Ikos Oceania
Ikos Oceania is the original Ikos resort, built up a green hillside above its own sandy beach on the Kassandra peninsula in Halkidiki, northern Greece, with the restaurants, the branded drinks and the children's clubs folded into one premium all-inclusive price. Families come for its à la carte restaurants, sea-view rooms, a Blue Flag beach and a crèche from six months.
On this page
Is it worth it?
The quick read before the detail: who Oceania suits, what's folded into the price and the facts to skim first.
Ikos Oceania is one of the more expensive family all-inclusives in Greece, with à la carte restaurants, premium wine and spirits, a daily-replenished minibar, 24-hour room service and a day's car hire all in the price, no per-restaurant supplements and little upselling. It's the original and smallest resort in the group, around 298 rooms, so sunbeds stay easy to find. It's also a hillside resort, so the rooms, pools and beach are spread up and down the slopes, and getting between them means a walk or a ride on one of the resort's golf buggies, the electric carts that shuttle guests around on call. You'll get the most from it if you'd otherwise pay separately for good dinners, childcare and a hire car.
Best for
You want à la carte restaurants, a sandy beach and sea views, a crèche from six months, and you'd otherwise pay out for meals, a babysitter and a car.
Maybe not for
You'd struggle pushing a pram up hills, you want flat ground throughout, or you're on a tight budget.
Best ages
Babies upwards. Paid crèche from six months, a free club from four, plus babysitting for an adult dinner.
What stands out
The smallest resort in the group, a day's electric car hire in the price, and crèche and kids-club staff that guests single out.
What to check
The crèche age floor for a young baby and the road crossing down to the sand.
Where is it?
Above its own beach at Nea Moudania on the Kassandra peninsula, about 35 to 50 minutes from Thessaloniki airport.
Quick facts for families
The resort and its setting
Where Oceania sits, how it's laid out over the terraces and what that means for getting around.
Oceania opened in 2015 as the first Ikos resort, on a hillside that drops in terraces toward the Aegean. The room blocks step down the slope in an amphitheatre arrangement, with gardens of pine, olive and cypress between them, so almost every room looks out to sea and, on a clear day, across the gulf to Mount Olympus on the horizon. At around 298 rooms it's the smallest in the group, and guests rarely report a scramble for sunbeds. A hillside also means slopes and steps between the rooms, the pools, the restaurants and the beach, which are spread across roughly six levels, so you either walk the slopes and steps or call one of the on-demand golf buggies. For how the Ikos brand and its Infinite Lifestyle all-inclusive works across the group, see our guide to Ikos and the group behind it, and for the wider region our Halkidiki guide.
Every restaurant and bar
All six dining rooms, the five bars and how the à la carte booking actually works.
Every restaurant is included with no per-restaurant supplement, and so is the wine, a cellar of more than 100 bottles chosen by the resort's sommeliers. There are six restaurants and five bars. The buffet runs all day and takes walk-ins; the five à la carte dinners need a reservation.
Flavors is the Mediterranean buffet, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, roughly 07:30 to 11:00, 12:30 to 14:30 and 18:30 to 21:30, and it doesn't need a reservation. It's the most practical room for a young child, with broad choice, no fixed sitting, high chairs and child cups, bowls and cutlery, and you walk in whenever a toddler's appetite arrives. The food is sound, and it's the venue families most often say they'd like updated.
Ouzo is the Greek restaurant, à la carte and poolside, and its barbecue lunch is a recurring favourite in reviews. Dinner needs a reservation. High chairs and a children's menu are on hand. The few complaints are minor, mostly wasps at the outdoor tables on a hot day and one rushed lunch service.
Provence is the French restaurant, à la carte for dinner with a reservation, and one of the two rooms guests rate most highly. The menus are designed by Pascal Barbot, who holds a Michelin star at L'Astrance in Paris, though the kitchen here isn't itself starred; an early sitting suits small children best.
Anaya is the Asian restaurant, Thai and pan-Asian, à la carte for dinner with a reservation, with balcony seating. It's the other consistent favourite alongside Provence. Its menus are by the Paris chef Thiou.
Fresco is the Italian, à la carte for lunch and dinner, booking needed at dinner. Reviews are mixed on Fresco. The pasta gets praise, but some find the cooking less consistent night to night. Its menus are by Ettore Botrini, who holds one star at his Athens restaurant, Botrini's, rather than at the resort. Guests often praise the service staff here.
Beach Club is the beachfront restaurant, casual and relaxed, and the easiest place for a family lunch by the sand. Its hours are snacks 11:00 to 17:00, lunch 13:00 to 16:00 and dinner 18:30 to 21:30. Daytime is walk-in; dinner needs a reservation like the other à la carte rooms. High chairs and a kids' menu are available.
The five bars
The Lobby Bar is the main one and keeps the longest hours, roughly 09:00 to 01:00, for coffees by day and cocktails late. The Pool Bar serves the main pool through the day, and there's a separate Deluxe Pool Bar for Deluxe Collection guests. The Beach Club bar handles daytime drinks down on the sand. The Adults Only Bar opens in the evening with sea views, which is an adults-only setting after dark rather than any restriction on families during the day. All the drinks, including the wine list, are included.
Dinner is smart casual: no shorts, though smart tailored shorts are tolerated, and no flip-flops. Daytime is casual throughout, including lunch at the Beach Club.
How restaurant booking works
You choose your à la carte dinners when you book the holiday. A standard room comes with three pre-booked dinners; Deluxe Collection guests can pre-book every night. The early-evening sittings that suit small children fill first, so pick those when you book. The rest you arrange on the Ikos app once you arrive, where tables also free up through the week. Walk-ins to the à la carte rooms are rarely possible, so the Flavors buffet and the daytime Beach Club are the no-booking fallbacks.
Rooms and suites
Every room category with its official size, the six pools across the terraces and the Blue Flag beach below.
Where you'll sleep
There are thirteen room categories across two tiers, eight standard and five in the Deluxe Collection. Most face the sea, so for the suites the choice is mainly about space and layout. The table below is the full line-up with the official sizes; the guidance after it is which suit a family with a baby or toddler.
| Room | Size | Sleeps |
|---|---|---|
| Double Room | 32 m² | 2 |
| Superior Double Room | 32 m² | 2 |
| Junior Suite | 35 m² | 3 |
| Panorama Junior Suite | 35 m² | 3 |
| Junior Suite Private Garden | 35 m² | 3 |
| One Bedroom Family Suite | 50 m² | 4 |
| One Bedroom Family Suite Private Garden | 50 m² | 4 |
| Family Room Sea View | 65 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe Junior Suite | 40 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe Junior Suite Private Garden | 40 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe One Bedroom Family Suite | 55 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe Two Bedroom Family Suite | 95 m² | 6 |
| Deluxe Two Bedroom Family Suite Private Garden | 95 m² | 6 |
Tap a room name to see its photos and floor plan in the gallery.
For families, the choice comes down to whether you need a door to close on a napping baby. The two Doubles at 32 m² sleep two and aren't family rooms, so skip them with a child in tow; they differ only in outlook, the Superior Double facing the sea and the standard Double the entry room. The 35 m² Junior Suites are open-plan, workable with one small child but tight once a cot and an active toddler share the floor. The cheapest room with a separate bedroom you can shut off is the One Bedroom Family Suite at 50 m². The Family Room Sea View at 65 m² is the largest non-Deluxe option and the one to book if you want more space without the Deluxe price: it's two interconnecting rooms with their own bathrooms, so the children can sleep apart from you. For two children in their own rooms, or to bring grandparents, the Deluxe Two Bedroom Family Suite at 95 m² sleeps six.
Every category has its own outdoor space, but it comes in two shapes. A Private Garden version gives you a ground-floor garden you step straight out into, which is the easier choice with a pushchair and a child you'd rather let out without stairs. The rest have a furnished terrace or a balcony, which trades that ground-floor access for the sea view from above. There are no swim-up rooms here, so a Private Garden suite is as close as you'll get to direct outdoor space from the room.
Oceania is the group's original resort, opened in 2015 and given a major renovation of around €25 million in 2015 to 2017. It's been well kept since and finished to a high standard, with private terraces, balconies or gardens, sea views and, in the Deluxe suites, marble bathrooms and floor-to-ceiling windows, though they're not as new as the group's latest resorts.
What the Deluxe Collection adds
For families, the most useful thing Deluxe adds is the dinner booking. Deluxe guests can pre-book every à la carte dinner rather than a capped few, so you don't compete for the early sittings each day. On top of that, Deluxe brings a dedicated Deluxe pool, the Deluxe Pool Bar and a private beach section, in-suite check-in and concierge, two complimentary massages per suite, and a second day with the electric car. Standard guests get the same clubs, beach and restaurants, so Deluxe gets you space, a quieter pool and booking certainty.
The pools
The resort has six outdoor pools, spread across the terraces rather than gathered in one spot. The centrepiece is a large infinity pool that runs out toward the sea, the main family pool, with sunbeds and umbrellas around it. There are children's paddling pools, very shallow, only a few centimetres deep, for babies and early walkers. Adults who want a child-free corner during family hours have a separate adults-only pool, and Deluxe guests have their own Deluxe pool with the Deluxe Pool Bar alongside. Inside the spa there's an indoor pool, which is for adults only, so children can't use it. There's no splash pad here, and the paddling pools are plain, with no jets or play features.
The beach
The beach is a stretch of fine golden sand, kept for guests and holding a Blue Flag, with sunbeds, umbrellas and drinks brought to your spot. The sea shelves in gently along this Thermaic Gulf coast, so it stays shallow a long way out, which is what you want with toddlers. Pack water shoes, though, because older accounts mention sea-urchin warning signs and a band of shingle at the water's edge. Non-motorised water sports, canoeing and pedalos, are included, each bookable once a day for a short slot, with a lifeguard on the water-sports station during hours; motorised sports cost extra.
Getting to the beach takes some planning. The resort sits above it, and a small public road carrying cars and motorbikes runs between the two, so you reach the sand down a slope or steps and across that road, or by golf buggy. It's a short crossing but one to manage carefully with a young child, so most families take the on-demand golf buggy down and back rather than the slope. The buggies aren't instant, though, and guests report twenty to thirty minute waits at peak times.
Babies and toddlers
The crèche and clubs from six months up, everything that fills a family day, and the days out beyond the gate.
The crèche, clubs and the baby kit
The Heroes Crèche takes children from six months to four years for an extra charge, run to UK Ofsted standards in small groups: roughly one carer to three for the six-to-twenty-three-month babies, one to four for two and three year olds. Sessions run 10:00 to 13:00, 13:00 to 15:00 and 15:00 to 18:00, charged per session, with the shorter afternoon sitting the cheapest. Families praise the staff for settled, attentive care of very young children. Spaces fill fast, so book by email before you travel through [email protected].
The free Heroes Kids Club covers four to twelve year olds through the day, running 10:30 to 13:00, 13:00 to 15:00 and 15:30 to 18:00, with educational games, arts and crafts and an outdoor playground. There's a Just4Teens club for over-twelves, and a Heroes Supper Club for four to twelves in the evening, 19:00 to 22:00 for an extra charge, which gives parents an evening to dine alone. For an adult dinner without the children, the resort also offers a professional babysitting service for an extra charge, subject to availability and best booked in advance.
The room is set up for a baby or toddler before you arrive if you ask in advance: a cot, a baby bath, a monitor, baby sets such as toilet-seat adapters, and small tables and chairs, with nappy-changing facilities through the public areas and high chairs and child tableware in every restaurant. The kitchens make fresh purées on request, and there's a children's menu everywhere. Pram hire is available for a charge if you'd rather not bring your own. There's also an indoor playroom and an outdoor playground for wet or hot afternoons.
On resortThings to do
Plenty is included with no extra charge, and the beach is where most of it sits for a family with little ones. The shallow, gentle sand is the easiest spot for paddling, and the non-motorised water sports are free: pedalos you can take a small child on and canoes, each bookable once a day for a short slot, and an hour of windsurfing per stay if you hold a licence. On dry land the sports cover two floodlit tennis courts, five-a-side football, beach volleyball and table tennis, with the kids' clubs running outdoor play through the day and Ikos Green's World of Insects, a children's nature attraction, on site. There's an introductory diving lesson at the pool, a 24-hour gym, fitness classes from circuit training and HIIT to aqua aerobics, and wellness sessions of beginners' yoga, Pilates, stretching and nature walks. Bike hire is complimentary for the whole family, there's a guided mountain-biking excursion, and giant chess and board games for downtime.
Several academies and excursions cost extra. The Tennis Academy and Football Academy take coached sessions, with the football split into age groups of four to five, six to eight and nine to twelve. Football Escapes runs week-long camps for five to fifteen year olds with ex-professional and UEFA-licensed coaches. There's a Windsurfing Academy and a Sailing Academy, advanced and motorised water sports from inflatables and water-skiing to scuba diving, and private boat and yacht excursions. The Anne Semonin spa is for adults only, with treatment rooms, the indoor pool, sauna, steam room and the 24-hour gym, and treatments charged on top.
The daily programme covers all ages, with live music, performances in the restaurants and bars, an early-evening children's show and mini disco, and beach parties. Your booking also includes a Culture Pass for sites around Thessaloniki and a local winery, and a Dine Out scheme covering dinner at two local tavernas with transport arranged: Akti, on Dionysiou beach about 1.2 miles (2 km) away, and Erodios, a Golden Hat taverna in Nea Moudania about 2 miles (3 km) away. The Dine Out tavernas suit a child old enough to sit through a long meal.
The area and days out
Nea Moudania, a working Greek town rather than a tourist strip, is about a ten-minute walk along the beach: a Lidl, a Carrefour and Greek chains like Masoutis for nappies, formula, sunscreen and snacks at normal prices, plus pharmacies, bakeries, tavernas and a town beach with shallow water for paddling. For everything further you'll want the car, and the included day with an electric car makes that easy.
South down the Kassandra peninsula the resort towns line the coast: Afytos is a stone clifftop village with views, tavernas and a sandy beach below, Kallithea is the liveliest spot with a shallow swimming beach, and the Sani area to the north has an upscale marina and a pine forest, roughly a 30 to 50 minute drive depending how far you go. Waterland, a large water park with a children's pool and lifeguards, is about 30 minutes away and lets under-fours in free. The Petralona Cave, with its stalagmites and a small museum, is around 30 minutes and suits a curious walking toddler more than a crawler, given the steps and the dark. Thessaloniki, Greece's second city, is about 45 to 50 minutes for the White Tower, the seafront and the museums that fall under the Culture Pass. Mount Olympus is a famous view across the gulf from the resort rather than a day trip, since by road it's a long way round the water. For the wider region, its beaches and seasons, see our Halkidiki guide.
Loves and gripes
What guests rate and what frustrated them, how it stacks up against its sisters, the journey in and the weather by month.
What families love, and the gripes
What families love
- The food, a frequent high point across the restaurants.
- The warmth of the staff, who top drinks up unasked and remember names.
- The crèche and kids-club teams, the most specific family praise, for attentive care of babies and toddlers.
- The terraced setting and sea views.
- The smaller, calmer scale and easy sunbed availability.
- The cleanliness of the rooms, pools and beach.
Common gripes
- The hilly, six-level terrain, hard work with a pram between room, pool and beach.
- Golf-buggy waits at busy times, twenty to thirty minutes in some accounts.
- Rooms that some find less new than the group's latest resorts, set against a top-end price.
- The road crossing to reach the beach, a point to manage with young children.
How it compares
Within the group, Oceania is the original. The closest comparison is its Halkidiki neighbour, Ikos Olivia, which is flat and bungalow-style with a splash pad, so the decision is the sea-view setting here against easier ground and water play there. If you're pushing a pram all week or chasing a child who wants jets and slides, Olivia is usually the better fit. Oceania is also usually the most affordable entry point in the group. Against the newer resorts elsewhere, the food and service feel much the same across the brand, and what you trade for the setting is the newest rooms. For how the whole group works, our Ikos guide goes into the brand in more depth.
From the airportGetting there
Thessaloniki airport is the arrival point, about 35 to 50 minutes away by road depending on traffic. With a pushchair, luggage and car seats a private transfer beats a coach, and you arrange it yourself rather than it being laid on automatically: request it through Ikos or your operator at least a couple of weeks before you travel, with child seats on request. It's complimentary on direct bookings of five nights or more, and on any Deluxe Collection booking. Your stay also includes a day with an electric car, enough for the ten-minute run to the Nea Moudania supermarkets and a trip further down the peninsula, with child seats on request for that too.
When to goWeather, month by month
Ikos Oceania is open from around the start of April to the end of October, and the figures below, long-term averages for this coast, cover that season. The warm, low-rain window for a family is roughly June to September, when days sit in the high twenties to low thirties, the sea reaches 23 to 26°C and rain is occasional. The gentlest weeks for young children are late May into June and September, warm enough to swim but short of the July and August peak for heat, crowds and price. April and May are cooler shoulders with a sea still too cold for small swimmers.
| Month | Daytime high | Overnight low | Rain | Wet days | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 20° | 8.5° | 35 mm | 6 | 15° |
| May | 25° | 13.5° | 37 mm | 8 | 18° |
| June | 30° | 18.5° | 31 mm | 7 | 23° |
| July | 32.5° | 21° | 24 mm | 6 | 26° |
| August | 32.5° | 21° | 21 mm | 5 | 27° |
| September | 28° | 17° | 22 mm | 5 | 25° |
| October | 21.5° | 12° | 25 mm | 4 | 22° |
Typical monthly averages from weather-station records. Sea temperature is the open-water figure, so a sheltered bay can feel a degree or two warmer.
Questions
The things families ask most, the official pages worth a bookmark and when this guide was last refreshed.
How young will the crèche take a baby?
From six months. Places are limited and the morning sessions go first, so email the Heroes team as soon as your dates are firm.
Is it hard work with a pram?
Between the six terraced levels it can be, which is why guests call a golf buggy for the long runs from the room to the pool or the beach rather than push up the slopes. If a pram is your main way around for the whole week, the flat Ikos Olivia next door is the easier choice.
Do you need to hire a car?
No. You request a private transfer in from the airport, your stay includes a day with an electric car, and Nea Moudania and its supermarkets are a ten-minute walk along the beach. A car of your own only pays off if you want several separate days out down the peninsula.
Can a toddler paddle safely in the sea?
The water shelves in gently and stays shallow a long way out, with a lifeguard at the watersports station through the day. Keep water shoes on at the edge, and on a windier afternoon the few-centimetre paddling pools are the calmer option.
Is there much for older children and teens?
Yes, beyond the under-fives' clubs. The free Kids Club runs all day to age twelve, there's a Just4Teens club for over-twelves, coached Football and Tennis academies, the included watersports, and Ikos Green's World of Insects for younger ones.
When is the best time to go with little ones?
Late May into June, or September, when it's warm enough to swim but short of the July and August peak for heat, crowds and price. The resort runs from April to the end of October, though in April and May the sea is still too cold for small children.
See more Ikos Oceania photos
Open the Ikos Oceania photo gallery →Useful links
- Ikos Oceania: the resort's own site for rooms, what's included and the children's clubs.
- GOV.UK Greece travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- Halkidiki with little ones: our guide to the wider region, its beaches and when to go.
Last updated 20 June 2026.
