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| Balos Lagoon |
Here at the
Gay Crete Blog I have never specifically looked at beaches so I decided it was
time I did. No holiday in the sun is complete without a couple of days spent on
the beach, and Crete, Greece, offers the beach bum, (or babe), many
opportunities for visiting some world class beaches including some where
clothing is optional! So here I take at
look at some of the best known including Vai, Balos Lagoon, Matala, Kommos, and
probably the best known nudist beach on Crete, at Hersonissos
As you would
be expect from Greece’s largest island (and the fifth largest in the
Mediterranean), Crete has a long coastline and in many places the mountains
plunge dramatically down into the sea but in between there are some remarkable
beaches raging from large stones to fine sand of varying colours. Perhaps the
actual size of the island sometimes acts as a barrier to visiting some of the
best beaches, but the savvy independent LGBT traveller will soon realise that
Crete is an ideal island for a ‘multi – centre’ holiday and will spend a few
days at each end of the island which can save some hours of driving either by
car or on the bus!
Many of our
older readers may perhaps remember the adverts for Bounty Bars many years ago,
and some may recall that these were filmed on Crete, at Vai on the eastern end
of the island. Vai not only has a fine beach but is also home to a forest of
native palm trees (an endangered species by the way), behind the beach. As you
would expect some of the beach is given over to sunbeds and umbrellas that you
can rent for the day, and part of it you can sit on as you please. As is common
with the more popular beaches there are good facilities available at resaonable
prices including quite a good restaurant where you can look down on to the
beach and palm trees.
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| Vai Beach |
There is also a watersports area with the normal jet skis and ‘octopus’ if that is what you want!
Next door to Vai, for those that don’t mind a bit of walking, there is an undeveloped beach frequently used as a ‘clothing optional’ beach.
As with some other beaches on Crete, Vai’s remoteness from the main tourism centres means that it does not get unduly crowded, from Heraklion you can look forward to a three to four hour drive to get there!
A little
closer to the centre of the island, and on the south coast, is Matala Beach,
probably best known as ‘home’ to the hippy population when we still had
hippies, and where Joni Mitchell wrote a song.
Matala
still lives on this reputation and some of the hippies seem to still be there.
The actual beach at Matala is not much to write home about being dark coarse
sand, but nearby is Kommos Beach which is a fine long stretch of finer sand
starting at one end with a taverna on the beach and heading into the distance
for some kilometres.
Kommos also
boasts an archaeological site which was the port to the Minoan palace at Festos
(well worth a visit on the way down as it has stunning views of the Messara
Plain, one of the big agricultural regions on Crete, and also Mt. Psiloritis).
Kommos also has a clothing optional area which is some distance along from the
main car park and kantina. On windy days, when the sand tends to blows around a
bit, many sunbathers retreat into the ‘dunes’ behind the beach where there is
more shelter and also more shade if you want to get out of the sun for a while
.
On the
other side of Matala is Red Beach which is well known as a nudist beach but you
need either a 4WD or a good set of walking legs to get there, although you can
get there by boat too.
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| Matala |
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| Kommos |
Along the
north coast there are also a number of smaller beaches often not visible from
the roads above and the only indication you will have of these are cars parked
apparently in the middle of nowhere. These are often worth a visit as they
remain uncrowded because you have to clamber down to them.
Those who
decide to stay in the west of Crete will find two beaches that have at various
times been voted amongst the top 10 beaches in Europe/The World, and quite
deservedly so.
On the
north west tip of the island is Balos, publicity material for Crete nearly always
feature a picture of Balos which is surrounded by mountains and features
shallow waters of varying colours ranging from deepest blue through turquoise
and green to white in the shallow parts. Sheltered from the wind and tides,
Balos offers safe swimming for those less able in the water too.
Access to
Balos is not easy as the nearest car park is some way from the beach, and while
the walk down is not bad, it is a bit of a climb back up the hill, although
part way up you will usually find a man with a donkey. Having said that one of
the best ways to get there is by cruising on the ferry from Kissamos/Kastelli
which also gives you a couple of hours stopover at Gramvoussa Island where the
main attraction is the fortress on the top rather than the beach. The ferry
delivers you the water’s edge at Balos and you then walk through shallow water
to the main part of the beach. Facilities here are good too as there are two
tavernas that do not take advantage of you with ridiculous prices as happens in
some parts of the world.
If you are
not staying at the western end of Crete then you can look forward to a four
hour drive from Heraklion to get to Balos which is why I recommend you do this
trip on an organised coach tour. It does mean you have to get up early as the
coach leaves Malia/Hersonissos at around 5.30am and gets back about 9pm. But of
course you can always sleep on the coach, or you can take in the scenery as you
drive along the north coast. At least you will be getting to see some other
parts of the island!
Further
south from Balos is Elafonisi which in many ways is similar. One day I hope to
find time to get there too!
As an
aside, most people seem to agree that the best way to see these beaches is by
staying at the western end of the island, it not only saves a lot of travelling
but you can get to the beach early when it is not so crowded by the day
trippers (such as me), arriving by coach and ferry.
Also on the
north coast between Rethymno and Xania are the beaches of Kalives and
Georgiopoulis both of these having clothing optional area and both are ‘do-able’
from Herakliion/Hersonissos on a day trip.
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| Sarandari (Hersonissos) |
Exactly why
Sarandari beach should be so well known is something of a mystery really, it is
only a small beach, although it is mainly coarse sand with a few rocks here and
there (if you want to show off you go out to the big rock and lay there naked
where everyone can see you, even the people walking along the top of the
cliff!), but the water is clear as it is in so many other places around Crete.
Perhaps its main attraction is that it is not quite that easy to get to,
involving either a climb down the cliff face or a walk across the rocks from
the beach next door. Others will tell you that because of its size it is a very
friendly beach where you can get to meet new (and old) friends.
Or you can
get there by boat and if you are cruising on one of the day trip boats that
leave from Port Hersonissos during the day or evening, then you can swim here
as, more often than not, they stop just off shore for a while.
Certainly
part of its popularity is due to ease of access from Heraklion , and the fact
that Port Hersonissos is one of the most cosmopolitan tourist resorts on the
Crete, and also has a gay bar and two gay hotels!
Whatever
its main attractions are, so popular has this beach become that you will hear some
people call it the ‘gay beach’. It isn’t of course, well not totally, but on
any given day you will more almost certainly find more gay men here, both
visitors and locals, than anyone else. And it is one of the few beaches on
Crete where going naked is more often the norm.
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| Add caption |
So there you have it, just a brief look at some of the beaches on Crete. Yes, there are some that haven’t even got a mention, but I can leave those to another day, and there are still more that are being ‘discovered’ every year, while others are no longer as popular as they used to be.
Just a final word, isn’t there always one? There are few ‘official’ nudist beaches neither on Crete, nor Greece generally (and the same goes for a lot of other countries too!), although ‘topless’ for the girls seems generally accepted and so does clothing optional for everyone. You will find that sometimes families will appear on the beach and ask you to ‘cover up’. Be polite and do so, you are a visitor to Greece so you are governed by the laws of Greece!
Enjoy our beautiful Cretan beaches, and our clear turquoise waters, but don’t forget your sunscreen!
