If you’re planning to visit Crete it’s probably because you’ve heard about their beautiful beaches. Looking for the best beaches in Crete? Well, in this local’s guide, you will find the best Cretan Beaches to add to your Greece bucket list!
With a 650-mile long coastline in the heart of the Mediterranean, Crete, the largest Greek island, has plenty of choice on offer when it comes to endless days of soaking in the sun, swimming, and lazily lounging by the sea.
From heavenly golden sand bays, to pink sand beaches, from hidden rocky coves, sand dunes, and pebbly shores, Crete has a special beach for everyone. Whether they are romantic and exotic, shallow for small children, or quiet and relaxing for some time of complete disconnection, many of the beaches in Crete are often rated among the most stunning shores in Europe.
The island, which counts an average of 300 days of sunshine every year, is a fantastic holiday destination for those who love to spend their days at the beach, no matter if you dream about witnessing a peaceful sunset in an awe inspiring bay or if you’re up to a fun-packed vacation with endless possibilities to practice water sports. Crete is certainly one of the best Greek islands when it comes to seaside holidays.
The summer season starts quite early on Crete, most beaches start welcoming people from the last days of April, with the season normally ending in late October. July and August are the most popular months and when the beaches tend to get more crowded.
If Crete has been on a radar for a while and you’re eager to discover what beaches to visit in Crete, this guide will prove incredibly helpful for you to make up your mind. Take a look!
Your Insider Guide To The Best Beaches In Crete, Greece
1. Balos Beach
Officially known as Balos Beach and Lagoon, this spectacular beach is one of the hottest touristic spots on the island. It’s located on the northwestern coast of Crete, in the region of Chania. Since Balos is rather hard to access, it’s always wise to plan your day trip to Balos in advance in order to avoid the crowds as well as to find the most suitable way to reach the area.
This exotic lagoons is formed at the end of the rather long Gramvousa peninsula and the imposing Cape Tigani, right opposite the beach. The shallow lagoon has a vibrant emerald color often has a pleasant warm temperature.
You can reach Balos either by sea or with an off-road drive. Taking a daily cruise from the nearby city of Kissamos, allows you to sail the beautiful northern coast of Crete and also to visit the uninhabited island of Imeri Gramvousa where you can swim for a few hours before your cruise finally sails to Balos.
The second way you can visit the Lagoon is by car. You need drive and adventurous and sometimes breathtaking dirt road right on the border of a cliff.
This trip takes from 30 to 50 minutes, and although the track is no more than 12 km long, the road is quite bumpy, and sometimes narrow, so it’s often necessary to slow down. Once you’ve reached the parking lot, it’s not over. You still have to hike down a mountain for another 20 minutes.
Getting there by car is the only way to go if you’re longing to admire the landscape of Balos from above. I would also suggest booking a full-day tour like this one, which takes you from Chania to Gramvousa Island and Balos Bay.
TIP: Since Balos is quite isolated, there are no hotels in the area. The best place to stay on the island to enjoy a day trip to Balos is the nearby city of Chania, about 50 km from the lagoon.
2. Elafonisi Pink Sand Beach
Those traveling to Crete visiting Balos and Elafonisi never seem to agree on which of the two is the most beautiful beach on Crete. While in Balos the color of the waters are the note of color on the beach, Elafonisi, instead is famous for the fantastic pink sand that covers one of the widest shores on the island.
No visitor to Crete ever leaves the island without having spent at least a day on Elafonisi beach. The region, also lonely and isolated, can be reached driving for about 70 kilometers south of Chania town. You can also arrange a full-day trip from Chania.
The beach is the southwestern coast of the island and if you plan to stay in the area it’s a good idea to book your accommodation in advance. There are only a few hotels in the area and they tend to be fully booked early in the season. You can compare the best prices for the hotels by clicking here.
Elafonisi is not really a regular shore, but a small islet that is separated from the coast by a lagoon which, depending of the current, can be as shallow as just a few inches to up to about a meter high, so the islet is easily reached on foot, or even wading.
The famous pink sand on the coast of Elafonisi is made of hundreds of thousands of microscopic colorful shell and other microorganisms that tinge the shore with a pale pink tone. The intensity of this pink shade also depends on atmospheric conditions, the tides, and many other factors, these will make the sand more or less pink during different hours of the same day!
The beach is ideal to practise kite-surfing on the days where the winds blows with some intensity, and you can rent the equipment directly on the beach. There are a few beach bars, as well as a taverna where you can have cold drinks, snacks and simple meals such as salads or sandwiches. The beach tends to be overcrowded during the high season.
Remember that Elafonisi is one of the most visited attractions on the island so, expect it to be crowded during the whole season. Arriving early in the day is the best thing you can do to enjoy the quiet atmosphere of Elafonisi, before buses with tourists arrive from every corner of the island, at about midday.
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3. Seitan Limania
Not as wide as Elafonisi, nor as exotic as Balos, Seitan Limania remains one of the most beautiful beaches on Crete for the uniqueness of the landscape, the wild area in which is set, and the striking blue shades of the sea.
The beach, also known as Stefanou, is located in the area of Cape Akrotiri, about 20 km east of Chania town. The beach used to be a hidden secret among locals until just a few years ago, when a picture of the beach made it to Instagram and popularity exploded.
Seitan Limania is now one of the most visited points in the region of Chania but being such a small shore, you definitely need to arrive early to find a place where to put your beach towel.
The beach lacks any form of organization, so you need to pack your own lunch, plenty of drinks, and your favorite sunscreen. Once you’ve made your (winding) way to the beach parking lot, it’s necessary to hike down the bare rock to get close to the sea. Tennis shoes are another must you shouldn’t forget.
The spectacular lightening bolt shape of Seitan Limania is framed by bare cliffs and wild bushes. Goats are natural inhabitants of the cliffs, but don’t worry, they’re harmless.
4. Falassarna Beach
Falassarna is another wonderful Cretan beach, always in the Chania region. This very wide bay is often affected by strong winds that make it a perfect place for all kinds of water sports.
The village of Falassarna is a good place to stay in the area, there are a few hotels and houses to rent, and it can be a great base from where to visit all the beaches in West Crete. Of course, it’s a very small village, so if you’re after nightlife and more lively ways of entertainment, Chania is the closest city where to stay.
Falassarna is a very popular area on the island, and among the most famous beaches all over Greece. Being such a long and wide bay, it never feels overcrowded. The sand is soft with a beautiful golden color while the sea is transparent and a bit wavy.
They say that the best sunsets on Crete are witnessed in Falassarna, therefore couple often populate the shore during the golden hour to marvel at the spectacular views of the sun setting down at the beach
PRO TIP: Together with Balos, Elafonisi, and Seitan Limania, Falassarna is also located close to the city of Chania. In fact, Chania is a great place to stay to discover the most beautiful beaches in Crete, it’s a vibrant city with plenty of accommodation options, including unique boutique hotels and hostels for those traveling on a budget. There are many things to do in town, such as visiting the Venetian quarter or discovering the local cuisine in the Public market.
5. Triopetra Beach
Triopetra is an endlessly long and wide shore of soft, white pebbles on the southern coast of Crete, in the Rethymnon region. The best place to stay if you’re willing to visit Triopetra is the city of Rethymnon, in the North, or the beautiful seaside settlement of Agia Galini, on the southern coast.
If you’re staying in the city of Rethymnon, you will need to drive across the fantastic mountainous landscape of Crete to reach the South, the trip takes about an hour, but the scenes you’ll encounter on the way make it a worthy adventure.
Triopetra is known for a unique rock formation that stands on the eastern extreme of the beach. Here, three imposing rocks, which seem to be made of thin layers standing one on top of the other, are the reason why the beach has been given the name of Triopetra, which literally means three rocks in Greek.
The beach is well organized, so it’s possible to hire a sunbed and an umbrella, but also to have lunch and buy cold drinks in any of the facilities by the seaside.
As with most of the southern coast of Crete, the shore is often deep, cleared, and cooler than in other Cretan beaches.
PRO TIP: As mentioned above, the most comfortable place to stay if you decide to visit Triopetra is the city of Rethymnon. Over there, you’ll find plenty of options for accommodation, restaurants, tavernas and clubs. The city is, in fact, home to one of the island’s universities, with a young population all year round. If you’re staying in Rethymnon and decide to take a day trip to Triopetra, don’t forget to check other stunning beaches in the area, such as the coast of Ligres, the palm tree grove of Preveli, and Plakias beach, our next stop on this list.
6. Plakias Beach
One more wonderful seaside village in Crete is Plakias, on the South coast of the Rethymnon region. Peaceful and not overpopulated, the village is home to a wide sandy beach, Plakias itself, and to a unique series of smaller beaches, some of them quite hidden and small.
Two of these smaller coves, Ammoudi and Ammoudaki, are two of the most famous naturist-friendly beaches on Crete, so if you’re looking for a place where to enjoy sunbathing and even swimming minus your clothes, now you know where to go in Crete.
The beaches in the area of Plakias are also well-known all over Crete because they offer excellent opportunities for subaquatic sports. There are several immersion centers in the area which you can contact to take part in scuba diving experiences. If you’re more of an amateur, you can also enjoy the submarine landscape of Plakias with a good pair of goggles. As a matter of fact, snorkeling is quite popular in Plakias.
The area is well organized, with sunbeds and umbrellas. A few beach bars offer simple dishes, drinks, and sometimes cocktails too. For your basic shopping needs you can visit the stores in the village.
7. Matala Beach
Another place in Crete that has made it to the list of the most famous beaches in the world is Matala Beach and its hippie village.
Matala became known during the 60s, when hippies from all over the world started arriving to the island where they settled. They chose the ancient caves that stand by the beach as their dwelling place, living a simple life on this forgotten shore of South Heraklion on the island of Crete.
The beach is bordered by a high cliff on the West where dozens of carved caves were used as shelter for centuries, at least as far back as the Bronze Age.
The village never lost its unique flower-power atmosphere. It’s a natural home to several music events every summer, including rock concerts and parties on the beach. And even though the village is quite small, it offers loads of opportunities to have fun any hour of the day.
As far as the beach goes, the coast is sand mixed with pebbles, while the sea is quite deep and ideal for snorkeling. If you’re traveling on a budget, you’ll be happy to know that there’s a camping site quite close to the center of the village.
8. Chrissi Island
There are several islands off the coast of Crete which you can reach hiring a boat or with an organized excursion. One of the most famous ones is the uninhabited tiny Chrissi Island (locally known as Gaidorounisi).
Chrissi, which means golden in Greek, due to the color of the sand, is one of the most enchanting beaches in Crete. Since the island is not inhabited, the atmosphere remains quite wild and untouched.
To get to Chrissi you can take the daily cruise that departures every morning from the southern city of Ierapetra, or jump on a smaller boat from the nearby beach of Makrigialos. The trip lasts for about an hour and it’s always a good idea to check on the weather conditions the day before so as to book your tickets.
Once you approach the island, you’ll notice that the boat docks on the southern coast. From there, you’ll need to walk for about 10 minutes through a protected Juniper forest in order to arrive to Golden Beach, the prettiest beach on the island.
The beautiful turquoise sea combines with soft white sand, small shells and pebbles. There’s a nice beach bar (which can be overpriced in summer, so don’t overlook the fact that packing your own lunch and drinks can be a good idea).
9. Vai Palm Tree Beach
Vai is a remarkable beach located on the eastern coast of Crete, in the region of Lasithi. East Crete, which is a somewhat less popular region, is in fact one of the best places for those who are looking to find isolated shores, wild landscapes, and the authentic characteristics of the island.
When it comes to Vai, the main characteristic of the area is a natural palm grove that borders the strip of soft sand. There are more than 5000 date palm trees which make it Europe’s largest palm forest.
For those interested in some privacy and isolation there are several rocky coves around the area. Although Vai is a bit remote, the beach has a good organization, there are beach bars, a restaurant, and a convenience store selling everything you might need for your day at the beach.
TIP: If you’re considering a visit to the East region of Lasithi, in Crete, you should definitely consider a stay in the city of Agios Nikolaos. There are plenty of things to do in Agios Nikolaos.
10. Voulisma Beach
Always on the northern coast in the Lasithi region, Voulisma Beach lies nestled in the magnificent Bay of Mirabello.
Surrounded by high cliffs and abundant trees and bushes, the soft golden sand of Voulisma contrast with the spectacular clean waters of this shallow shore.
Being located on a quite closed bay, the beach is pretty much like a lagoon, making it really safe for those who are not really able to swim and for families with small kids.
The beach is well-organized, there is a parking lot, umbrellas, a beach bar and a traditional Greek taverna. The nearest city for nightlife, good restaurants, and plenty of hotels to choose from is Agios Nikolaos, the capital of the Lasithi region in Crete.
So, there you have it, ten fantastic beaches in Crete that you should not miss if you’re planning on touring the island any time soon
This is a guest post by Gabri from the blog The Tiny Book Crete
Author’s Bio: Gabi Ancarola is a travel writer based on Crete, where she writes The Tiny Book Crete Travel Blog, and where she hosts gastronomic tours in the city of Chania. She has written several books about the Greek islands and currently manages a Facebook group for those who want to plan their holidays in Crete.
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