Macherida beach

The tiny beach of Macherida is located 14km northeast of Chania and 1km west of the village Chorafakia, hidden in a rocky bay. The beach is named after the rocky cape in its north end that reminds of a knife (“machairi” means “knife” in Greek). According to another version, it is named after the flower Gladiolis italicus that is called “machairida” in Greek.

The bay faces southwest and is almost always calm. A stunning little beach with white sand and turquoise water is shaped in the center of the bay, surrounded by amazing rocks. The water here is deep and clear, because the sea currents change directions several times a day and remove rubbish. It is not organized, however during the last years the building line has approached the beach.

The coastline near the beach is a unique habitat for many wild animals. Among the rocks, just next to the main roda, there is a pond reminding of a crater with springs with saltish water in which water snakes, turtles and seagulls live.

The secluded beach of Machairida attracts mainly nudists. Moreover, it is the most popular beach for gays in Chania. Many tragicomic stories have been heard about the efforts of the locals in the past to remove the "immoral" nudists. It is told that they wrote “nudism forbidden” on the rocks and some primitive signs, threw stones against the swimmers, sweared at them, threatened them and filled the beach with thorns and broken glass. However, the patient swimmers cleaned the beach and kept coming to their favorite place, which is still their shelter.

We thank maxerida.blogspot.com for its valuable contribution.

Photos

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