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The palm-fronted beach at Vai (right), used in the "Bounty Hunters" commercial, is a great tourist attraction and coaches arrive from all over Crete. I fear that those who have travelled for hours to reach it will be disappointed. A poster picturing the beach through a row of palm trees is widely available, but how many visitors realise that this picturesque scene has now been ruined by a large taverna and shop placed in exactly that spot. The beach is dotted with sunshades and a wooden walkway stretches from one end to the other. It is not used by nudists.
To the south, a short and pleasant walk over the headland leads to a smaller beach called Psili Ammos. Pass in front of the 'restaurant' and then go up the hill on the stairs to the viewpoint. At the viewpoint there's a fence with a gate, go through it (it's not closed) and follow the signs on the path saying 'Nudist Beach, FKK'. A 10 minute walk brings you to Psili Ammos beach, which is sandy on the shore, but there are larger pebbles in the seabed, so don't expect the sandy bottom of Vai beach.
On the occasion of my contributors' visit there were about a dozen people on the beach of whom about half were nude. The numbers, and the proportion, varied throughout their stay of about three hours. It is then a wonderfully quiet beach considering what's just round the corner. People did wander over the headland but few strayed down to the beach and there was no sense of discomfort. Beyond the beach it is possible to walk further by climbing onto the next headland and continuing further south. Here there are spectacular inlets (all completely inaccessible) and rocky cliffs. My contributor walked naked for about 45 minutes and saw no-one in a wild and completely desolate landscape.
1999: described the beach south of Vai over the headland as one of the best on Crete. It is sandy and truly nudist. About five couples and one man were there when my correspondent visited it.
2000: 'Disappointing'. Proportions down to 2 nude couples in the rocks and 10 textiles, not even topless but at least there were no umbrellas on the beach. Unfortunately a report from September 2000 suggests it was full of textiles. This beach seems to change its character all the time.
Still other reports said that the ambiance was very relaxed, very quiet, and a really enjoyable place for swimming in the perfectly clear water and walking on the beach.
2001: a contributor found the beach dominated by textiles and had to go to the back of the beach to sunbathe naked, and swim in a costume.
2004: A couple of Barefoot reporters who visited found the beach textile, so decided to go snorkelling and swim to the small rock/island. From there they discovered that just to the north of Vai was another beach.
"We swam back ashore, took our bags and walk north around the rocks and there we found some other nudists that we decided to join. It was a great place to sun just around the corner from all the tourists. Only downside: the driver of the speedboat with a banana behind it thought us nudists were a great attraction for his passengers, so every trip he navigated very close to the beach, making a sudden turn with the result that all his passengers fell off the banana and had to climb on it again or swim ashore."
2006: According to a report, to the north of Vai beach (go 500m [probably less] on foot from the main beach) there are two beautiful small beaches with 3 or 4 couples 100% nude. According to a later report, these beaches are coarse sand/fine shingle, between Vai and South Itanos, probably best accessed by wading/scrambling round from Vai. You can scramble down the cliffs but it is loose and serious. Confident swimmers could swim from South Itanos. These beaches are beautiful and clean.
2011: On the Monday there were 4 couples with only us naked, and on the Thursday there were 3 couples all nude. In any case, arriving before 10.30 am allows you to be among the very first and be naked without problem, at least up to early afternoon in the worst-case scenario (if many newcomers come and all stay clothed). This beach is absolutely beautiful, with marvellous sand, view and water. Please enjoy it and keep it nude!
2015: The main beach and car parks were extremely busy, so I headed over the hill, passing on the way a large notice made out of a pallet, with a "Nudist Beach" warning in 5 different languages on the top 5 bars. Notwithstanding this, when I arrived on the beach about 1430 I found some 30 people, all clothed. Since the beach was otherwise perfect, I resolved to make the proper use of it, chose a fairly prominent spot, spread my towel, stripped and presently fell asleep. When I woke, there were only 5 people on the beach, all nude! Had I scared the textiles away or was there some other explanation? Back at the car park, a row of coaches that had filled one end had entirely disappeared… So go later in the day, or early.
2016: We visited the southern beach as a couple. The multi-language sign is still there and there are now a number of stones with white painted words declaring the naturist status of the beach in many languages. It was our first time in Eastern Crete. On arrival there were three textile families (one lady was topless) and no sign of any nudists. Oh dear, what to do? We settled down in the lee of the hill (left side of beach facing the sea) and decided to try. Having shed our clothes we walked the few steps to the sea and went for a swim, then returned to our towels and lay down. My wife lay back and enjoyed the sun, I reclined reading my book and looking around occasionally. Before long the lady of the family next to us shed her top. Other people came to the beach from over the hill, those that stayed the lady went topless, and one other couple settled on the far side of the beach and lay out nude. By the time we had to leave there was still only the one other couple nude, but now all the female members of the family groups were topless. We had spent a lovely time swimming and sunning nude on this lovely uncrowded beach. We recommend you visit and go nude, who knows who might join in.
We visited the southern beach as a couple one morning. We found it entirely empty and were the first ones to settle. What a good surprise! we felt to be some kind of modern Crusoë, enjoying the hot pebble beach and the transparent waters. Later on a middle-aged German couple joined, as well as a young man. Some textiles joined later - coming snorkelling here from the northern beach and apparently not feeling very well- a little embarrassed maybe? Anyway the beach was big enough for everybody. What a fantastic day we had!
2017: There are lots of signs on the path that say "Naturist Beach" in many languages. No-one is going to be surprised by naked bodies after the signs. We arrived between 2:00 & 3:00pm. The beach had about fifteen people, some textile, some nude. The textile people did not seem to be bothered by the nude people. Later in the day a few young couples arrived, all of whom promptly took off their clothes. The beach is wonderful, the water crystal clear. The beach was absolutely clean - not one bit of litter. There is clearly a bring-it-in take-it-out culture. Maybe it gets nudist unfriendly in July and August, but it was great this week.
2018: We had them all to ourselves for a morning. Great snorkelling too but watch out for the conger eel! The one time this trip when I wished I had been wearing trunks!
2020: The beach in the photos above is Psili Ammos Beach which is a 10 minute walk over the headland to the south of Vai. Mainly naturist in September. Interesting to see a few couples who obviously had come over Vai, cast off their clothes and have a skinny dip. Then head back to Vai.
2023: There are still many "Nudist beach, FKK etc." signs along the path from Vai beach to Psili Ammos, yet textiles don't get the point. About 20-30% naturist in early August, but few people overall (10-15), everyone had a place.
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