Best beaches - Mykonos, Crete, and Zakynthos

[Donna_In_India]

Greek Islands - We (13 yrs old daughter and me) are considering a cruise with stops at Mykonos, Crete(Chania), and Zakynthos. We'll probably do a little sightseeing and then want to spend time on the beach. Any suggestions for best beaches? Any other suggestions welcome as well. Thanks!

[jas283a]

5 hours ago, Donna_In_India said:

Greek Islands - We (13 yrs old daughter and me) are considering a cruise with stops at Mykonos, Crete(Chania), and Zakynthos. We'll probably do a little sightseeing and then want to spend time on the beach. Any suggestions for best beaches? Any other suggestions welcome as well. Thanks!

We didn’t go but many people on our ship talked about the beautiful beaches they went to in Mykonos. A little sightseeing, some pictures and beach sounds like a perfect Mykonos day (we did other stuff there). I think the good beaches are a little ways from the port stop. In Crete we were in a different port and didn’t stop in Zakinthos. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Just back from Chania (beautiful town, but don't know anything about the beaches there) and Zakynthos (small place, same comment - but since it's basically a resort, I'm sure they're there!)  So that's not much help, but if you can find out something about Zakynthos beaches, I'd plan pretty much a good half or day there.  There's not a whole lot more there that I could see....although lots of little cafes!

 

[Hlitner]

When we hear talk about Zakynthos and beaches we immediately think of so-called Smuggler's Cove (Navagio) which is one of the most interesting (and beautiful) beaches we have ever visited.   We did this while on a small yacht cruise (20 passenger) when we dropped anchor a few hundred yards off the beach and swam in to the sandy shore (where there sits a shipwreck).  The place is so famous that the Greeks have built a viewing platform on the top of the adjacent cliff so land-based folks can look down on the famous place.  Cruise ships will actually tender (I do not think they can dock) at the opposite end of the island.  But there will likely be some boat tours (perhaps an excursion but also some locals doing it privately) that would take folks around the island to see this famous cove.  What makes this beach/cove different is that it is not accessible from land as it sits at the base of a large cliff. 

 

By the way, the shipwreck (which was all rusted-out when we saw it over 20 years ago) was smuggling cigarettes and apparently running from the authorities when it went aground and was later washed-up on that beach.

 

Hank