Balos Beach Crete Guide: How to Get There, Best Restaurant & Sea View hotels
Did you know that Crete is home to more than one pink sand beach? Beyond the 🔗famous Elafonisi Beach, I discovered two more during my trip, and Balos Beach is one of them. This stunning lagoon is regarded as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and while it takes a little effort to reach- by driving plus hiking or a boat ride, it is absolutely worth it.
In this guide, I will take you through everything you need to know to plan your visit to this paradise, including the good options to get to Balos Beach, a must-try local Cretan restaurant nearby, as well as highly rated sea view hotels.
Just a short drive or boat ride from Kissamos Town, Balos Beach is one of Crete’s most extraordinary attractions. Its rare pink and white sand, crystal clear turquoise water, and unique landscape make it unlike any other beach on the island- drawing travelers from around the world, and even locals can’t stay away.
When we arrived at the viewpoint and saw Balos Beach for the first time, we were blown away by the breathtaking beauty of this lagoon.
It reminded me that the world is filled with incredible places waiting to be discovered, but we can’t discover them if we stop moving from where we are. We must move forward and explore.
How to get to Balos Beach, Crete?
To get to 🔗Balos Beach/Balos Lagoon, you have 2 options- drive to the beach from Chania City, which takes about an hour and 30 minutes. Or you can easily take a guided tour from Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion cities or nearby Kissamos.
Below is the detailed information:
1. By car and a short hike
You first need to drive to the town called Kissamos, which is about a 45-minute drive from Chania city. From there, it is about a 9km drive to the parking lot, and another 2km hike down to the beach.
The driving route is unpaved with rocks and bumpy, but the view on the way to Balos Beach is dreamy, especially when you see the White Mountain (Lefka Ori) with snow on the top and surrounded by clouds.
You can also expect to see lots of goats and sheep while driving and hiking towards Balos Beach.
You will first arrive at the 🔗Balos Beach parking lot, then need to look around for the sign marking the start of the hiking trail. From there, it’s a short hike before you reach the spot shown in the photo.
As we looked back at the trail we took, it was hard to believe that something as beautiful as Balos Lagoon was hidden just behind the mountains. If we had turned back at the parking lot, we would never have known this remote gem was there.
If you decide to drive instead of taking a boat, it is advised to drive slowly or maybe even take SUVs and 4×4 vehicles so that the bottom of the car won’t get scratched.
2. Join a day tour and visit Balos Beach by boat
If you are NOT planning to drive when you travel on Crete Island, but still would love to visit this beautiful remote beach, joining a day tour with a hotel picked up is the easiest and the best option. It would save you from lots of self transferring and you can skip the lines at the boat ticket offices.
If you are already in the Kissamos area, you can go with 🔗this tour to visit both Balos Lagoon & Gramvousa in one day.
Otherwise you can join 🔗Balos Lagoon tours from Chania, 🔗Rethymno or 🔗Heraklion, either you are just one person or with a group of people, you can easily join, and can save you lots of time and energy going to Balos Beach by yourself.
Hotels near Balos Beach, Crete Island
If you would like to visit Balos Beach before other tourists arrive, or take your time exploring the beach and lovely Kissamos town, you can stay a night near Balos Beach and set off early to visit.
As for hotel options near Balos Beach, I recommend 🔗Balos Beach Hotel. It’s the closest option (only 9km drive to Balos Beach), offering clean, comfortable rooms with beautiful sea and mountain views, as well as very friendly staff. Click 🔗here for the full review.
Alternatively, here are a few more hotel options nearby and also with sea view:
- 🔗Kaliviani Traditional Hotel: affordable, lovely hotel close to Balos Lagoon, and only 3 mins drive from Balos Beach Hotel, with balcony to enjoy seaviews.
- 🔗Maria Beach Hotel: a boho-style hotel with a beachfront restaurant, private beach, rooms with sea view and balcony/patio.
- 🔗Regina Hotel: A stylish, high-rating, well-designed hotel with reasonable price, offering a private beach area, outdoor swimming pool, and rooms with a balcony or terrace.
- 🔗Tella Thera Resort Hotel: A beautifully designed luxury resort with swimming pool, sauna, spa, and wellness centre. Every detail looks thoughtfully crafted. If you love the aesthetic vibe, this could be a great choice.
- Or 🔗click here to see more hotel options near Balos Beach.
Food and drink at Balos Beach
I used to see a little shop at Balos Beach that sold drinks and snacks. But it’s not there anymore.
I’d suggest you bring your own food and drinks when heading to Balos Beach, or you can buy it from Kissamos town before you visit the lagoon.
Restaurants near Balos Beach, Crete Island
There are several great restaurants nearby, in Kissamos town.
Among all the good options, we ended up choosing to dine at Grambousa Restaurant, a traditional Cretan restaurant with a garden and sea view and provide super tasty food, live music sometimes and an amazing atmosphere.
I highly recommend it! You can read 🔗my full review of it here.
The cool thing is that while we were in Kissamos town checking which restaurants had the highest ratings on Google Maps, I realised that I had already saved Grambousa Restaurant as a place I wanted to eat before we even arrived, which I had completely forgotten about. And it didn’t disappoint us, I was so glad that we went.
Entrance fee for Balos Beach, Crete
It’s important to note that Balos Beach is part of a protected nature reserve, so visitors are required to pay a small fee to access the lagoon, which is about 1-2 Euros per person. It will be charged on the driving path to the beach, and they will give you the entrance ticket after you pay.
When is the best time to visit Balos Beach, Crete?
If you prefer swimming in hot temperatures, then July and August are the best months to visit Balos Beach, when the weather is consistently warm.
However, if you prefer to avoid crowds, you can also consider visiting in mid May, June, or September, when there are fewer tourists, though there is no guarantee of warm weather.
During our visit in early May, the weather was hot in the morning but in the afternoon, it became windy and cold, so we didn’t get to swim.
However, the good thing is that there were not many tourists at all when we went, it was easy to take photos of the landscape and the hike was good. Additionally, we got to see the beautiful view of White Mountain (Lefka Ori) with snow on the top.
Is Balos Beach a great location for watching the sunset?
Yes it is! When the weather is good, this beach is a perfect place to enjoy the sunset. Especially at the Balos Beach Viewpoint.
The day we went was cloudy and windy, so the photos weren’t the best.
Hope you get better weather when you visit.
More useful information for Balos Beach & Crete Island
- For a trustworthy website to buy ferry tickets to Crete and other Greek islands, you can check the ferry price and availability to Crete from Athens and other island 🔗on this Greek website or 🔗this international transportation booking site I always use. In my opinion, Minoan Lines ferry company offers comfortable seats(VIP seats) and cabins.
- 🔗6 must go picturesque, magical places in Crete Island, Greece
- 🔗Balos Beach Hotel Review: Sea & Mountain Views Hotel Near Balos Lagoon.
- 🔗Grambousa Restaurant Review: Traditional Cretan Taverna Near Balos Beach with Sea Views.
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