Plakias Crete

holiday report and Plakias Crete map

Plakias beach Crete

PLAKIAS is a growing village on the south coast of Crete located in an attractive bay. It has grown considerably in recent years, mainly on the back of tourism.
A large number of apartments and small hotels have been built in and around Plakias in recent years. It's about 40km over the mountain from Rethymnon (there is a regular bus service) and not far from Hora Sfakia along the south Crete coast road.
Plakias has plenty of restaurants and bars, with a few shops and a couple of discos in recent years to cash in on the annual tourist influx.
The main attraction of Plakias is the large, curving bay with a 1km beach of sand and pebble. It is more pebble near the resort but it gets sandier as you head east, with decent snorkeling to be had in the shallow waters beneath the cliffs - but watch out for sea urchins.
Plakias beach has showers and sun beds and the beach rarely gets crowded. It's safe for swimming being south facing and well sheltered but winds whip up some big waves occasionally.
To the east of Plakias are beaches at Paligremnos and, further still, Damnoni, now quite a popular tourist resort in its own right. About 2km to the west is another small sandy beach called Souda Bay, noted for its palm trees, and before that a small cove at Gavdolimano.
The village of Plakias is a drab affair, without much character and the bout of recent building hasn't helped any. Many visitors use Plakias as a base to explore this part of the island where the coastal plain and hills behind are dotted with pretty villages, notably Mirthios and Sellia, both framed by the majestic mountains.
Plakias village follows the single straight road that runs along the back of the beach. Plakias is an excellent base for walkers and cyclists with lots of paths and tracks through quiet villages. Most of the coastline in this area is easily accessible and you are likely to find many secluded coves.