Buddha Bar
Beach

Buddha Bar Beach is the Crete outpost of the global Buddha Bar brand, set inside the Abaton Island Resort and Spa on the Anissaras coast near Hersonissos. The pitch, in the venue’s own words, is a top of the range beach club, restaurant and summer lifestyle experience, which is a precise way of saying the food, the cocktails and the music carry this place, not the width of its sand. That distinction matters more here than at any other club in our Crete index.

In our Crete club directory this is the most polished, party leaning option on the busy eastern resort coast, and it is the only truly international name among them. What follows is the value traveller’s honest read: what the premium actually buys, who it is genuinely worth it for, and who will get far more sun for far less money elsewhere on the island.

The Buddha Bar name is not a beach brand, it is a music, dining and cocktail brand that happens to have opened a beach. That is the single most useful thing to understand before you spend here. What the premium buys is a genuinely designed evening: a kitchen turning out sushi, robata and fusion plates to a global standard, a bar built around signature cocktails that the brand has spent decades refining, and a soundtrack of international DJs that turns the terrace from a lunch spot into a scene as the light drops. For a special night out on this coast, dressed up and looking for atmosphere rather than a bargain, it delivers exactly what it advertises.

The value question is sharper by day. As a place simply to lie in the sun, Buddha Bar Beach is expensive for what a lounger and a swim actually are, because you are paying into a resort restaurant rather than a beach bar. The Anissaras shore is pleasant but not one of Crete’s headline beaches, so nobody is coming for the sand alone. A traveller counting euros who wants a comfortable day by the water will get dramatically more for the money at the island’s many relaxed beach bars.

The other honest caveat is certainty. Nothing on the pricing is published, so a lounger rate, a minimum spend or a day pass for non guests all need confirming with the venue directly, and any figure you read elsewhere should be treated as unverified. Book a table, know your budget going in, and use the reservation to ask the questions the website does not answer. For a livelier cove that turns into a party without the international price tag, our Almyra Seaside profile is the cheaper thrill, while Cabana Mare is the stylish all day alternative near Chania.

Anissaras sits on the developed eastern resort coast of Crete, the strip that runs from Hersonissos out towards Malia, where the hotels are dense and the nightlife is close at hand. It is the natural home for a club with a party leaning programme, and the reason the island’s only international name landed here rather than on the wilder south or the quiet west. If you want to see how this coast compares with the cove clubs and the calmer family bars, our Crete beach club directory maps them all, and the Crete party beaches guide covers the wider scene around Hersonissos and Malia.

The Abaton resort is on the Anissaras coast just east of Hersonissos, roughly forty minutes by road from Heraklion airport and an easy taxi or drive from the eastern resort hotels. There is no need to stay at Abaton to eat here, but you do need a plan, because this is a reservation venue rather than a walk up beach bar, and parking and access run through the resort.

Booking is done through OpenTable or by phone on the venue’s own site, and the sensible move is to reserve a table for the time of day you actually want, since lunch by the water and the evening scene are quite different experiences at quite different prices. If you would rather we set it up, add your date and party size to the form beneath this and we will pass the request to Buddha Bar Beach to confirm a table, the current terms and any lounger or cabana you want, at no cost to you.