Beaches

Beaches Around The Area

RODAKINO
The tour of the southern coastline of Rethymno starts from Rodakino, the first village of the prefecture if you come from Sfakia. Ano and Kato Rodakino enjoy their seclusion at a distance of 45 km from Rethymno, while all roads lead to the sea: to the first and loosely organized beach of Korakas, where you will find cafes and taverns and fine food, just above the beach, while if you continue the road to the west (to the right as you look at the sea) you will reach Peristeres beach, where the now famous "Manolis Tavern" is located. Here you can park the car, unless you want to continue further inland either by the beach which is long and comfortable, with white pebbles and rapidly deepening blue waters, or by the dirt road. Avoid the weekend as free camping and traffic increases rapidly.

PLAKIAS
Plakias (36 km south of Rethymno) is exactly what you imagine. A town now, with countless accommodations, taverns, cafes and bars, a large organized beach, where you can do water sports and lots of people who choose it for their holidays. (And) here, once upon a time, hippies from all over the world spent their time. Today, again, Plakias is a welcoming embrace for everyone and an ideal starting point to get to know the surrounding area: the nearby traditional villages of Sellia, Myrthios and Asoma, which see it from above and where you will go for a walk and eat - in Sellia is also located the "Dairy of Crete" with excellent dairy products - nearby are the gorges of Kotsyfos and Kourtaliotis which are worth exploring. Inside the settlement, again, look for the wonderful garden of "L' etoile du sud" which is open from early for coffee and breakfast until the evening, where in addition to food you will also enjoy excellent cocktails.

KARAVOS - KALYPSO
on the rocky coast of Karavos, there is the four-star Kalypso Cretan Village Resort & Spa (kalypsohotels.com); a natural park, where vertical overhanging cliffs create a well-hidden cove in the middle of the sea, at the same time forming a completely photogenic - as you will see for yourself but also through your lens – fjord. This is where pirates once took refuge, while, according to one of the legends of the region, this is the place where Calypso's kingdom was located, which hosted Odysseus for seven years. Today, again, in addition to the hotel, you will also find the diving school "Kalypso Dive Center & School" (kalypsodivecenter.com) for a, literally, in-depth acquaintance with the incredible bottom of the Libyan Sea.

AMMOUDAKI - AMMOUDI - KLEISIDI
Kleisidi, Ammoudaki and Ammoudi (or Megalo Ammoudi) are the three beaches east of Damnoni (the latter mostly chosen by nudists), and which you will reach by driving more kilometers than you would expect just by looking at the map. The rocky and steep landscape of the Cretan South, you see, involves a lot more moving and back and forth than expected, but halal. Every next beach is also a new reward. As long as it's not windy - we said that. And here, as in Schinaria, which follows, the seabed is wonderful, hence the existence of a second diving school, called "Sea – Dream Divers" (seadreamdiving.com), in case you want to discover it in an organized and safe manner.

PREVELI
Preveli, again, is a capital in itself. Suffered by a great fire a decade ago (2010) and literally reborn from its ashes (thanks to a fire-resistant property unknown until recently that distinguishes the Cretan palm tree), it is, not without reason, the trademark of the area and a must-see beach visit The excursion – at least the first time – includes a visit to the historic Prevelis Monastery, which includes two separate monasteries. And let me explain: Coming from Rethymno, you will first come across the Lower Monastery of Prodromos, which dates from the 10th-11th century and is in ruins, while at a distance of less than 2 km you can visit the Piso Monastery of Theologos, which it operates normally and also has a museum (preveli.org). Here is the most impressive but demanding entrance to the beach or lake as Preveli is known at the exit of the Mega Potamos and with the second largest palm forest of Crete surrounding it. Impressive because of the view that the point offers from above, and demanding, as both the descent and much more the ascent is steep and with a large height difference that is tiring. However, you can reach it more easily by driving to Drimiskiano Amoudi, from where a passable and short path begins.

TRIOPETRA
One of the most characteristic beaches not only of Rethymno, but also of the whole of Southern Crete is, in any case, Triopetra. From the small Triopetra, the three characteristic huge and sharp rocks dominate the right side of the beach, while from the large one (which is very very large and comfortable) you will see and photograph them on your left. Both organized with canteens and taverns and umbrella stands, but also plenty of space to set up your sunshade away from the rest of the bathers.

AGIOS PAVLOS
The same applies to the other favorite sandy beach of the area, Agios Pavlos. With a lot of organization on one beach and not a lot on the other with its steep, almost vertical and very impressive sand dunes – you choose what suits you best and enjoy it from dawn to dusk. There is a reason. In Agios Pavlos with the sand dunes, where you will be very careful where you get off so you don't burn your feet diving into the sand with your flip flops (there are steps on one side, look for them), the orientation is southwest and the sunset from there will give you give magical moments and images.

SCHINARIA
Schinaria is a seaside settlement and beach of Lefkogeia Community of Agios Vassiliou Municipality, in the Rethymno Regional Unit of Crete. According to the 2011 census they have 18 inhabitants.They are 33 kilometers from Rethymno and can be reached by asphalt road from Lefkogeia, from which it is about 3 kilometers.
Schinaria has a sandy beach with a rocky bottom, with the exception of the northern end, where the bottom is sandy. Two streams flow into the beach, which form small wetlands with reeds. There is a restaurant and a diving school on the beach. Near the beach is Trypiti, a small cave that penetrates a rock.