Matala Beach
Awaken Your Inner Hippy in Matala, Crete
Matala Beach on Crete is a guest blog for Greece Travel Secrets from the We Love Crete website, inviting you to Awaken Your Inner Hippy in Matala, Crete.
Guest Blog by We Love Crete
Can I hitch a ride baby?
One of the most extraordinary beaches in Crete was discovered by the freedom-loving hippies in the sixties and today is the site of a music festival every year in June.
The Matala Beach Festival revives the spirit of liberty experienced by those drifter types long ago, and remembered with such fondness. The unique geography of Matala beach created a juxtaposition of rock and sand, allowing ancient people to carve caves into the soft rock. So, many years later, Amanda from Atlanta and Silvia from Sydney slept in those caves, danced under a full moon on the beach and felt the exquisite freedom from their parents, their culture and their mundane neighbourhood, even if only for a short time.
Today it is still fabulous to discover Matala Beach. The sleepy fishing village has woken up, the beach is lined with fish tavernas, restaurants and cafes. The water is still clear and love is still in the air.
Those on a budget can still camp at the beach under the tamarind trees for very reasonable rates; sorry the caves are off limits.
Photo by Mark Latter
For those wanting a little more comfort, wonderful accommodation options from pensions to hotels, guesthouses and villas are dotted all around. The string of beaches on the south coast are waiting to be explored; and some are still favoured by naturists.
Matala's Caves
Explore the caves, visit Ancient Matala by walking due south from the village and be sure to watch the sun slide into the Libyan Sea next to the little islands knows as ‘paximadia’ or bread rolls.
Our Pick of the Crete Guides
Red Beach is directly to the south of Matala, easily reached by the walking track which starts at the south end of the beach. Walk for around 1.5km along wide open, sparse, treeless limestone country to the nudist beach, which has a striking orange-red coarse sand. This is another remote and undeveloped beach, with just a few chairs and umbrellas and a make-shift cafe in summer only. Boat trips are also available in summer.
Photo by Mark Latter
Kommos-Kalamaki Beach is one long continuous beach 2km to the north of Matala, reached by road. At the southern end of the beach is the Kommos archaeological site, which was the port of Phaistos dating from around 200BC. The site is closed to visitors, so pick your way past it to visit the beach.
As the beach continues it becomes known as Kalamaki and here is a small settlement of seaside tavernas and holiday apartments. Enjoy the sand and pebble beach, wide open Bay of Messara and take care of turtle nesting sites. Giorgos Fish Taverna is right on the beach here, with fresh seafood.
An excursion to Vathi Beach, a remote and untouched beach about 5 km from Matala as the crow flies, means a boat or car trip. To drive here, go to Pitsidia, Sivas, Listaros and then to Agiofarrago along a dirt track, a total distance of 22km. Your reward is a striking narrow beach at the end of a small gorge, with clear waters, a few shady trees and great snorkelling.
We would suggest staying in the inland village of Kamilari. From here you will experience the best of both worlds, the authentic Greek working farm village and the magnificent crystal clear water and sandy beaches of Heraklion.
Matala Beach is 75 km south of Heraklion in Crete. Take a one hour flight from Athens to Heraklion Airport HER, hire a car or take the local bus to the southern coast, away from it all.
Other Crete pages
This drive along the west coast of Crete and inland from there will take a whole day and starts and ends in Kastélli Kissámou, west of Chania.
Western Crete in five days allows time to visit Chania and Rethymnon, enjoy the beaches, hike the Samaria Gorge and see the monasteries at Arkadi and Preveli.
How to make Petimezi, the sweet Cretan syrup made from wine must, is explained to Greece Travel Secrets.
Ancient Gournia is a Minoan archaeological site between Agios Nikolaos and Sitia in Eastern Crete where the visitor can see evidence of a maze of back streets.
Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to eat in Eastern Crete including restaurants and tavernas in Elounda, Agios Nikolaos, Sitia, and Kato Zakros.
This Lasithi Plateau drive on Crete starts in Neapoli and ends in Malia, covering a distance of 80 km (50 miles) and taking two to three hours.
The Byzantine Church of Panagía Kerá near Kritsa and not far from Ayios Nikolaos is one of the most famous in Crete, and close by is the site of Ancient Lato.
The area east from Paleohora along the south-west coast of Crete includes resorts like Agia Galini, gorges like the Imbros Gorge and quieter towns like Sfakia.
Crete's capital and largest city is Irakleio, also called Iraklion or Heraklion, a large and busy place with good restaurants, museums and historical buildings.
Greece Travel Secrets chooses ten of the best beaches on Crete including the beautiful beaches at Vai and Elafonisi.
Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to stay in Irakleio, the capital of Crete, including nearby beach resort hotels and accommodation in the city centre.
Is someone from Crete a Greek or a Cretan? They are both, of course, but most will tell you that they are Cretan first and Greek second.
Greece Travel Secrets eats at Vegera in Zaros and finds a cheap but wonderful feast of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes cooked daily with fresh local food.
Visiting the Arkadi Monastery near Rethymnon is one of the best things to do on Crete.
Greece Travel Secrets goes hiking in southwest Crete with Ramblers Walking Holidays based in Paleohora and hiking the E4 footpath and to Anidri and Azogires.
Ancient Gortina is an archaeological site in southern Crete famous for the church of Ayios Titos and for the Law Code inscribed here, the first in Europe.
This Airbnb in the quiet village of Malaxa, a 30-minute drive into the hills above Chania, is a peaceful retreat with a delightful and thoughtful artist owner, with wonderful views and amenities.
Elounda on Crete's north coast is a popular holiday town with a pretty harbour, from where you can take day trips by boat to see the island of Spinalonga.
Driving central Crete in three days gives you time to see the highlights including the Minoan palaces at Knossos and Phaistos, the beaches and the Diktean Cave.
This Rouvas Gorge walk starts and ends in Zaros in southern Crete and should take three to four hours with a distance of eight kilometres or five miles.
Visiting Knossos near Iraklion is one of the best things to do on Crete, and this page has a history of the site with visitor information.
The Snails House in Plouti near Phaistos in southern Crete serves the Cretan delicacy of snails, cooked in several different ways.
The Goules Taverna in Goulediana, south of Rethymnon, has been called one of the best tavernas on Crete and Greece Travel Secrets recently visited them.
The Greece Travel Secrets guide to Zaros in Central Crete, including what to do, where to stay, and where to eat.
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...
Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?
- Click on the HTML link code below.
- Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment,
your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.
-
Visitors to the Kerameikos archaeological site in central Athens will soon have new access through an entrance-exit point being developed on Agion Asomaton Street, directly across from Dipylou Street.
Read More
-
A new section of the E65 motorway, often referred to as the “backbone road” of Central Greece, was opened to traffic in the second week of July, with 136 kilometers now operational. This road provides…
Read More
-
Iceland, Monaco, the UK, Greece, and Spain are Europe’s most expensive countries for short-term rentals, according to analytics experts AirDNA.
Read More
-
Greek seaplane company Hellenic Seaplanes on Friday laid the groundwork for some of the Greek islands that will welcome seaplanes and carried out its first flights between three islands of the Sporade…
Read More
-
The World’s Best Awards by Travel + Leisure recently ranked four Greek hotels among the best in the world and Europe, honoring them for their luxurious atmosphere and top-notch hospitality.
Read More
-
Santorini is now coping with the repercussions of overtourism generated by cruise ships and day-trippers from Crete and other adjacent islands.
Read More
-
Restaurants, tavernas, and grocery stores that highlight the local flavors of the Cyclades.
Read More
-
Greece Travel Secrets picks where to eat on Symi, down by the harbour or in the upper town, and whether you like fish, meat, vegetarian, traditional or modern.
Read More
-
Greece Travel Secrets chooses its top ten Athens restaurants with Acropolis views, perfect for dining by day or by night, including places with Michelin stars.
Read More
-
The former Hilton Athens is being transformed into a multi-faceted destination that aspires to forge exciting new connections between the Greek capital and the rest of the world.
Read More