Ammoudara beach (Gazi)
Ammoudara is a long beach which starts from River Giofyros, 1km west of the center of Heraklion and reaches the mouth of the river Almyros, 7km on the west. Ammoudara is today a suburb of Heraklion, attracting thousands of visitors every year, mainly because of its long sandy beach. The beach of Amoudara has fine brownish sand and there is a rocky strip about 50m from the beach running parallel to the beach, delineating the ancient coastline.
There are options for everyone’s preferences; from those who like crowded places to those who want to stay secluded. Along the coast there are organized beaches with sunbeds, umbrellas, beach bars, lifeguard, showers, changing rooms, water sports and whatever you can imagine. Ammoudara is well known to windsurfers, due to the intense winds all year round. If you seek quiet places in Ammoudara you can visit the west part of the beach starting in front of the Pancretan Stadium and ending to the east near the wetland and the dunes of Xeropotamos. Other quiet beaches are found at the mouths of river Almiros and river Gazanos and the industrial area of Ellinoperamata.
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The surrounding area is wonderful. You can visit the spring of Almyros river, which offers the greatest amount of water in Crete and forms the largest habitat in the area. Nearby, there is the gorge of Almiros, which is quite easy to walk. You could walk till the top of Stroumboulas mountain, the volcano-like mount of Heraklion.
