Naxos island has a very varied landscape: barren, rocky districts, high mountains, (Mount Zas, alt. 1000m), lush ravines and green plateaus. In the fertile valleys of the hinterland and the west coast, where there is water in abundance, the islands main products -potatoes, fruit, and olives for oil- are grown. Stock farms are also widespread and Naxos is known for its exellent cheeses, meat and sausages. The southwest is blessed with many capes and bays lined with broad sandy beaches, while the north coast is carved into the coves with smaller beaches. The beaches to the east are fewer but still interesting.The island also has considerable mineral wealth, such as the marble known from antiquity, granite and emery.
The climate is dry, with mild winters and summers cooled by the northerly winds (meltemia), that blows through the Aegean during the hotest months. From the end of July and throughout August, as in all the Cyclades islands, northerly winds, known as meltemia, blow strongly. Although they have a blessedly cooling effect they can be a hazard to boats out at the sea and tricky for the swimmers too, to the extend that some of the most exposed beaches can be practically unusable.
Between the months of May and September, the average daytime highest temperature is 28-30 C and the average night-time lowest temperature is 18-20 C