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Your Favourite Crete Beach

By Katia Luz

Tell Us Your Story

Which Crete Beach do you choose?

Anastasi says - 'We want to hear from you!'

Beaches with Tavernas

Map

Taso says... - Tell us about your favourite Crete Beach

Tell us why you love your chosen beach, or tell us your favourite story from that beach.

Please send us YOUR photo of your favourite beach in Kriti - photo is optional.

We would love to hear from you and pop your picture up on this site - photo is optional.

Do YOU Have A Favourite Crete Beach?

Do you have a favourite beach on the island of Crete in Greece?

A beautiful photo of your favourite beach?

Enter the Title of your Story Here, e.g. 'Chrissi Beach, South Crete'

Click here to see the rest of the form and complete your submission.

Read About Beautiful Beaches in Crete and Others' Stories

Click below to see beautiful photos and beach stories from others who love Crete...

Crete Beach
The Beach in Crete Where i lost my heart forever... All my life i had this dream: standing at the beach with golden sand. It was like i knew this …

Anissaras Beach Crete
Dino says: "It's a beautiful beach not far from Heraklion and very close to Analipsi and Hersonissos. There are many hotels there, but it's also a quiet …

Ligres Beach Crete
Ligres Beach is one of my favourite beaches in Crete! It is a beautiful, large, long, remote beach with very little access or buildings. For this …

Itanos Hideaway Crete
My secret tip: a hide-away close to Itanos. My favourite beach in the northern east of Crete. Last June staying in Palekastro, we tried to find …

Gialiskari Beach Paleochora
Gialiskari Beach - We Love It! Paleochora always was one of our favourite places on Crete, we like the mixture of urban living in the town, the beaches, …

Click here to write your own.

Western Beaches

The We Love Crete team has chosen their favourites, from West to East of Crete, here are some of the most beautiful beaches found anywhere in the Mediterranean.

Elafonisi Beach - 74 km from Chania
Falasarna - 54 km from Chania
Gramvousa Islet & Balos Lagoon - 52 km from Chania
Paleochora - 72 km from Chania
Sougia - 60 km from Chania
Loutro - 90 km as the crow flies from Chania - requires a walk or a ferry journey
Stavros - 19 km from Chania
Beaches close to Chania Town

Three ways to walk into Loutro in south Crete

Elafonisi Beach at the western tip of Crete

Falasarna Beach, western Crete

Gramvousa Islet and Balos Lagoon (image by Thinkscape)

Gramvousa Islet and Balos Lagoon, North West Crete

Palaiochora Beaches

Sougia in South Crete

Loutro in South Crete

Stavros Beach near Chania, on the Akrotiri peninsula, is a small cove with shallow waters

Central & Eastern Beaches

Frangokastello - 56 km from Rethymnon
Georgioupolis - 24 km from Rethymnon
Plakias Beach - 35 from Rethymnon
Preveli Beach - 32 km south of Rethymnon
Rethymnon town beach - 1 km from town
Kokkinos Pirgos beach - 70 km south of Heraklion
Agia Pelagia - 24 km from Heraklion
Matala - 67 km from Heraklion
Elounda - 11 km from Agios Nikolaos
Chrissi - a cruise from Ierapetra
7 eastern beaches here
Vai - 70 km from Agios Nikolaos
Vai Beach by Alejandro - a story about this unusual beach in the east of Crete, with a palm forest

Frangokastello Beach and Castle

Georgioupolis Beach and Chapel

Rethymnon Beach has many beautiful resorts and a wide, sandy, long beach

Plakias Beach

Preveli Beach and lagoon

Agia Pelagia Fishing Boat (image by Micael Goth)

Agia Pelagia - fishing boats and the clear azure waters

Matala Beach and caves

Elounda Beach is well protected

Vai Beach and Palm Forest (image by Tom Plesnik)

Crete Beach - Vai Beaches and Palm Forest are unique in the Med

Kokkinos Ammos Beach (Red Sand Beach) near Matala in the south of Crete has course orange-ochre sand that looks red from a distance

There are so many beautiful beaches in Kriti that we have only mentioned a few...there are town beaches with cafes and tavernas...there are beaches for scuba and snorkelling...at some beaches you can get a massage...or a good meal...or a drink.

The water temperature is beautiful until November, of course many of the domatia, rooms for rent, hotels and tavernas are closed at the end of October, but in a few places you can still find a few doors open, whilst enjoying the peace and quiet, practically having the beach to yourself. Of course the weather is variable and not as warm as summer.

Tavernas by the Beach

Agia Fotini Taverna on Agia Fotia Beach in south Rethymnon

Do you like eating right next to the sea? We love it and here we share our favourite beach side tavernas all over Crete. Enjoy relaxed traditional style beach side tavernas with your feet in the sand...

7 Favourite Tavernas Next to the Sea in Crete

Where is your favourite Crete beach taverna?

Crete Beach Experiences

A Day Tour to Balos Lagoon - this helps with logistics of coach ride - boat ride and return coach ride. Make a full day of visiting paradise, this is a 10-12 hour tour, depending on your pickup and drop off point. This tour includes a visit to the castle at Gramvousa islet and swimming at Balos Lagoon. From Chania.

Elafonisi from Chania - take a load off and sit on the air-conditioned bus, visit Topolia Gorge for breakfast then a local nunnery and finally, witness the utterly gorgeous, gobsmacking beauty of Elafonisi - this is a 12 hour day tour with pickups and drop-offs at your hotel - from Chania.

Elafonisi from Rethymnon - see this pure paradise beach - stop for breakfast in the village of Elos, known for its chestnut trees, stay at the beach for swimming - this is a 10 hour day tour with pickups and drop-offs at your hotel - from Rethymnon.

Visit the Island of Spinalonga by boat from Agios Nikolaos, with departures also from Elounda. Enjoy a swim and a BBQ as well as an interpretative visit to this island full of stories. This is a 12 hour full day experience.

My Favourite Crete Beach

Well, I don't really have a favourite, I love them all!! I do have a favourite beach photo, which is shown on the left...and a story to go with it.

The story is that one day... I took myself off to Crete...all by myself, and I looked at the map and read a little bit about it and decided to travel from Elafonisi Beach in the very western tip of the island - all the way to Vai Beach on the very eastern tip...and I took 10 days and I did it! Solo!

I left behind the drudgery of the daily commute, the smelly passengers on the cramped train, the glare of my work computer screen, the flouro lights and the banal chat at the water cooler.

I discovered the fresh air and crisp atmosphere of Greece and Crete, the mountains, the rugged, stony, dry island, and warm-hearted people, and I discovered wonderful beaches, all over the island.

This photo shows my relaxed feet up on the lounge chair on Kitroplateia Beach in Agios Nikolaos, with my cute little summer sandals (which I found in the lane ways of Chania town - great shopping)...my summer sarong...and the myriad blues of Mirabello Bay and the mountains in the distance.

Mmmm...there is nothing like looking over the sea after a hard day's travelling and relaxing at the beach!

I ended up staying five months in Crete, living and working there and learning Greek, learning so much about this beautiful island and its special people...this really was the beginning of loving Crete!

Now...we invite you to...tell us your story! What is your favourite Crete Beach?

Map of the Beaches of Crete

Find your Crete beach below on the map.

Getting Here

Take a 1 hour flight from Athens to Heraklion with Aegean Airlines or Olympic Air, with many flights available per day.

Or take a 9.5 hour overnight ferry from Pireaus port of Athens to Heraklion port.

About the Team

Yiásas!
Anastasi, Apostoli & Katia are the
We Love Crete team
We just love sharing our passion for Crete, Greece and travel
About us

Sea Turtles are our major charity in Crete

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