Cruising in Crete

July 25-30, 2023

Hi friends and family!

It’s been a while since I last wrote when I was playing catch up after my adventures earlier this year in Singapore, Thailand, Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia from early January to the end of March. I somewhat unexpectedly traveled for about seven weeks recently to the East Coast of the US, Greece, the Middle East, Central Europe, and back to the East Coast. I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d continue the blog, but after some thinking, I’ve decided to write about my travels abroad again because I like having the written account and looking back on the memories, and I think these will be my last prolonged travels for some time as I look to settle down on the island with a job. But who knows…that’s exactly what I said in April and May before traveling again this summer. Without further ado, here’s my experience in Greece with some friends from Hawai’i, who convinced me to come out in the first place.

I had a big couple travel days to get to Crete, leaving from Deep Creek Lake, in western Maryland, on the morning of July 24 and arriving at our Airbnb in Crete at 11pm on the night of July 25 after driving six hours to Newark, NJ, then taking three flights that were each 4+ hours from Newark to Reykjavik, Iceland to Oslo, Norway to Chania, Crete. Luckily there was a tavern right next to our Airbnb, and I joined my buddies Kip and Miro for a late dinner.

I hit the ground running the next day as we had a boat booked to cruise around the Mediterranean. Sadly Miro was a little under the weather, but it opened up space for a couple of Kip’s friends, Audrey and Corinn, to join the rest of our Hawai'i crew (Sanjeevi, Emily, Kip, and me). Our first stop was this small island off the coast that had some great snorkeling. Actually, all the spots had amazing snorkeling since the visibility was the best I’ve ever seen. If I had to guess, I could see about 50 feet underwater. The water was also really warm and salty so it was easy to float on our backs and soak up the sun. After the island, we drove to some coves that were a little more tucked away. The first one we went in had a cliff jump spot where we tried some flips and dives.

There was a beach at the end of the cove, but it was really crowded and made us grateful to have our own boat for the day. After the popular cliff jumping cove, we went into a more secluded cove where we were the only boat for some reason. It was really beautiful and special to have the cove all to ourselves.

We went back in for a late lunch at the docks and restocked on the essentials (alcohol) before going back to our private cove for a stint. I ventured up on some rocks and climbed up about 50-100 feet above the water to get more of a bird’s eye view of the cove, which made me appreciate its beauty even more.

(From left to right: me, Kip, Audrey, Corinn, Sanjeevi, Emily)

The water was incredible and being able to zip around on our private boat with good people made it really memorable. Thankfully Miro was feeling a little better when we got back from boating so the five of us went out to a Greek restaurant right on the water, topping off a stellar day.

The next day was another big one as we made our way to the famous Elafonisi Beach on the southwest coast of the island. We were staying on the northern side of the island, east of Chania, and it took us a solid 2.5 hours to drive there since the island is so large. We made one fun pit stop along the way at a stand where a vendor gave us so many free samples: honey, apricot jam, olive oil and bread, melon raki (a type of liquor), almond raki, another flavor of raki, and a few different scented creams.

Even after parking, we had to hike 10-15 minutes down some rocks to get to the beach. We were underwhelmed at first since it was dense with people. We had to walk some distance just to find space for the five of us but we eventually found a nice spot and relaxed and swam for a bit before trying wind surfing. Our instructor taught us the basics on land for 20 minutes before bringing us into the water. It was a lot harder in the water but really fun. We all stood up at points and managed to catch some wind, and we all spent a lot of time falling in the water, too. Learning how to change directions was pretty challenging and the wind was a bit aggressive for beginners. Still, we had a great time and it was fun trying a new hobby. Unfortunately, the photographer wasn’t able to capture any pictures of Miro, Sanjeevi, or me. We think it’s because we were courageously surfing farther from the shore, not because we were falling in the water so often.

We ate a late lunch/early dinner on the way home at a beautiful restaurant right on the water. We were beat after being in the sun all day so we took some naps back at home before rallying and going to the club in Chania. We met Audrey and Corinn in Chania and went to a low-key bar before going to a club with more dancing after. There were other people but we were definitely the life of the party with our big dancing group. It was a solid night and fun to get a taste of the night life in Crete.

The next day was mellow since we’d all been up late clubbing. Emily and Sanjeevi had to leave, so things felt a little quieter in the house. Kip and I had a late lunch at the tavern and mostly hung around the house during the day, feeling pretty low energy after our big couple of days in the sun. Kip headed to the airport that evening and then it was just Miro and me in the house. A little before sunset at 8, I went with Miro to the beach to swim and chill. It was really nice being on the beach at night with a pretty sunset. There were barely any clouds in Crete so we had a nice unobstructed view of the sun, which rarely ever happens in Hawai’i. After the sunset, we ate at a beachfront restaurant with seats literally within five feet of the water.

Our last full day in Crete was another relaxing one. Unfortunately, Miro was feeling ill again so he caught some rest while I went to the nearby beach to read and swim, which was so relaxing. He was doing better in the evening so we went to the beach and hung out for a couple hours before grabbing dinner. The beach was really nice at night because it was still warm enough to be in a short-sleeve shirt and shorts comfortably, but it wasn’t an exhausting heat like it was during the day.

The next day Miro and I left the Airbnb and drove to Heraklion, the city on the eastern side of the island where we had flights. I walked around in the afternoon and saw the famous Venetian port and then met Miro at the historic Knossos ruins, which have been around since potentially the 7th century B.C.!

After the ruins we had a quick dinner and went to the airport. The airport was miserable since my flight was delayed for nearly three hours and there was no WiFi or AC, but I eventually got on my flight to Tel Aviv around 12:30am on July 31.

I was really glad to have been able to hang out with my Hawai’i friends in a new place. I wish it could’ve been longer, but the time we had was so fun and memorable. I knew it wouldn’t be too long before I’d see them again on O’ahu, so it wasn’t too bad saying goodbye. I was also going to meet Kip for some more adventures in Israel, which I’ll write about next post.