Boat trips
Day trips
The island
Yes, Kos is genuinely good with children — and for four specific reasons: the north-coast beaches are sandy and stay shin-deep a long way out, the island is flat enough to cycle with a child seat, no resort is more than about 45 minutes from the airport, and there is a proper water park at Mastichari. This page turns those advantages into a plan.
Bookable now
What you're seeing: real departures for the coming weeks, pulled from GetYourGuide. Check the duration first — with under-fives it matters more than the price — then open the listing for the operator's child age bands.
Quick summary
The answers parents look for before booking anything. Treat prices as the entry point of a range — child bands differ from operator to operator.
| Is Kos good for families? | Yes — shallow sandy north-coast beaches, flat cycle lanes, short transfers and a water park. It is one of the easier Greek islands with small children. |
|---|---|
| Best beaches for toddlers | Tigaki, Marmari and Mastichari — sand, no drop-off, water shin-deep for many metres. Beach comparison |
| Shortest boat trip | Glass-bottom cruises run about 1.5 hours — the right length under five. What you actually see |
| Best boat for ages 5–12 | A pirate-style cruise with a waterslide, usually a full day with lunch. Details |
| Water park | Lido Water Park at Mastichari, on the north coast. Height and age limits apply on individual slides. Guide |
| Free with children | The Plaka forest peacocks near the airport and the Alikes salt lake boardwalk behind Tigaki, with flamingos in winter and spring. |
| Hours to avoid | 12:00–16:00 in July and August. Shade, indoors or a pool — not a beach with no umbrella. |
| Advance booking needed? | Yes in July–August for boat trips and water-park transfers. Child seats in transfers and hire cars must be requested at booking. |
| Best months with kids | Late May to mid-June and September — warm sea, less heat, calmer water, fewer crowds. |
Age bands, height limits and prices are set by individual operators and change between seasons — the booking page states the current rules. How we source numbers
The rule that saves the holiday
Front-load the day. Beach or activity from 08:30 to 11:30, lunch and a long indoor break through the worst of the heat, then back out from 17:00 when the light softens and the sea is at its warmest. Fighting the middle of the day is the commonest mistake families make on Kos.
Boat trips by age
Duration decides this, not price. The island's flagship 3-island cruise is eight to nine hours door to door — a brilliant day at nine years old and a very long one at three.
Option 1
€20–30 / adult, about 1.5 hours
Pick this if your youngest is under five, or if you want to test whether anybody gets seasick before committing to a full day.
Option 2
€35–60 / adult, full day with lunch
Pick this if your children are roughly 5–12, swim confidently and would rather queue for a slide than look at a monastery.
Option 3
€120–800+ / boat, not per person
Pick this if you are travelling with a baby, or you are six or more and the maths gets close to group tickets anyway.
Don't book the nine-hour cruise with a three-year-old
It is the single most common mistake on this island. A full-day cruise means an early pickup, a crowded deck, limited shade and no way off until evening. Under five, take the short glass-bottom trip instead and save the big cruise for the next holiday — or charter a private boat so the day runs on your schedule.
Beaches
Depth, shade and wind are the three variables. A beach that is perfect at two years old is boring at eleven, and the beach an eleven-year-old loves has a drop-off you do not want.
| Beach | Surface | Depth | Shade | Best age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tigaki | Soft sand | Shin-deep for many metres | Paid umbrellas; little natural | 0–7 |
| Marmari | Wide sand, dunes | Shallow, but choppier | Some dune shelter | 3–10 |
| Mastichari | Sand | Very shallow | Tavernas behind the sand | 0–7 |
| Lambi | Sand with shingle patches | Gentle | Paid umbrellas | 2–10 |
| Kardamena | Sand | Gradual, calmer than north | Paid umbrellas | 4–12 |
| Kamari & Kefalos bays | Sand and fine shingle | Deeper sooner | Some rock and taverna shade | 8+ |
| Psalidi | Pebble and shingle | Quick drop-off | Paid umbrellas | 10+ |
Ratings are our own judgement from the physical character of each beach, not operator data. Conditions change with wind and season — full detail on the beaches page.
The wind rule, for parents
Tigaki, Marmari and Mastichari face north and take the meltemi from around midday in July and August. That is fine before lunch and tiring afterwards, when sand blows and the shallows chop up. If your afternoon plan needs flat water — inflatables, paddleboards, a nervous swimmer — move to the south or west coast, or move indoors.
Heat, honestly
July and August afternoons are hard work with small children. Carry more water than feels necessary, use a hat and a rash vest rather than relying on sun cream alone, and treat 12:00 to 16:00 as indoor time. Greek pharmacies are marked with a green cross, are used to holiday sunburn and stomach upsets, and will point you to a doctor if you need one.
Free wins & bad-weather days
Plaka forest, a short drive from the airport, is a shaded stand of trees with free-roaming peacocks. There is no gate and no ticket. Do not feed them — they are wild birds and perfectly capable of finding their own lunch. It is the best hour on the island for a toddler who has had enough of sand.
Alikes salt lake, immediately behind Tigaki, has a flat path and boardwalk around it and draws flamingos in winter and spring. Bring binoculars, keep to the path and keep voices down; the birds leave if you crowd them. Both of these are covered in the nature and hiking guide.
Kos Town's seafront promenade and cycle lanes are smooth and flat, and the island's separated bike network is the single best thing about it with children — bike hire with child seats and trailers is widely available. The old-town lanes are a different matter: cobbles and worn paving that a three-wheeler handles far better than a four-wheel travel buggy. A sling is the honest answer for the ruins and the castle steps.
Getting there matters too. Kardamena and Mastichari are ten to fifteen minutes from the airport, which with a tired toddler is worth more than any hotel feature. Request child seats when you book the transfer — see airport transfers — and check the resort comparison before choosing a base.
How to save
Almost every operator prices children below full fare and infants often travel free. The usual shape is 0–3 free, 4–11 reduced, 12 and over adult — but the cut-offs differ boat by boat, and the booking page states the exact bands. Check before you assume.
With children, a beach, a water park day and one boat trip fill a week comfortably. Adding a fourth excursion usually buys you a tired family rather than more holiday.
The peacock forest, the flamingo boardwalk, the public beaches and the ruins in Kos Town cost nothing. There is no island-wide sightseeing pass on Kos, so savings come from choosing free days rather than from a card.
In Kos Town, Lambi or Tigaki a family of bikes for a week costs a fraction of car hire and gets you to the beach faster. Keep the car for one day if you want the south-west.
Late May, June and September are cheaper, cooler and calmer — the three things that matter most with children. September holds the warmest sea of the year. Only school dates argue against it.
Context
Most Aegean islands are volcanic and steep, which produces spectacular scenery and deep, pebbly coves. Kos is different: the north of the island is a low, flat coastal plain, and the sea shelves away so gently off Tigaki, Marmari and Mastichari that a small child can walk out for a long way and still be in shin-deep water. That single geological fact is the reason Kos appears on every family shortlist.
The same flatness produced the island's other family asset. Kos Town and the north-coast strip have an unusually complete network of separated cycle lanes — not painted margins on a main road, but proper segregated paths. Renting bikes with child seats is normal here, and for many families it replaces both the hire car and the bus entirely.
Distance is the third factor. The airport sits inland at Antimachia in the middle of the island, so nothing is more than about 45 minutes from arrivals and the two closest resorts, Kardamena and Mastichari, are a quarter of an hour away. After a delayed charter flight with two children, that matters more than a pool slide.
Then there is Greek dining culture, which is quietly one of the best things about a family holiday here. Tavernas expect children, kitchens serve late, and dishes arrive to be shared rather than plated per person — so fussy eaters can graze on bread, chips, tzatziki and grilled meat while the adults eat properly. Dinner starts around 20:00 and is still going at 23:00. If your children eat at 18:00, go early and you will have the place to yourselves. For the food itself, see wine, olive oil and food on Kos; for everything else on the island, start from the kos.boats home page or the things to do hub.
FAQ
Yes, and for concrete reasons rather than general ones. The north-coast beaches at Tigaki, Marmari and Mastichari are sandy with almost no drop-off, so the water stays shin-deep for many metres. The island is flat enough to cycle with a child seat on separated lanes. No resort is more than about 45 minutes from the airport. And there is a full water park at Mastichari for the days when the beach has run out of ideas.
Tigaki and Mastichari, both on the north coast, because the sand is soft and the water stays very shallow a long way out. Marmari is wider and less crowded but takes more wind. Avoid Psalidi with toddlers — it is pebble and shingle with a quicker drop-off — and treat the Kefalos and Kamari bays as beaches for confident swimmers instead.
Under five, take a glass-bottom cruise of about 1.5 hours from Kos Town harbour — short, visual and over before patience runs out. Between roughly five and twelve, a pirate-style cruise with a waterslide and lunch is the obvious pick. With a baby, a private boat is worth the premium because you control the timing, the shade and the toilet. The nine-hour three-island cruise is too long under five.
Yes — the Lido water park at Mastichari on the north coast, roughly 7 km from the airport and about 22 km from Kos Town. Tickets are sold entry-only or bundled with a return transfer from the main resorts, which is usually the easier option if you are not driving. Arrive early: the shaded loungers and the quieter slide queues both go first.
Yes. Individual slides carry minimum height or age limits, and some of the bigger rides also require a child to be a competent swimmer. The exact figures are set by the park and can change between seasons, so check the current restrictions on the official park information before you travel rather than relying on a number you read elsewhere. There is a separate shallow area for younger children.
Treat 12:00 to 16:00 in July and August as indoor time. The Archaeological Museum and Casa Romana in Kos Town are small enough to hold attention for an hour each, the water park has shaded areas, and a hotel pool under an umbrella is a perfectly respectable answer. Two free options work well in cooler hours instead: the peacocks at Plaka forest and the flamingo boardwalk at the Alikes salt lake behind Tigaki.
Very much so. Tavernas expect children, high chairs are common and nobody minds noise. The catch is timing: Greek dinner starts around 20:00 and runs late, so if your children eat at 18:00 you will often be the first table of the evening. That is fine, and it means faster service. Order mezze to share rather than a main each — it suits fussy eaters far better.
On the seafront promenade and the cycle lanes, easily — they are flat and smooth. The old-town lanes are cobbled and uneven, and the castle and the Asklepion involve steps, so a three-wheeler copes and a four-wheel travel buggy struggles. A sling is the practical answer for the archaeological sites. Remember that buggies come off the aircraft with oversized baggage, a few minutes behind the main belt.
The water park and the short cruises fill up fastest in July and August. Check live availability, child prices and cancellation terms on GetYourGuide — the authorised reseller we link to throughout this guide.
