Preveli Crete

holiday report and Preveli Crete map

Preveli beach Crete

The are two access routes to the spectacular beach at PREVELI or PREVELLI, neither of which is particularly easy. The first is marked by rough signposts just before the turn to Preveli Monastery and follows the river down to the sea, but the way is long and rough underfoot.
The alternative is just below the monastery where a good tarmac road drops steeply to a large car park (not free). There follows a very steep climb down to the Preveli beach.
Valiant efforts have been made to ease the way with stone steps and a staging post half way that is little more than a large litter bin. But this is still a steep and tricky climb.
Preveli beach itself looks stunning with a small lagoon draped in palms and oleanders and protected by a large bank of grey gravel sand. Unfortunately it is not quite the paradise that is touted in the holiday brochures.
A ramshackle taverna tunes into a loud disco radio station, a seedy hamburger café appears to hold the franchise on sunbeds and barrowloads of soft drinks cans litter the old huts that are hidden in trees behind the Prevelli lagoon.
Well-trodden pathways snake back alongside the lonce-lush lagoon. They would make pleasant, shady walks had they not been used so obviously and freely as open-air toilets. And in August 2010 the rare Cretan palms were badly burnt by fire, but new growth has raised hopes that they will survive.
Rowing boats are for hire to paddle up the Prevelli agoon for 30 minutes. Over the headland is a more substantial taverna and the path back to the river access route. Those heading back up the cliff from Prevelli beach face a rougher ride. I gave up counting after 700 steps in the 20 minutes it took me to crawl back to the car park.