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
What was daily life as a Minoan like on Crete, living in palaces like the ones at Knossos, Malia, Phaistos, and Zakros, and what were their religious beliefs?
Greece Travel Secrets page on Phaistos or Faistos, the site of one of the finest Minoan palaces on Crete and is where the mysterious Phaistos Disc was found.
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.
Lonely Planet Crete is an excellent and thorough guide of almost 300 pages to the largest of the Greek islands.
Chania is the main city in Western Crete with a lovely setting and a beautiful harbour as well as several museums.
Driving on Crete is the best way to see Greece’s biggest island and here is our driving advice and some information about Greek driving regulations.
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.
The largest of the Greek islands, Crete has four ENUESCO sites, which are Sitia, Psiloritis, Asterousia, and the Gorge of Samaria.
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.
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.
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.
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Cretan Botano herbs and spices shop near Matala in southern Crete in search of the herb man of Kouses.
Western Crete has some wonderful golden sand beaches as well as mountain villages, monasteries, caves, and archaeological sites to discover.
Greece Travel Secrets tours the Lyrarakis Winery on Crete and learns about Crete grape varieties such as plyto, dafni, vidiano, vilana, mandilari and kotsifali.
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.
Rethymnon is the third-largest city in Crete and has a Venetian fortress, Archaeological Museum, Old Town area and Venetian harbour,
Crete’s wildlife and landscape are two of the island’s attractions, including gorges for hiking, rare raptors like the lammergeier, wildcats and ancient trees.
The Snails House in Plouti near Phaistos in southern Crete serves the Cretan delicacy of snails, cooked in several different ways.
The Samaria Gorge is one the longest gorges in Europe and doing the hike is one of the best and most popular things to do on Crete.
The Stilianou Winery near Knossos on Crete uses only Cretan grape varieties, with every bottle numbered, and aims for quality rather than quantity.
Greece Travel Secrets visits Visual Arts Crete who offer accommodation and run art courses at their home and studio in the village of Kastellos near Rethymnon.
The Diktean or Diktaean Cave, also known as the Psychro Cave, near the village of Psychro in eastern Crete, is said to be the birthplace of Zeus.
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.
Greece Travel Secrets chooses ten of the best beaches on Crete including the beautiful beaches at Vai and Elafonisi.
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