Agio Farago Beach - South Crete

Agio Farago beach is a river mouth open to the sea, only accessible on foot. It is located 28 km westwards of the south-coast-village Lentas and 70 km south of the capital Heraklion. The Agiofarago parking place is about 1.8 km from the beach. This area is also a nature reserve for wild goats and birds. After the parking lot, a small gorge begins, which is very popular with mountain freeclimbers and for beginners of free climbing. The vertical walls of the gorge and their caves offer the best conditions for beginners in free climbing. It's a very barren, dry area, I can imagine that this location is perfect to make good western film. On the way to the beach you will pass the small church of Saint Anthony and the Goumenospilios cave. This small church is used by the free climbers, who put their utensils there and also change there. We have combined this tour with our Phaistos sightseeing tour. from Phaistos it goes to the mountain village Kamilari then to the mountain village Sivas southwards to the monastery Monastiri Odigitrias. Shortly after the monastery, the path becomes a bit uncomfortable.

The path is a serpentine road, not asphalted and very bumpy, you can only drive at walking pace. When you have reached the parking lot you can refresh yourself at the small kiosk. It's the last kiosk before Africa, at least that's how it is posted on the front. We actually thought after such a difficult walk we would be alone on the beach, but we were wrong. As with most of the beaches on the southeast coast, this small bay was well visited by nudists, even in early November. Naturism should actually be avoided here as this area is one of the most religious places in Crete.

Agio Farago is a clean pebble beach with crystal clear turquoise blue water. West of the beach is a beautiful rock arch where you can swim through. Vertical cliffs surround the beach. If you go southeast at the end of the gorge, you come to a hidden salt lake called Vourvoulitis. This lake is embraced by vertical cliffs that are connected to the open sea via an underwater passage. The descent is only interesting for experienced free climbers, otherwise too dangerous. If you have your accommodation on the southeast coast such as Matala, Agia Galini, Zaros, Lentas Pitsidia ... then you can be back in the evening. But since we came from the northwest of Crete we had to plan an overnight stay in Zaros. Another possibility and a superb experience is to make a boat tour to Agio Farago from the coastal towns of Matala or Agia Galini. I must admit we had a 4x4 drive jeep, but we drove slowly and carefully.