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The beaches west of Chania
A long sandy beach stretches to the West of Chania for many kilometres.
Once almost uninhabited, this part of the coast has become the main
tourist concentration in western Crete. The communes (they really
cannot be called villages) of Stalos, Agia, Marina and Platanias
form a long succession of hotels, apartments, eateries, bars and
tourist shops. The beaches are good but crowded.
Georgioupolis
Georgioupolis and the other long (9 km) sandy beach on the north
coast are following the same destiny as the beaches west of Hania:
one hotel after the other is being built between the main road and
the beach. Some stretches of the beach, particularly the eastern
end are still pretty quiet.
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Falasarna
Falasarna on the west coast of Crete is a nice beach
with beautiful water (rated the second cleanest water in Greece in
1999). Beach umbrellas and their accompanying paraphernalia have
sprouted there as well.
Still a really nice spot if you can avoid going there on windy days. |
Gramvoussa
Gramvoussa, or more exactly Tigani to Balos which is
the tip of the westernmost peninsula of Crete, was long a secret
spot, only accessible by private boat or a long walk. Magical turquoise
waters, lagoons, beaches of pure white sand.
Its discovery by more and more and the improved accessibility (regular boat
excursions as well as a good dirt road leading close to the beach) brought
a lot of rubbish (and rats). There is also a lot of tar on the rocks. It is
still a wonderful spot in spring, before the rubbish gathers. |
Sougia
Sougia beach, although it is a pebble beach, is one
of the best beaches for several reasons: being 1200 m long and located
by a small village it is never crowded, there are no beach umbrellas
(but the inhabitants of Sougia have thoughtfully provided a few showers),
nudism is tolerated on a large part of the beach, the sea and the
beach are very clean, the surrounding landscape is beautiful, the
pebbles are fine so not at all uncomfortable to lie on. More on this
still special place here. |
Paleochora
Paleochora differs from many villages on the south coast of western
Crete in that it is a large village where Cretans live and work all
year around.
Its popularity with foreigners goes back to the hippy heydays of the 1970's
. Nowadays, many more visitors come to spend their holidays in Paleochora but
they are still, on the whole, more of the individualist type.
The village is not pretty but its long sandy beach is superb (and often windy)
and there is a good choice of hotels, rooms for rent, restaurants and bars. |
Elafonisos
Located at the south-west corner of Crete, Elafonisos
was long a well-guarded secret: crystal clear turquoise water, red
and pink coral sand and not a soul in sight. Nowadays, boats and
tour busses go there every day, the beach is lined with umbrellas
and the atmosphere has gone.
Plakias and surroundings
Plakias has grown tremendously in the last two decades,
from a tiny fishing village to a destination for package tours.
The neighbouring "hot tips" such as Damnoni have gone
or are going the same way. Some still like it, probably because
of the beautiful landscape.
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