Sweetwater bay is located between Loutro and Chora Sfakion. Glikanera is the Greek word for sweetwater. It is well worth visiting The beach itself is of pebble stones which are a rather difficult walk in bare feet. However, it is entirely naturist. There are several sweetwater holes, but these are for drinking, NOT washing. You will upset the campers a good deal if you wash in them. At the western end of the beach there was a taverna, for which you need to dress, and there were a few clothed bathers near the taverna in 2004. The beach can also be reached by a 1 hour walk from Loutro, or you can go by canoe from Loutro.

Sweetwater is famous for its goats. Apparently, if you feed them, they will lie down next to you and spend the day just like a loyal dog. They also accept petting. They can be a nuisance, however.

One of the campers has installed a faucet so it is now possible to get goat-free spring water.

2999 June: A report describes this as a very special beach. It is still completely nude except at the taverna on the western end. More people here now than last year, including several campers. A great experience.

Shade is hard to find, so be sure to bring a good sun block. This is especially true because the boats that are the only easy way of leaving only go in late afternoon. The beach can get very hot because of its situation between rock walls.

2000 June: A report confirms the impressions above. My contributor gave the beach a 100% rating! Relaxed atmosphere and not too crowded. 90% nudist away from the taverna.

Another way to get to the beach is to take a boat tour that is organized by the Vritomartis hotel. You can stay nude during all the trip:

The goats are still there. Be careful of small landslides caused by the goats walking up the very steep cliff behind the beach. My contributor saw such a landslide send a 2 foot diameter boulder close by a sunbathing couple.

2004: Another contributor recommends keeping well away from the cliffs, because of constantly falling stones. Not everyone enjoys the beach. One report described a continuous stream of walkers on the footpath which disturb the serenity. But reports from 2004 and 2005 confirm the relaxed, laid-back atmosphere, and the good snorkelling.

2006 September: the beach was completely nude, bar one couple. Approximately 40 people a day were using the beach. Also the beach bar remains a favourite haunt and provides excellent food and ice cold drinks - keep it going!

Loutro is a very pretty and not expensive village. My contributor recommends staying there, at least in September. The main town beach has stern signs saying "no topless bathing" but my contributors saw people swimming naked from the rocks at the western end of the bay. Likewise, they themselves swam naked from a small stony beach about 1km west of Loutro. A report from September 2002 says this beach was fantastic, with almost all of the people nude.

2006 September: Barefoot reporters thought Sweetwater offered the best combination of benefits – water transport to & from Loutro & Chora Sfakion, a limited taverna, lovely water and plenty of room. The tale about the goats is still true!

2007: And other Barefooters found Sweetwater amongst the most beautiful beaches on Crete. You can find almost only naturist people on the beach, and there is a small floating summer cafe at the west end of the beach. Just lovely. Another visitor found only around 30% nudism in August, and felt that while the beach and scenery was spectacular, it had too many textiles for a top rating.

2014 and 2015  July: there are sunbeds near the taverna with a sign: from this point be properly dressed. There is no sign near a group of sunbeds on the east side, so naturism is possible there. It is also the place where people camp, and nudists and textiles go together very well. Relaxed atmosphere.

2016 May: eastern third of the beach completely nude, about 60% walkers, many of whom give up at this point and take the water taxi back.
The boat to Sweetwater leaves from the new harbour at Sfakia at 10.15 am, and goes back at 17.30 pm, and it costs 4 euro. It leaves Loutro at 11.00 am and goes back at 17.00 pm.

2018 September: Sweet Water beach is half dedicated to naturism 100%, the eastern part.

2020 August: Eastern part (~20%) of the beach dedicated to naturism also in high season. Still recommended, great for snorkeling.

2023 September: A larger part of the beach is now covered with sunbeds and umbrellas (nudist section there as well). Just the very eastern part of the beach is not "commercially equipped". Unfortunately the usable depth of the beach has been reduced (a wider part has been fenced off) following the august 2023 earthquake that touched Crete: during our stay there we heard rocks falling from the cliff during several afternoons.

Also some people setup quite large shelters/tarps and reserve the corresponding space… even on days when they do not come to the beach!!! Bad attitude, because Sweetwater can be very busy some days.