Elafonissi

Did you know August 15 is a huge religious holiday in the Greek Orthodox Church? Neither did I, but apparently it is the day the Virgin Mary died, so many attractions and stores were closed today. Not a big deal for us since our plan for the day was to head to Elafonissi. Elafonissi is the much-hyped pink sand beach on the west coast of Crete. For Zach and me, this was on our “must see” list, so when some of the extended family came back from a visit there yesterday with less-than-stellar reviews we lowered our expectations but didn’t change our plans to go. The word was that it was overcrowded, too far away, and the sand wasn’t pink. Someone even compared it to Ocean City, Maryland!

Regardless, we woke up early and doped Diane with Dramamine for the mountainous ride. Georgia and the Stricker family (minus Michael) left at the same time and we plugged Elafonissi into our phones and hoped for the best. Diane’s Dramamine worked wonders and she was fine for the ride, which was very lucky since it was a doozy. We passed through tiny mountain villages with “Traditional Cretan Goods” hand painted on signs in front of tiny shops and kiosks along the way. The signs specified things like honey, raki, olive oil, and royal jelly. We had no idea what royal jelly was but saw it over and over on signs so vowed to buy some on the ride home. Around 9:30am we rolled into Elafonissi and parked in one of the first spots by the beach. It wasn’t deserted, but we were definitely some of the first people there. We staked out some chairs under tiki umbrellas and set off to explore. It. Was. Glorious.

Check out the pink sand at the water’s edge

A wide expanse of perfect sand and knee deep water. Perfect for kids!

Exploring the shore on the other side of the “island”

So before I go overboard here I do have to say that by midday it was very crowded and I can definitely see how it would be frustrating to drive for two hours, fight for parking, walk a long way to the beach, fight for an umbrella, and then share the beach with hundreds of other vacationers before driving two hours back to your villa. 

But. The water was crystal clear, shallow, and warm. The sand was white and so fine that it was blissfully soft in some places. The sand wasn’t all pink, but it was definitely pink along the edges of the water and in many of the tiny pools and rivulets created by the currents. Getting there early we had the place to ourselves for a while, and when it got crowded we could escape to the dunes on the other side of the “island” (which isn’t always connected to the main beach but was today with a sand bar) where it was much quieter and there were piles and piles of tiny and perfect seashells to admire and collect. It was wonderful.

Poor Diane was too tired from the Dramamine to do anything but sleep for the first two hours but eventually perked up and made drip castles with Georgia and played in the warm water with me. Melina and I wandered through the shallows for a long time, found tiny shells, played tic-tac-toe in the sand, and made a pink sand castle. Zach snorkeled, took tons of pictures, and probably could have combed the beach for tiny shells for hours before tiring. We all loved it and by the time we finally packed up to go close to 2pm we were exhausted and elated.

Georgia and the kids

A bounty of tiny shells

We made a few stops on the long ride back rather than drugging up Diane again, but none were really worth much mention. We did look everywhere for some of the famed “royal jelly” but all the shops and kiosks selling it had closed for the holiday. We were devastated that we would leave this part of Crete without knowing what it was, so we kept stopping and inquiring but instead only came away with honey raki, the sweet Greek bread I know from Easter dinners, some dried black olives, and the powdered sugar-covered almond cookies I’ve never liked but which are melt-in-your-mouth amazing here. No royal jelly. At one point we were stopped and waiting for our turn to drive through a one lane tunnel on a mountain, and some guys at a kiosk came up and started serving shots of raki (an alcoholic aperitif) to drivers and passengers traveling through the mountain pass. This was definitely one of those “we’re not in Kansas anymore” moments…! We asked, but unfortunately they also did not have royal jelly.
When we finally got back to the villa we googled it, and royal jelly is a secretion from bees that is fed to the queen bee and her larvae. It supposedly has lots of health benefits for humans as well, but mostly as a skin product so we were really glad we didn’t buy some and then spread it on bread and eat it at a local rest stop with our kids! Some people eat it but supposedly it tastes pretty bad. Actually, I’m wondering now if a skin cream I tested at a roadside stand was actually royal jelly all along…!

Our day ended in what has become the usual way…pool, food, sunset and wine. 

Georgia and Jerry, poolside

As a rule I stay away from news sites and social media while on vacation, but unfortunately what is going on at home is too big to ignore. We send our love to friends and neighbors in the thick of it, and look forward to helping our community heal and improve after this tradgedy by staying strong and fighting for what is right. Take care.