Μέρη κοντινά με Φοίνικας

The beach gets better as you walk along, and there is a lot more sand. At the far end, the cliffs provide a nice area for snorkelling too.
The beach is rarely crowded, and you can always find a fairly quiet spot somewhere. There are several showers along the way, which is a nice way of getting the salt off before getting back to the serious business of sunbathing. But beware, the gentle breeze tends to make you underestimate how strong the sun is.
The sea is fairly safe for swimming – usually there are no currents or anything nasty. There are rare occasions when the sea gets very rough. This is great for fools (like me) who like to make a total idiot of themselves in the waves – but look out for the kiddies then, as the waves can get nasty.
And if you want to get an all over tan, make your way to the far end, where it’s been ‘clothing optional’ for years and the majority of the folks there happily discard their swimwear. One other warning - if you go snorkelling around the rocks, look out for the black urchins. The spikes are nasty if you stand on them - but not life threatening!

The eastern part of the long beach near Plakias (Crete) is called Paligremnos. The beach is sandy and very well organized, next to hotels and restaurants. Vertical cliffs nearby rise to a great height that attract many climbers. This place is called Gonates (i.e. knees), because according to tradition, the epic hero Digenis kneeled there to drink water from a local spring. In Paligremnos a strange phenomenon takes place on every full moon, from September to January. The moonlight is reflected in the mirror-like towering cliffs. Thus, many big squids approach the beach and locals gather them with big sticks. Some meters to the south of Paligremnos there are some tunnels, carved for transfering coal to cargo ships in the past.