CHOOSE YOUR SHORE
FIND YOUR PERFECT BEACH
FROM FAMOUS SHORES TO HIDDEN COVES, DISCOVER THE BEACHES THAT MAKE CRETE UNFORGETTABLE
Crete’s coastline is a landscape of remarkable contrasts. Beaches here can be broad and open to the Aegean, enclosed by steep cliffs, hidden beneath mountains or shaped by the particular geology of the island. The colour of the sea changes from deep blue to almost transparent turquoise, while sand can range from pale gold to brilliant white and, in places, take on the distinctive pink tones found along the western coast.
Some of the island’s most extraordinary landscapes are found around Balos Beach, where the lagoon, shallow turquoise water, white sand and rugged Gramvousa peninsula create an almost otherworldly coastal setting. Further south, Elafonissi Beach is known for its shallow waters and characteristic pink-tinged sand, surrounded by a protected coastal environment that gives the area its unusual appearance. Both have become synonymous with the beauty of western Crete, yet they belong to very different landscapes.
The western coast also includes Falassarna Beach, facing the open sea at the foot of the Gramvousa mountains. Its wide sandy shoreline and exposed position give it a completely different character from the sheltered waters of Elafonissi. Around Chania, the coastline becomes a succession of bays, rocky shores and sandy beaches, with the White Mountains often forming a dramatic backdrop inland.
On the southern coast, Crete feels more rugged. Matala Beach sits beneath its distinctive sandstone cliffs and the caves that overlook the bay, creating one of the most recognisable coastal landscapes on the island. The history of Matala is inseparable from its setting: the caves, the small bay and the surrounding landscape became closely associated with the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s. Today, the beach retains a strong sense of place that goes beyond its historical reputation.
The Many Faces of the Cretan Coast
Elsewhere along the south coast, the landscape becomes increasingly remote, with beaches framed by barren hills, gorges and steep mountains. Preveli Beach, where the river meets the Libyan Sea beneath a palm-lined valley, is one of the most unusual examples. The combination of freshwater, palms, cliffs and open sea makes it unlike the broad sandy beaches found elsewhere on the island.
Crete’s coastline continues eastwards through landscapes that are often less familiar internationally but equally distinctive. Around Lasithi, beaches can be backed by mountains, olive groves and small coastal settlements, while sheltered bays provide a very different atmosphere from the exposed western shores. Places such as Vai Beach, with its famous palm grove, show yet another side of the island’s geography.
What makes the best beaches in Crete so varied is the island itself. Crete stretches across different geological landscapes and is bordered by both the Cretan Sea to the north and the Libyan Sea to the south. The result is a coastline where no single image really represents the whole island: pink sand at Elafonissi, the lagoon of Balos, the open horizon at Falassarna, the cliffs of Matala, the palms of Preveli and countless smaller beaches between them.
From the internationally famous shores to secluded coves and wild stretches of coastline, the beaches of Crete are inseparable from the landscapes around them — mountains, gorges, cliffs, islands, olive groves and villages forming the backdrop to some of the Mediterranean’s most distinctive coastal scenery.
