Oh May, oh May: With water temperatures around 14 degrees, this wonderful month is still too cold for swimming in this country. If you long for a beach holiday, you have to travel a lot further south. We present five destinations where the wonderful summer weather is already there.
May is officially considered the month of spring. Nevertheless, most outdoor pools in Germany are already open. However, it is often too cold to lie on the lawn after swimming without shivering. Further south, however, the world looks completely different: the sun shines from the sky every day and temperatures are reliably between 20 and 30 degrees. The water is usually not yet as warm as a bathtub, but a little refreshment is good after sunbathing. And best of all: the destinations can be reached in just a few hours of flight. We present our tips for a beach holiday in May – from east to west.
Sunny summer without capricious heat with average temperatures of 25 degrees: these ideal beach holiday conditions prevail from May to September on the island of Madeira. It is located around 1000 kilometers from its mother country Portugal, 600 kilometers off the Moroccan coast and 450 kilometers north of the Canary Islands. In the middle of the Atlantic. Only surrounded by three uninhabited islets and the little sister island of Porto Santo. This has something that Madeira does not have: a nine kilometer long dream beach. Golden yellow. Finer, softer sand. Infinitely wide. The insider tip beach in the Atlantic.
On Madeira, the beaches look a little different because of the rocky cliffs. Like the volcanic sand beaches of Prainha Beach and Praia da Laje as well as Calheta Beach on the south coast, which is filled with Moroccan desert sand. But swimming is celebrated differently here – in natural seawater pools. The swimming pools built between lava rocks, such as those in Ponta Delgada and Porto Moniz in the north of the island, have several advantages: Even when the waves are higher, you can swim relaxed in the shallow water. And the water temperature is usually slightly higher than in the open sea (an average of 20 degrees) and the view of the cliffs is spectacular.
Further south than Italy, you can swim wonderfully in May: The state of Malta with its three inhabited islands Malta, Gozo and Comino is located between Sicily and the coast of North Africa – in the center of the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean climate invites you to go on a beach holiday from May onwards, with average temperatures of 22 degrees Celsius, eight hours of sunshine, 20 degrees at night and water temperatures around 20 degrees.
Ghajn Tuffieha Bay is considered one of the most beautiful beaches with its white sand, turquoise and crystal clear sea. Like most beaches, it is located in the east of the island. To the north, one bay with a flat sandy beach follows the next, while rocky bays dominate in the southwest and north of Malta. The island combo also has something attractive to offer for divers: tunnels, blue holes, grottos and wrecks off the island of Gozo.
Lots of sun, twelve hours a day, highs of up to 34 degrees and not a drop of rain: With water temperatures around 24 degrees, Egypt is one of the warmest and quickest bathing destinations to reach. In around five hours by flight, sun worshipers can reach the North African country with its subtropical desert climate from Germany. The Red Sea coast is dotted with seaside resorts and kilometers of white sandy beaches: from El Queseir, Makadi Bay, Sharm el Sheikh, Lahami Bay or Marsa Alam to the well-known beach classic Hurghada.
The most popular place at the moment is the fishing village of Marsa Alam, which was still a sleepy place 20 years ago. The current small town with its own airport is located a good 300 kilometers south of Hurghada and scores with picture-book beaches lined with palm trees and paradisiacal conditions for snorkelers and divers. To protect the corals, water sports such as sailing, surfing, motorized boats and jet skis are not permitted in Marsa Alam. The motto here is not to wait long, because from June onwards the temperatures in Egypt are often extremely high – more than 40 degrees are not uncommon.
The southern coast of Turkey has everything that beach vacationers dream of in spring: ten hours of sunshine, daily temperatures of up to 25 degrees and water temperatures of up to 23 degrees. The 230 kilometer long section between Kemer and Alanya is bursting with scenic beauty: 3000 meter high mountains of the Taurus Mountains, idyllic bays, long sandy beaches and turquoise Mediterranean.
The most beautiful beaches are Kleopatra Beach near Alanya, Sarigerme near Dalaman, Olympos Beach surrounded by ruins and the wind-protected bay Bitez near Bodrum. Those who want to explore the area have interesting excursion options: from the ancient city of Phaselis near the seaside resort of Kemer to the archaeological sites near Belek.
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A three-hour flight to the largest island in North Africa: Djerba on the east coast of Tunisia attracts visitors in May with maximum daily temperatures of 27 degrees and water values of a good 20 degrees. There are also endless white beaches, turquoise sea and lots of palm trees. These are also the reasons why the flat island is referred to in advertising as the “South Sea dream in the Mediterranean”. Of course, this picture also includes camels on the beach, which add to the oriental magic.
Holidaymakers can encounter these Bactrian camels, for example, on Sidi Mahréz beach. The beach on the outskirts of the town of Midoun is one of Djerba’s most attractive because of its cinematic backdrop. It is ten kilometers long, drops gently into the water and is therefore popular with families and kite surfers. But also with party animals, because there is a strong nightlife here. If you want to do something good for yourself, try a traditional thalassotherapy treatment – with sand, mud and algae.
White city with a crescent-shaped bay on the southern Atlantic: Agadir is Morocco’s most popular beach destination. The reasons are quickly explained. The bay in the southwest of the Arab country is touched by the warm Gulf Stream, making Agadir the warmest place in Morocco. The wide beach with its fine, golden sand is ten kilometers long. The bathing season begins in May with daytime temperatures of more than 20 degrees and ten hours of sunshine.
The Atlantic water is – like everywhere else – still a bit fresh, with values of just under 20 degrees. Water sports enthusiasts don’t mind this as they wear a wetsuit anyway. They enjoy the many sports options such as surfing in a variety of waves or sand boarding on the dunes. The town with its white houses is also a highlight. There are a number of interesting places to explore here, from the Bahia Palace to the botanical gardens to the Saadian Tombs, the Koutoubia Mosque and the Souk El Had. The latter, with its 3,000 shops, is considered the largest urban market in Africa.