Elafonisi Beach

We paid for our hike yesterday with calves of piano wire when we all got up this morning. Especially difficult when our villa is 4 stories tall. After gripping the walls for support, we all had breakfast before packing up for our beach day. Elafonisi is one of the most popular beaches in Crete but it’s also 90 minutes away. After seeing some pictures in town, we decided to make the trek. It was another nice (though partly cloudy) day and we made the trip without incident. After parking in the market car park, we bought lunch before making the 10 minute walk to the sand beach. Elafonisi is known for its pink ‘sand’ beach - which is actually small pieces of coral and crushed shells of the foraminifera. You could really only make out the pink shells at the shoreline as they washed up but it was very pretty and striking when the sun was out. This late in the season, we had no trouble finding beach chairs even at the lunch hour. After sandwiches on our chairs, we played in the water (American football) which was only waist high even 60 meters out. After a walk on the beach, parents and E read our books while the boys did some beach work and played in the water. With a short end to the day (due to DST), we headed back to car for the 90 minute drive home. Pizza and showers before a little movie time to relax our sore muscles. One more day to enjoy the Cretan sun tomorrow.Read more