Chrissi Island (Ierapetra)

Gavdos Island

Matala – Offshore Walls

Selinos Gorge Underwater (Paleochora)

The Valleys (Plakias)

The south coast eats simply from the Libyan Sea and the garden: grilled grouper, red mullet, dako and kalitsounia, with the island’s olive oil and raki. The villages are relaxed and very local, and the seafood is excellent. Across Crete (South Coast, Libyan Sea), the table leans on olive oil, lemon, herbs and the day's catch, with grilled fish, horiatiki salad and slow-cooked stews appearing everywhere. Mezedes — small shared plates — are the social heart of an evening, best washed down with a chilled local white or ouzo. Vegetarians are well served by dishes built on wild greens, pulses and cheese, and bakeries turn out savoury pies through the day.

Plakias Bay Hotel

Paleochora Hotels

Matala Village Hotel

Ierapetra Village Hotel

Gavdos Studios

Crete’s south coast faces the open Libyan Sea and offers the island’s wildest, clearest and most pristine diving. Plakias and Paleochora hide underwater valleys, gorges and caverns full of groupers and nudibranchs, while Matala’s offshore walls drop into deep blue with tuna and pelagics. Ierapetra’s Chrissi Island is a Caribbean-like shallow reef with turtles and parrotfish, perfect for training and photography, and remote Gavdos is an untouched wall world with huge schools of barracuda, tuna, dolphins and even sperm whales. With fewer crowds than the north, a long season and dramatic gorges reaching the sea, the south coast is for divers who want space, clarity and a true sense of frontier Greece.

Crete (South Coast, Libyan Sea)

Fly into Chania (CHQ) or Heraklion (HER), then drive south across the island (about 1.5-2 hours) to Plakias, Paleochora, Matala or Ierapetra. A rental car is essential; boat trips to Chrissi and Gavdos leave from the south-coast harbours.

Dive Sites in Crete (South Coast, Libyan Sea)

Chrissi Island (Ierapetra)

Gavdos Island

Matala – Offshore Walls

Selinos Gorge Underwater (Paleochora)

The Valleys (Plakias)