Northwest Passage guide CP, here. I've had the pleasure of guiding adventures in Crete for 15 years. Read on for the inside scoop from my perspective.
For your convenience and my descriptive challenge, I've organized this overview into the 22 S's of Super Sensational Crete Adventures.
And for those living the TLDR lifestyle. jump down to the 22nd S for the briefest possible thumbnail sketch of a day in the life of a Crete Adventurer.
Singularly Special
NWP has been guiding on Crete for over three decades! It's our flagship adventure and my personal favorite one to guide.
With surprising regularity, the NWP office gets an email or even hand written letter from past Crete Adventure participants. Often these participants were on adventures that we guided 10 or even 20+ years ago. In these notes they reminisce about the fabulous time they had and they will often tout the adventure as a singularly distinctive experience amongst their travel lifetime.
It's a touching testament to the Crete Adventure experience. It's undeniably special. It's an adventure that's greater than the sum of its parts.
Seamless Scheduling
It's all about timing, as Rick Sweitzer, our founder and the architect of the Crete Adventures, will tell you.
While the vast majority of the activities on these adventures is off the beaten path, whenever we're exploring an "on the map" destination, you'll wonder, "where are all the other travelers?" That's because we're allergic to crowds and we know how to hit the highlights without encountering any.
For example, during the summer months, hundreds upon hundreds of people hike the Samaria Gorge every single day. Hikers walk one after the other and rarely have a moment of peace and quiet.
But when we hike, it's like we have Europe's deepest canyon all to ourselves. The difference is night and day. What could be a hectic and bothersome experience becomes a magical day that you'll never forget.
Attention to details like these is a trademark of Northwest Passage adventures.
Spectacular Stays
I love that every night on this adventure is spent in beautiful beach towns where we overnight in small, family-run hotels. You won't find any big box resorts or restaurant chains in these towns.
Roughly half of our stays offer opportunity for you to go shake a leg in the nightlife scene, but every night will offer opportunity for supreme serenity on your balcony or a stroll on the starlit beach.
I don't want to give too much away here, but the towns of Loutro and Matala linger on as sweet dreams in every visitor's travel memory!
Surreal Stretches (of Coastline)
The southern coast of Crete is, in my opinion, the absolute perfect kayak adventure destination.
Why? It's engaging for experienced paddlers, and welcoming for novices--especially when our great guides are there to coach beginners along.
It's also phenomenally gorgeous. You paddle under towering bluffs, through sea caves, past impressive canyons, and take your breaks at beautiful remote beaches (more on that later).
The route is also vehicle supported, so you never need to paddle with any luggage. You also have the flexibility to paddle as much or as little as you like on any given day.
Here's how the kayaking logistics work each day. We paddle from one beach town to the next, but each day's mileage is broken up into three stretches of paddling. You'll set out from your hotel beach after breakfast and paddle to seaside cafe for another cup of coffee. From there you carry on to lunch at a beach taverna. After a delicious fuel up, you knock out the final miles of the day, and land your kayaks onshore at your next spectacular stay!
Since you have vehicle support along the route, you can opt out of any of these stretches if you feel like you could use a break from kayaking.
Sips, Stops and Swims
A really cool feature of the kayak route is how remote it feels for much of the distance. After setting out from a beach stop, Crete often appears to be a beautiful, rugged wilderness from a kayaker's point of view.
Even though the south coast offers nearly every convenience you can think of, the stretches of coastline in between our breaks are minimally developed. You just paddle along and bask in the awesome natural beauty of the island.
And just when you think to yourself, "I could use a break soon," a fantastic taverna or striking town emerges from the wild coastline.
When you sidle up to your table and order some well earned refreshments, it might feel like you're being welcomed as an old friend. That's because (A) Cretans are famously hospitable and take a great deal of pride in it. And (B) we are old friends! Having frequented many of our favorite cafes and tavernas for multiple decades, we've become close over the years. Getting to talk to these longstanding community fixtures is like having a window into the local culture and history.
I need to give you some more details about the beach stops, because there are some major highlights.
One of my favorites is Agios Pavlos beach, which we visit right after departing Roumeli. Saint Paul's shipwreck is the beach's namesake, and about 1,000 years ago a stone chapel was constructed on the shoreline to commemorate the wreck. There's still some original fresco painting hanging onto the weathered ceiling, and a lovely lone taverna steps away from the impressive and storied chapel.
It's an idyllic scene. The chapel and taverna are only accessible by hiking trail or small boat. They sit in an immense unspoilt bay with forested bluffs wrapping the whole way around. A rapid depth change in the sea floor paints the water a variety of mesmerizing blue-greens.
If you're sure footed, you should wade out to the sea stack rock and do a little baby cliff jump off the top!
I love bringing groups to Agios Pavlos because it's such a special place, and hardly anyone gets to go there and soak it all up. It's emblematic of our off the beaten path ethos.
Another favorite of mine is Marmara Beach. Perched atop a marble riddled cliff and overlooking the Libyan Sea is an outstanding taverna. The food is amazing, which isn't at all surprising for Crete. But it's worth noting because, like Agios Pavlos, Marmara doesn't have road access. It's just a little outpost oasis that churns out fresh bread, delicious avocado salads, and all sorts of local delicacies everyday with little boats serving as their only connection to the world around it.
Marmara is an awesome place to linger awhile after lunch. The daily mileage is just about done, and the beach is so inviting. There's another great baby cliff jump and lots of marble sea caves to explore on a swim or leisurely paddle.
Secluded Sunsets
Santorini is the Greek Isle that's most famous for its sunsets, but Crete is equally amazing. We have several favorite vantage points for taking in the vibrant reds and oranges, but we don't like to give away too much about our "secret spots".
OK, they're not really secret but one of our criteria is that they must be secluded. Capping off the day with a private sunset view and maybe a refreshment or two is some real good adventure living!
Scrumptious Sustenance
Ahh the food. One of the many bonuses of traveling Crete by kayak and foot is the appetite you build up for all the fantastic food!
A common refrain for first time visitors is, "I've had (insert: dolmades, mousaka, baklava, spanikopita, even plain Greek yogurt, etc.) before, but never like this!" And it's true. The Greek food you've have at home or even on some of the other islands can't compare to Crete.
One reason is that the tavernas we frequent serve from small, family-run kitchens. It's real traditional down-home cooking.
Another reason is all the local sourcing. Crete is unusual amongst Greek Islands in that it has a lot of fresh water access. The towering mountains generate a lot of rain over the winter months and easy access to the water table make Crete an atypically verdant Greek Island. As such, Crete is an agricultural powerhouse.
You'll wonder why all tomatoes don't taste as good as they do in Crete. The local produce is so fresh and tasty. So fear not, vegans and vegetarians. Delicious options abound for you.
Being a meat and potatoes Midwesterner, I especially enjoy my meals in the Sfakia region where grill houses source their meats from the surrounding White Mountains. You have to try kontosouvli---rotisserie meats and vegetables slow roasted for hours over coals.
Super Steps
Yes, our primary mode of travel is sea kayak, but there are stunning hikes on this adventure as well. The undeniable highlight is the Samaria Gorge, a national park trail that descends 4,000 ft from the Omalos Plateau to sea level in the beach town of Agia Roumeli. Simply put, it's an unbelievable hike.
You start out in a mountain environment, and descend into a coniferous forest. From there you walk along a spring fed river, stopping to fill your small bottle from plentiful springs along the way. Eventually the river leads you into a slot canyon with 1,000 ft walls. Keep your eyes out for the endemic wild kri-kri goat, bearded vultures, and even golden eagles if you're lucky.
This is one of the great hikes of the world. No wonder it has UNESCO Heritage Site status.
Once you reach the bottom of the canyon, if you still have the energy there's opportunity to log some bonus steps up to the kastro, an Ottoman era fortress constructed on a knife edge ridge overlooking Roumeli and the Libyan Sea.
While the Samaria Gorge is undoubtedly the main course of the trails along our route, there many others to enjoy as well. The long distance E4 trail runs from the Gorge to Chora Sfakia provides several great hiking options during our time in Loutro. It also serves as a paddling alternative for those who prefer to spend a day hiking.
There are many more options, including the exhilarating Aradena Gorge and the seaside hills above Matala.
And of course, if you have your sweetie along, ask your guide for a post dinner romantic walk suggestion ;)
Strategic Surprises
We're guides. We're adventurers. But we also fancy ourselves showmen to a degree. We like to hit you with some well timed surprises along the way to keep your fun meter spinning. They obviously wouldn't be surprises if I spilled all the beans here though..
Just know that our experience has taught us when and how to drop a little something extra for maximum effect.
Stroke School
Our guides are fantastic, and a huge reason why most folks that join an adventure wind up coming back for more. Hmm, maybe I should've put this higher the list. Oh well.
What makes NWP guides great? They're friendly, fun, they love to share their passion and insight on local knowledge and history. And they're great at leading awesome adventures.
We take pride in keeping the adventure in. What does that mean? We want you to get out there and have a really meaningful experience.
Part of the great value of adventures is getting the chance to stretch your comfort zone a bit. Getting to experience paddling in a wavy sea can be scary (at first) but immensely affirming. It can be a huge, unexpected confidence boost. And for some it's the beginning of a lifelong love of sea kayaking.
But so many outfitters will stay on shore if there's a whiff of a whitecap out to sea. Not us. Our guides have an immaculate safety record, and our intimate local knowledge of the bays and beaches allow us get out in bigger water with ultimate security.
NWP guides are also attentive teachers. We've guided countless first time sea kayakers on our adventures and helped them acquire formidable prowess over the course of a week. Our group sizes and travel style accommodate our ability to offer really personalized attention and experiences on these adventures.
Summation
OK, you made it to the final S. There's over 2,000 words above, hopefully not too rambling...so here let's just wrap it up into a condensed 24 hour snippet of a Crete Adventure:
Wake up to Mediterranean morning light shimmering through your balcony door.
Enjoy brekky along the shore of the Libyan Sea.
Kayak a couple miles in unbelievable coastal beauty to a quaint seaside cafe.
Coffee.
Swim.
Soak up the sun.
Paddle the gorgeous blue sea alongside bluffs and caves to lunch.
Make a friend and exclaim, "Oh my God this is so good" at a stellar beach taverna.
Quick cliff jump and maybe work on an advanced skill like the kayak roll with a guide.
Paddle on toward the next beautiful beach town. Maybe the afternoon tailwind is blowing? Maybe you catch some waves!
Land on an amazing beach proud of your great work.
Head up to the hotel and find that your bags have beat you to your room!
After some exploring, sipping, and/or napping, set out on a secluded sunset walk.
Eat a fantastic meal capped off with a raki shot (how have I only mentioned raki now!?)
Go for a romantic walk with your sweetie.
Fall asleep to the wave sounds wafting through your window.
Wake up to Mediterranean morning light shimmering through your balcony door.
I've rambled enough. I'll sign off by saying that if you visit one Greek Island in your lifetime, it should be Crete. If you want your time on Crete to shine forever in your best travel memories, join a Crete Adventure.
Drop us a message. Give us a call. This adventure is too good to miss.
