Nature

If you walk along the steep shores north of Maridati till Vai palmgrove, you will meet several small coves, totally secluded accessed only by boat or on foot (it takes 2:30 hours to reach Vai).The first beach you meet is called Kokkinos Kavos (Red Cape), named after the reddish soils of the area. The seabed is sandy and pebbly in places.

Just outside the village Kali Sykia of St. Basil district, Rethymno Prefecture, on the road that leads to the eerie plateau with the chapel of St. Andrew we meet the cave Chonos, at the homonym area. The entrance is completely hidden by bushes and barely fits a crawling person.

West of the village Rogdia a small gorge is formed that exits at the area of Paliokastro. It initially starts at position Koukos, where we meet the ruins of an old watermill.

The Gorge of Cyclamen or St George Gorge starts from the settlement Aletrouvari (altitude 300m), passes east of the village of Agios (St) Georgios and ends at the village Vandes (altitude 50 m).

Gorge Chalase or Porofarago starts near the village Sassalos and ends before the village Makronas after 4 hours of course in dense vegetation. Crossing it is not very easy because at one point it has a large scree (chalase) and there is no trail.

This is one of two caves located at Pefkos village, by Makrigialos (the other is Vreiko). The cave hosts beautiful decoration and is easily accessed by a passable dirt road that starts from the village Pefki and heads northwards.

The cave is located 25 km west of Heraklion, by Marathos village, at an altitude of 545m, after the abandoned quarry of Arkalokefalo. The entrance (2.10m x 1m) is not easily visible because of dense vegetation, while the total length of the runways is 153m.

The Monumental olive grove of Amari is located at position Rovithis at Monastiraki, Amari Province and has been declared by the Association of Cretan Olive Municipalities as a natural monument. The several ancient trees are a dependency of the Agricultural School of Amari and unfortunately in 1980 about 1000 more ancient trees were uprooted.