Crete Island Attraction| Elafonisi Beach: A Unique Paradise Where Pink Sands Meet Turquoise Waters
If you want to witness the pink beach while travelling to Crete Island Greece, don’t miss the chance to visit pink Elafonisi Beach. Learn how to get to Crete’s pink beach with and without a car, find top hotels and restaurants, and indulge in the turquoise waters and pink sands of this unique beach. Read on to plan your perfect trip to Elafonisi Beach.
- Guides to Other Amazing Beaches in Crete Island, Greece:
- Kedrodasos Beach: A Serene and Peaceful Utopia that Free Spirit Travellers Will Love
- Loutro: A Secluded and Picturesque Coastal Village with Whitewashed Houses
- Balos Beach: One of the World's Most Beautiful Hidden Lagoons with Pink Sand
- Other Places to Visit in Greece:
- 11 Aesthetic Cafes Restaurants Bars in Athens Greece
- 6 Must Go Picturesque, Magical Places in Crete Island, Greece
Located in the southwestern part of Crete Island, Elafonisi Beach is known for its unique PINK SAND, beautiful landscape, turquoise and shallow water, and has been voted by travellers as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, attracting a great number of tourists every year.
When you visit Elafonisi Pink Beach, you can see many layers of colours, from white sand to pink sand to crystal clear blue, and even to slightly darker ocean colours. It is like a dream or a surreal painting when you look at Crete’s pink beach.
I personally could not stop wowing while I was there, and the whole time at the pink beach I was so excited because I’ve never seen anything like this before. And this pink sand beach was actually the main reason why I chose to visit Crete Island over all the other Greek islands – its unique allure.
Another great part of this pink sand beach is that the water from the Cretan side to the islet of Elafonisi is shallow. I am 152 cm tall, and there is a path where the water does not even reach my knees the whole way. This makes it very easy to walk to the islet of Elafonisi side and enjoy quieter spots and even more stunning views.
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Why is the sand pink at Elafonisi Beach in Crete Greece?
The locals explained that pink Elafonisi Beach gets its pink sand colour from crushed foraminifera (the red shells). And this phenomenon is very rare and there are only a few pink sand beaches like this in the world, making it a must-visit destination if you are going to Crete Island, Greece.
This beach with a unique landscape in Crete Island, Greece also has some pink sand! I highly recommend checking this one too when you visit Crete!!
How to get to pink beach, Elafonisi?
This is the exact location of Elafonisi Beach Crete, and there are 3 ways to go to Elafonisi Beach for its unique pink sand view:
Join a Elafonisi Beach day tour
It is the easiest option for going to pink Elafonisi Beach if you decide not to rent a car and drive by yourself on Crete Island.
Depends where you want to start the tour from, you can choose to join a day tour to Elafonisi pink beach from Chania or join a day tour from Rethymno.
The tour organiser will pick you up from your hotel and drop you off afterward, saving you a lot of hassle. Additionally, you can meet other travellers during the tour.
Going to Elafonisi Beach by car
If you’re driving to pink Elafonisi Beach from Chania International Airport, it will take you around 1 hour and 40 minutes to reach the destination.
One thing to keep in mind is that some parts of the mountain roads leading to Elafonisi Beach from Chania are a bit narrow and have sharp turns. It is advisable to drive slowly and carefully. Even the locals in Crete cautioned us to be careful when we mentioned our plan to drive to this pink sand beach.
Going to Elafonisi Beach by bus
You can visit Elafonisi Beach by bus, and here is the bus schedule from Chania to Elafonisi Beach. However, the bus service may not operate at all times, so it is essential to check and plan your itinerary accordingly.
My suggestion is either to take a guided tour or rent a car and drive to the pink beach by yourself and stay overnight. We were at Elafonisi for 2 nights actually.
Hotels near Elafonisi pink beach Crete Island
There are a few hotels near Elafonisi pink beach, you can check the availability here.
During our visit, we stayed at Elafonisi Resort by Kalomirakis Family which was only a 10-minute walk from the pink sand beach. The studio was spacious, comfortable, and well-equipped, and we had a big balcony overlooking a nice olive tree garden.
The hotel also had a restaurant serving amazing Crete style breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with many delicious Greek options to choose from. We had breakfast there twice and ordered a full table of food. We also tried the Cretan-style pie with honey and cheese, which was amazing and perfect food to start the trip in this beautiful unique paradise! I highly recommend it to stay here.
Restaurants near Elafonisi pink sand Beach Crete Island
There aren’t many restaurants near Elafonisi Beach, but there are a couple of good options to check out. We particularly enjoyed the one at our hotel, the food there is with great quality and very delicious, and there’s also Panorama, which has an amazing view of the pink beach.
If you’re looking for more restaurant options, you can head to areas like White Lake Beach, Chrysoskalitissa Monastery, and Stomio Beach, which are all nearby the pink beach Crete. On the way to these areas, you will find more options for food and beaches, as well as the opportunity to chase the sunset.
When is the best time to visit Elafonisi?
As Elafonisi is a very popular beach in Crete due to its unique pink sand, it attracts a large number of tourists from Greece and around the world in summer.
Therefore, if you want to avoid packed beach, I recommend visiting this beach during May, June or early September, and be at the beach before the afternoon, as these months mark the beginning and end of peak season, you will encounter fewer tourists and the weather is still warm on the sunny days. During our visit in late April and early May, we experienced hot daytime temperatures, allowing us to swim and my friend even got sunburnt at the beach.
But if you are ok with the crowd, and don’t want to encounter any chilly weather, the most popular time to visit this pink sand beach is in summer- July and August.
Other things to do around Elafonisi Beach
- Visit a remote beach Kedrodasos Beach.
- Watch sunset at Chrysoskalitissa Monastery or Stomio Beach.
How to get to Crete Island?
Crete Island has two international airports – Chania International Airport and Heraklion International Airport. You can easily find cheap flights to both cities from Skyscanner.
Alternatively, you can fly to Athens first and spend a few days exploring the city (ideally 2-3 days) before taking a flight or ferry to Crete from Athens.
How to get to Crete Island from Athens
Athens is an excellent starting point for your Greek Island hopping trips, as there are many ferries and flights operating daily to take you to various Greek Islands. Surprisingly, Athens has many interesting things to see, including some aesthetic and artistic places that will make you fall in love with the city. I would recommend spending 2-3 days in Athens while exploring the Greek Islands.
If you’re going to Crete Island from Athens, here are two ways:
Athens to Crete Island by ferry
The popular option to travel to island Crete is by ferry (boat).
There are ferries that operate daily from the port of Athens (Piraeus) to two ports in Crete – Chania and Heraklion. Some days, routes to Sitia and Kissamos are also available.
The travel time by ferry varies from 7.5 to 11 hours depending on the port of arrival.
One advantage of taking the ferry to Crete from Athens is that some ferry companies offer night ferries, allowing you to board at around 10 pm and arrive around 6 am. This means you can sleep on the ferry and arrive in Crete without losing a day to transportation. Most ferries have cabins and more comfortable seating options that you can book, such as the air VIP seats on Minoan Lines.
You can check the rates and availability of ferry tickets to Crete and other islands here.
Athens to Crete Island by flight
There are three airports in Crete Island that you can fly to domestically from Athens International Airport: Crete Chania Airport, Crete Heraklion Airport, and Crete Sitia Airport.
The flight time is approximately 50 minutes to 1 hour, and flights operate regularly. To find affordable flights to Crete, you can check Skyscanner.
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