Beaches of Crete

One of the benefits of spending so much time hiking the southern coast of Crete is coming across some pretty spectacular beaches. Some of these, like Loutro and Sweetwater, and pretty well-known and well visited. Others, like the amazing stretch of sand at Dhomata Bay, seemed like places that hardly average a person per day over the course of the year.

Dhomata, one of my personal favorites, is a long walk from anywhere. Sort of halfway between Soughia and Agia Roumeli, over rough trails and high hills. That was, I think, one of the draws as the whole place seemed entirely deserted: the only footprints I saw anywhere nearby were my own.

Sweetwater beach, on the other hand, is well on the map. Said to host a large Rastafarian community during the busy tourist season, I visited on a day where I had it all to myself. A protected cove, fresh water from a well just off the beach, and trees to rest under out of the sun. Definitely worth visiting.

Like a lot of the popular tourist towns of southern Crete, Paleochora has a beach just outside the front door. Rocky and at times dirty, it fortunately has un-obscured views out into the Libyan Sea with the coast of Africa well out of sight beyond. Combined with the cozy little town itself, this would be worth visiting for at least a few days.

Kato Zakros, sort of out of the way but a good base for hiking and exploring Crete’s Minoan past, also has a large rocky beach fronted by a number or cafes and tavernas. Though the weather was off the day I passed through town, the proximity of both decent walking options and beachfront access means I would probably come back through here if I were to be in western Crete again.

Fragokastello, which is seemingly  a popular tourist daytrip option, also has the longest sandy beach I found anywhere on the island. Though I stayed at the Coral Guesthouse, with a balcony overlooking the rocky edge of the town’s coastline and amazing sunset views, the nearly-empty sandy beach was only several minutes’ walk away.

About an hour from Crete’s best campsite (just outside of Agia Roumeli), the little church of Agios Pavlos anchors a decent beach of the same name. While the hillside is annoyingly sandy, most of the beach is pebbly but pretty. Coupled with a freshwater spring just below the chapel, this area is a great campsite on the Crete E4 trail or a decent daytrip from Agia Roumeli.

Loutro is, somehow, the biggest tourist destination on the southern coast of Crete. Though the village itself is nice enough, I imagine the beaches and streets would be packed shoulder-to-shoulder with tourists if all of the hotels were to be filled up at once.  Check it out for an hour or two, of course, but then walk the hour east to Sweetwater beach or thirty minutes east to the little village and tavernas at Likos.

Perhaps my personal favorite, largely for the surprise factor, was the little beach at the end of the coastal road running out of Paleochora. I don’t know the name, but it was sandy and shaded with great places to nap in the shade or relax in the sun. Combined with a taverna/café that seems to operate in the high season, this struck me as a beautiful place to spend a few days. Checking my map, there even seemed to be a couple of good dayhikes in gorges off the coast from here.

The one obvious missing piece from this list of the best beaches of Crete is Elafonisi. Its an amazing white-sand lagoon on the southwestern corner of the island that comes and goes with the tides, and was one of the most spectacularly pretty beaches I’ve ever seen anywhere. Unfortunately, I arrived exhausted and had to turn around almost immediately to walk back the several hours to Paleochora (where I was staying for the night).