Epic Beach Trip to Elafonissi Island
Stunning...Other-worldly. These are the only words I can use to describe the unique beaches we visited in the past two weeks. Crete is a huge island with 650 miles of coastline and boasts many notable and beaches. Elafonissi (el-a-fo-nee-see) Beach and Balos Beach are perhaps two of the most famous beaches on the island; well-known for their remarkable shallow waters and expansive lagoons that are so shallow you can frolic endlessly in their shin-height waters. We took day trips to both of these beaches at the end of October- hoping to enjoy them while tourist crowds were low and the temperatures still warm enough to sunbathe. In this post, I will just share our experience visiting Elafonissi beach. A subsequent post will feature Balos beach.
ELAFONISSI BEACH
Located in the far southwest corner of the island of Crete, it takes about 1.5 hours to get here from the city of Chania, where we are currently based. While you can rent a car and drive there yourself, we opted to sign up for a day trip with a local tour company (Get Your Guide is a popular tour company in Greece that we have used several times). They picked us up in the center of town, and after making several stops at regional hotels, we were on our way west along the coastline, before heading south into the mountains. Along the way the scenery became greener, as we entered into vast olive groves.
I was happy to see more greenery, because the hills surrounding Chania are browner and more arid looking.
We stopped at a sort of family operated honey depot for snacks before ascending up into the twisting mountain gorges. It was quite a harrowing drive, especially in a large charter bus! The roads are so narrow, you would think they are meant to be one-way only. But they are not. Somehow, we managed to share the road with cars and trucks passing through narrow village roads interspersed along the highway.
On the other side of the gorge, we descended back toward sea level, and soon enough the coast was visible again.
Shortly, we arrived at a parking lot a few hundred meters above our destination. We had to walk down a steep gravel and dirt road to reach the beach. While there are some showers, changing shacks and a snack shop, the area was less developed than I expected it to be. They have the beach speak for itself here.
The beach is famous for its supposedly pink hued sand (it's not all that pink, really) and narrow strip of sand that creates a land bridge to Elafonissi island. You do have to wade through about 3 meters of swift moving sea at thigh height to reach the island. That is where we chose to base ourselves for the day.
Due to its exposed nature at the apex of the Mediterranean Sea and the Libyan Sea, it is quite blustery here. Luckily, we arrived early enough in the day (around 10:30am) to snag a coveted spot tucked up against some rocks that blocked most of the wind, so we could relax in peace. We set up our beach chairs at the edge of the water so our feet could be cooled by the moving tides.
Situating ourselves on the island allowed us to look back across the lagoon and beaches toward the mainland. It was unique to be able to sit on the beach and look at the mountainous hills beyond. We were also the only people who brought our own beach chairs. Others either had to rent day loungers (with an umbrella) on the mainland beach or lay on towels. That's one advantage of being digital nomads rather than just tourists- we can buy beach chairs and use them multiple times before moving on.
We spent a blissful four hours here, people watching, reading, and cooling off in the water. The temperature was in the high seventies, with a constant breeze of course. A group of high school students from France spent a long time playing games in the lagoon, which was very entertaining for us to watch.
Finally, it was time to return to our tour bus at 2:30pm. But the day didn't end there. We stopped in a hillside village for a late lunch at a nice taverna. The tour guide helpfully recommended some meals we might like to try. We took her suggestions and ate Boureki, Pastitsio, and Sfakianes Pie.
Bourkei Pastitsio Sfakianes Pie
Boureki is a sort of gratin made with zucchini, potatoes, and mizithra cheese, and mint. Trevor is not usually a fan of mint, but he loved this dish- having not tried it before, he said the mint didn't "spoil" any flavors for him. Our only observation was that it was drenched in a bit more olive oil than I would have liked.
Pastitsio is exactly what it looks like in the picture above: A sort of lasagna casserole made with extra-long noodles, ground meat sauce, topped with bechamel cheese. The ultimate comfort food!
Sfakianes Pie is more of an appetizer, snack, or dessert. It is a pita filled with a light layer of mizithra cheese, topped with a generous helping of Cretan honey. This dish originates from the region of Sfakia in southwestern Crete; so it was very much a local specialty.
While we dined, we got to know some special local residents, who were hoping for some scraps. Plenty of other diners obliged them, so I didn't feel bad that we had no meat to offer. As we have learned, cats are ubiquitous in Greece, and this is actually a very common sight - although we have never seen quite so many kitties in one restaurant at the same time. This was clearly the hot spot in town!
After lunch we had just a little a bit of time left to wander around the village. We ventured uphill from the taverna to a small church with lovely views of the valley.
With full and satisfied bellies, we settled in for a scenic ride back to Chania.
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