses start closing from mid-month, and car hire typically falls 30 to 50% below the July price. It is our favourite month of the year and also the one we are most careful about recommending, because the second half of it is a different holiday from the first. Here is the honest version.

The October numbers, in one table

Four months side by side, so you can see where October sits.

Read the drop between September and October and then the drop between October and November. The first is four degrees of daytime heat you probably will not miss. The second is the season ending. October is the last month where a beach holiday still behaves like a beach holiday, and that is the whole reason this page exists.

What the sea is really like

23.2 °C. That is bath water compared with most of northern Europe in August, and it is the number that surprises people who assume October means a cold swim. The sea holds heat far longer than the air does. It was 26.1 °C in August and 25.6 °C in September, so October is only about two and a half degrees down from the peak of the year.

Two caveats, because an average is an average. The first week of October is warmer than the last, in the water and out of it. And with an average low of 17.4 °C at night, there will be mornings when the sea is warmer than the air, which makes getting in easy and getting out less so.

The other thing in our favour is the wind. The meltemi blows across the Aegean from mid-May and hits the north coast of Kos, so Tigaki, Marmari and Mastichari get the chop. Kardamena faces south and is sheltered from it. In October that means the water in front of the village is usually flat, which matters more than a degree either way if you are swimming with children.

Flights and the mid-October cut-off

Direct flights to Kos operate to about mid-October. After that the schedule thins quickly and you are far more likely to be routing through Athens, which turns a four hour trip into a day.

So do this in the right order. Check the last operating date for your airline, from your airport, and book everything else around it. People book a late-October week first and find the flight problem afterwards. If your dates are flexible, the sweet spot is the first two weeks.

Whenever you land, the ground part is short. Kos airport is under 8 km from our door, about 10 minutes by car, and we go through every way of covering it in our guide to getting from Kos airport to Kardamena. Do note that the last KTEL bus of the day leaves at 21:35, and Sunday services are severely reduced all year.

What is open, what closes, and when

This is the question that actually decides whether you come, so we will answer it as straight as we can and then tell you what we cannot answer.

Through the first half of October the village is still working. Then some businesses start closing from mid-month, and more close each week after that, until by November most beach businesses on Kos are shut and the island drops back to about 35,000 residents for the winter. Kardamena itself has a permanent population of around 1,650 people, so it does not empty out entirely. There is a village here underneath the resort, with a bakery, a supermarket, a pharmacy and people who need all three in February.

What we will not do is publish a list of which tavernas and bars stay open into late October. We genuinely do not know. Every business here makes that call on its own, sometimes in the same week, based on bookings and weather and how the season went. Anyone giving you a confident list is guessing, and if you plan a trip around a guess you will be disappointed by the one place you were looking forward to.

The same applies to the excursion boats. The Nisyros day trip from our harbour runs daily from late April, and the end of the season shifts from year to year. Do not build the week around it without checking first.

What October is genuinely better for

May and October are the two best months on Kos for walking and sightseeing, and it is not close. At 23.6 °C you can climb around the Asklepion for two hours without your day being over afterwards. In August, at highs frequently reported at 38 °C in Kardamena and occasionally above 40 °C, you cannot.

That opens up the parts of the island people skip in summer. Zia, the mountain village people go to for sunset, is about 35 minutes' drive. The Asklepion is about half an hour away and Kos Town is around 26 km, roughly 40 minutes on the bus at €4.20.

The beaches change character too. Kardamena's own beach is long, fine sand and south facing, and in high summer the quiet stretch is the one west of Cape Helona. In October the main beach reads much the same way, and two loungers with an umbrella still cost around €10 where the operators are still out. We cover the rest of the coast, and how to reach each one, in our guide to the best beaches near Kardamena.

Car hire at 30 to 50% below peak

This is the strongest financial argument for October. Shoulder season, which for hire companies here means May, June, September and October, typically runs 30 to 50% below peak pricing. As an indication, an economy car such as a Panda or a Yaris is quoted at €18 to €35 a day off peak against €35 to €55 a day in July and August.

Two things do not get cheaper. Basic cover plus theft still leaves an excess of €800 to €1,500, and buying that down to zero still costs around €8 to €15 a day. Deposits are still €300 to €800 on the card, and drivers under 25 still pay a surcharge of about €10 to €20 a day. Book 6 to 8 weeks ahead even in October, because the fleet on the island shrinks as the season winds down rather than sitting idle.

We have free private parking directly in front of the building, so the car costs you nothing to keep overnight. Our full verdict on whether it is worth hiring at all, and for how many days, is in our honest answer on needing a car in Kos.

The tourist tax is still high season until 31 October

Worth knowing before you do the arithmetic. The Climate Crisis Resilience Fee treats 1 April to 31 October as high season, so the whole of October is charged at the full rate. Low season does not begin until 1 November.

It is charged per unit per night, not per person, and it is collected at check-out rather than through your booking. Studios in our category sit in the €2.00 a night band in high season and €0.50 in low season, so seven October nights add about €14 to the bill. A stay that runs across the end of the month is charged at the high rate up to and including 31 October and the low rate from 1 November. The full table, including why villas and short-term rental apartments pay four to seven times more, is in our explainer on the Greek tourist tax.

The start of the rainy half of the year

We are not going to sell you October as dry. Kos gets around 730 mm of rain a year and almost all of it falls between October and March. July and August get 2 to 5 mm, which is to say nothing at all. January is the wettest month at roughly 170 mm.

October is where that switch happens. Most days will be sunny and warm. Some will not, and a proper Aegean autumn shower is heavy rather than drizzly, arrives quickly and then clears. The right expectation is not "it will rain", it is "I may lose an afternoon". Have one indoor plan in your pocket, Kos Town or a long lunch, and the day is fine.

Practically, this is where self-catering earns its keep. Every studio has a kitchenette with coffee facilities and a fridge, so a wet morning is coffee on the veranda rather than a decision. You can see how the three of them differ on our rooms page.

What to pack that you would not pack in August

Not much, but the few things matter. An average low of 17.4 °C means evenings are properly cool by the sea, so bring a jumper or a light jacket you would actually wear rather than the token one you throw in for August. Closed shoes, because October is when the walking is worth doing. A light rain layer for the same reason.

Everything else stays. Swimming things, sunglasses and sunscreen, because 23.6 °C in clear Aegean light still burns people who assume October is off-season for the sun.

Who should not come in October

Plainly, so nobody books the wrong week.

If you want nightlife, do not come in October. Kardamena's 18-30 reputation is out of date even in high summer, the club scene here finished years ago and the bar street is compact and contained. In October there is very little of it running at all. If a busy strip of bars is the point of your holiday, this is the wrong month and arguably the wrong village.

If you need a guaranteed full resort, do not book the last week of October. Some businesses start closing from mid-month and nobody can tell you in advance exactly which. The first fortnight is a safe bet, the last week is a genuine gamble, and you should only take it if a quiet village with a warm sea sounds like the point rather than the compromise.

And if you need the sea at 26 °C, or organised kids' entertainment, or the certainty that every single place you read about online will be open, book September instead. We go through all twelve months in our month by month guide to the best time to visit Kos.

Everyone else, come. October is when the village stops performing and goes back to being a village, when you can hear the sea from the main road. That is not a marketing line. It is why we like living here in the autumn.

Last updated: August 2026