Explore Crete island

Elafonisi - Crete, GREECE

Elafonissos (or Elafonissi) is one of the most beautiful beaches you could visit in Crete and it is located at the most South and West part of the island at a distance of about 70 Km from Chania. To reach Elafonissi you must take the road to Vathy, continue South to reach the coast at the Crysoskalitissa Convent and then West for 5 km and you will find the islet of Elafonisi. The small island is connected to the body of Crete by a shallow reef some 800 metres long, which is easy to cross when the weather is calm.
There’s something exotic here: A cluster of small beaches with pink sand and shallow never ending waters, splashed with rocky small islands push you straight to dreamland. The downside is everybody loves dreaming during summertime: one of the most popular and crowded destinations in Crete.

Elafonisi is called an excellent sandy beach with blue and green sea and colourful sandy beach. There is a small islet in front of the beach with the same name. It is a peaceful place full of colors and light. You could go there on foot, as the distance from the land is less than 100 m. The white sand, the sandy hills and the various colors will compensate for your labour. There is also a small cafe on the beach with fast food and soft drinks. The wider district of Elafonisi is of special enviromental interest and it is characterised as a "NATURA" area. Here can be found a few endangered spacies. For the moment two plans of "LIFE" are running.

Walking on the beach of Elafonisi the visitor can see various plants and bushes (Atriplex halmus, crithmum, maritimum, rura clepensis, ballota pseudodictamum etc.). There is also a small frog (bufo viridis viridis) endemic to the island and various lizards (podarcis erherdil elaphonisi) considered a protected species. There are also reported instances of a snake (coluber gemonensis gemorensis) . According to studies conducted by the Greek Ministry of the Environment the island serves as a breeding spot for the caretta-caretta sea turtle. Finally local fishermen have reported noticing Mediterranean seals ( monachus monachus) in the open sea. There are very few indigenous species of birds on the area, but the area is very important to ornithologists since it is the last stop from Europe to Africa for migrating birds.