Platanias - Kedrodasos Beach - Elafonisi Beach
Crete 2021
In the morning, we are overcome by apathy. Probably it’s the body’s protective reaction. We need to take a break, stop, and digest all the joy and delight of the previous days. So many good things have happened. We spend half the day in the room — I sit on the balcony writing in my diary, looking through photos, reading. Volchiy sits in the room. At lunch we eat our big watermelon, and it turns out to be magnificent — juicy, sweet, crisp — the perfect watermelon!
Huge watermelon
After the watermelon, we finally decide to go somewhere, choosing the beaches of Kedrodasos and Elafonisi, which are located not far from each other, and we hope to visit both.
We start with Kedrodasos Beach. From the parking lot, it’s an easy walk down to the beach; it’s quite crowded here, but the beach is large, so it doesn’t feel too overwhelming. The beach is very beautiful, with white sand and blue water, just like in the pictures. Many people are camping here in tents.
On Kedrodasos Beach
Not far from the shore, juniper grows, and we leave our things in the shade of the little tree and go swimming with masks. There is a beautiful underwater world here; we swim along the shore, where the sand has already ended and the rocks have begun. Swimming back is difficult because of the waves. I start to panic and climb onto a rock to catch my breath. Volchy swims around me and tells me not to be afraid, that he’ll pull me out if anything happens :) I hold onto Volchy’s leg with one hand, and he “drags” me along. It works pretty well; swimming with Volchy is much easier. But by then I’ve already recovered my strength and can swim on my own. We return to the shore. The sea here is beautiful, but choppy. The second time we swim without masks. The waves disturb my peace; I don’t feel like splashing around in the sea for long here.
Clear blue water on Kedrodasos Beach
A little juniper is visible in the background, and our things under the little tree
We move to Elafonisi beach, famous for its pink sand. It turns out to be a super popular place, with crowds of people, umbrellas, and little cafés. We find the pink sand (just a tiny bit) in one spot. We walk through all this commotion and дальше, beyond the hill, a more wild beach begins; there are no umbrellas here and fewer people. The sea is not as beautiful as it has been before, but it is warm, without waves, and very pleasant to swim in. Volchiy goes ashore, while I keep hanging out in the deep water; I don’t want to get out… I want somehow to preserve this feeling inside me — I am in the sea.
The wild part of Elafonisi Beach
Then we sit on the sand for a long time. I collect tiny shells. Volchy is choosing a restaurant for us for the evening; he finally persuaded me to go to a restaurant. I don’t know why, but for some reason I don’t really feel like it, maybe because I don’t really believe in restaurants in such resort towns. At sunset we return to the car; almost everyone has already left.
Walking to the parking lot through Elafonisi Beach
To my great surprise, Volchiy chose a very good restaurant for us. It is located by the sea, and there are almost no visitors. We order half a liter of red wine, fava (similar to hummus made from a special variety of fava beans), and a mix of grilled meats. The wine is delicious, the fava is very tasty! The meat is good, and I especially like their version of minced meat patties. I’m very pleased; we’re eating to the sound of the surf.
In the restaurant
