Nature

The large waterfall in the gorge Kourtaliotis is one of the most beautiful places that one can visit in Crete. It is formed just below the church of Saint Nicholas Kourtaliotis.

The valley of St. George is located 3km west of Agia Galini, 69km southeast of Heraklion and 60km south of Rethymno. There are two small bays with wonderful pebbly beaches, which are separated by a rocky shore. The weather here is always mild, making the beaches ideal for swimming all year round.

The Pirates’ Fjord is located 33km south of Rethymnon, in a secluded cove south of Mouri or Karavos Cape, near Plakias. It is a very narrow cove, formed between enormous vertical cliffs. The tiny beach shaped here has sand at its starting point and doesn’t exceed 2m in width.

Kolimbari is fairly well developed, mainly due to the beautiful long beach that stretches in front of the village and extends east to Tavronitis. The beach in Kolimbari is sandy and in some places has small pebbles. The water is deep, but usually wavy (like all the open beaches of northern Crete).

Mononaftis is a beautiful pebbly beach, located 24km northwest of Heraklion and just 1km north of Agia Pelagia main beach. According to the tradition, a ship was sunk here once and only one sailor survived. This story gave the name Mononaftis to the beach, which means “One sailor”. However, Mononaftis is a huge rock floating just 50m off the coast.

500m west of settlement Xerokambos you will meet the first hotels in the area and the long beach of Mazida Ammos, the largest beach of Xerokambos. Mazida Ammos, falsely known as Amatos, is a beautiful un organized beach with white sand and turquoise swallow waters. It is well protected on the east by Cape Trachilos, on the edge of which there is a sealcave.

Agiofarago Gorge (meaning Gorge of Saints) is located in south of Odigitria Monastery and has been shaped near the beds of two streams. The first stream starts north - northeast of Gyalomonochoro and the other starts northeast of the Odigitria. The two streams meet, near St Kiriaki and after following a relatively smooth path, west and south of Church St. Kiriaki, it arrives in Porofarango, where the main gorge of Agiofaraggouo starts and ends at the Libyan Sea, at a small but amazing beach.

Ammos Beach is located 500m south of the center of Agios Nikolaos. It is a long beach which starts near the city's marina, at Nearchos Street. It runs near the stadium of the town and extends to the south, to the Municipal Beach. The part near the marina is a beautiful beach with umbrellas, sunbeds, showers, water sports, restaurants, and hotels around it. It is located near the city center and its stores. The water is shallow, ideal for little kids and the sea is usually flat.