Sandstrände

Potamos Beach (Gavdos)

Sfakia, Chania · Free

Highlights & amenities

Entry: Free

About

A hidden Gavdos cove with reddish sand and clay.

Potamos lies at the mouth of a small gorge on the north-west coast of Gavdos. You reach it by a path from the village of Ampelos, which takes about 30 to 40 minutes through junipers and low scrub. The beach has reddish sand and crystal clear water, and the clay in the rocks is used by visitors for a natural mud bath.

There are no facilities at all, so bring water, food and shade. The juniper trees around the beach offer some shelter from the sun. Few people make the walk, so you'll often have the place almost to yourself.

Sfakia is the proud mountain region of south Chania, famous for its fierce resistance to every occupier of Crete. The White Mountains drop straight into the Libyan Sea here, leaving only small villages like Chora Sfakion, Loutro and Agia Roumeli, some reachable only on foot or by boat. Famous gorges, including Samaria, Imbros and Aradena, cut through the mountains. Try the Sfakian pie, a thin pancake filled with soft cheese and drizzled with honey, in one of the harbour tavernas.

Around Sfakia

North coast, on the Cretan Sea
Nearest town: Chora Sfakion, about 50 km by road
Nearest airport: Chania airport (CHQ), about 98 km by road

The west of Crete is the island at its most dramatic. Chania has the most beautiful Venetian old town on Crete, wrapped around a harbour with a lighthouse and a domed mosque. In the evening the narrow lanes of Splantzia and the old Jewish quarter fill up with tavernas and small bars. More about Chania