Last summer I tried with my wife vacation in Crete, just to get a little warmer because the summer was gloomy in France.

Luckily there is a naturist hotel in the southwest of the island in an arid part.

Vritomartis hotel is like an oasis in the desert!

There is the main hotel building

and some bungalows spread around.

The pool this season was the center of life otherwise it was too hot… the water was over 30°C and the palm trees and umbrellas were essential!

That’s me training with the decoration of the gardens!

The official nudist beach of Vritomartis is about 1 km away. You can go there by car or you can walk there naked or dressed…

Sometimes the sea was moving a lot!!!

Just next to the beach there is a cave pretty nice and cool

and small coves along the rocky coast.

I spent some time hanging on the rocks!

The beach Glyka Nera or “Sweet Water” beach is worth visiting. Clean drinkable water resurges from the mountain through the sand to the beach. That’s why there are some trees for shade.

You can get at Glyka Nera from Sfakia either by walking through a vertiginous mountain trail

or more leisurely by boat (shuttle or taxi)

While sea water is refreshed by the underground water supplies you can always clean yourself with the clean water coming from the mountains.

From this beach you can continue the ride by the beautiful coastal path to the village of Loutro which is not served by any road and you can get there only by boat or hiking.

In the month of August under the intense heat there are not many people taking the trail to Loutro, so I have hiked almost the entire course naked, wearing the sarong a few hundred meters from the village and to cross 2 or 3 people who were coming the other way

Mandatory swimming in each cove, sunscreen and regular hydration were really important during the hike!

Goats haven’t said anything, seeing me naked…

We visited another naturist beach about twenty minutes drive towards Frangokastello with high sand dune adjoining the cliff.

The skin of our feet was burned during the descent from the sand dune even through we wore shoes. Naturism at this beach is practiced in the narrowest part.

Nearby there are blue-gray clay cliffs

which it is customary to coat yourself with…

until a good degree of protection!

And cleaning with sea water afterwards … !!!

For hiking the only way to start is early and stay as much as possible in the shade.

As there is no real forest apart from some beautiful olive groves.

The solution is to wander down to the bottom of deep gorges that cut into the south of the island.

We started our hiking at Aradena, a gorge in the region of Sfakia.

Two superb trails on both sides of the village used to join at the back of the gorge

and go 130m below the bridge that allows vehicles to cross the precipice (bungee jumping from the bridge is possible!)

The goats also went down to chill! The trail of Aradena Gorge is well-marked, but its better not to hold at the railings all the time since they are not really to CE standards.

The walk is long and because of the intense heat there were only a few people hiking in the gorge. For that reason i could hike naked almost all the way to the end.

It is unfortunate that we didn’t know how to reach the sea from Aradena Gorge so that we could arrange a boat pick-up that would take us back to the hotel.

A few days after we saw the beach of Aradena gorge at a naturist boat trip we attended organized by Vritomartis hotel.

When our reserve of water was almost depleted we decided to turn back but we avoided the passage with the railings and we followed another passage that had huge boulders stuck in the gorge with old scales that you could use to go up.

Easy and impressive!

The end of the gorge was a bit difficult because there was no more shade and the intense heat along with our exhausted water supplies made it very hard… I made the camel that my lady did not fail to photograph!

The pint of cold beer we enjoyed at the gateway of Aradena was really appreciated!

As mentioned previously a few days after Aradena gorge we attended a naturist boat trip organized by the hotel.

The Cretan captain took us naturists to discover a few secluded local beaches that were accessible only by boat and there was no one around so we stayed most of the times in the nude.

At our first stop i enjoyed a walk under water…

and took the opportunity to try a new swimsuit!

Our second stop was at a wide beach with a 9th century chapel in the middle

After a lunch in Loutro (we had to get clothed there) we continued our ride for one more stop at Sweet Water beach which I have already presented to you in the beginning of my article.

After that we have had time to drool over other charming smalls beaches that we passed by during our return.

After we returned back to the hotel what could we do? The shower was already occupied

The only thing that remained was to hit the bottom… of the pool …

We participated at one more excursion that was organized by the hotel. Another gorge walk, less spectacular than Aradena but very quiet and also in the nude!

We took the 4×4 pickup to reach the top of the mountain

Let’s go !

For many vacationers it was the baptism for naked hiking. Not for me…

How does this beast here is called ?

It was too hot once more so we were very happy when we reached the sea

One more chance for snorkeling

and between the rocks

The most common fish around is the girelle … but they are so beautiful!

You should know that at August in Crete even at night, the temperature doesn’t really go below 30°C.

Then we have the full moon days

ideal conditions for a “moon hiking” at the seaside

and playing with the moon shine …

Just below the hotel, there is another beach that is not an official naturist beach… but actually has low attendance… so it can easily become one.

At some meters from the trail there is a chapel hidden in the cliffs. As often in Crete the door is not locked even if precious objects are present. The respect is still there …

At this beach , there are also beautiful rocks worked by the sea

and an underwater cave with an input from the beach and another from the sea-side

One more opportunity to go rock climbing

before enjoying one more dive.

This was my naturist experience in Crete!

I really enjoyed this freedom…

This article participates at Vritomartis Winter Contest – Share Your Cretan Naturist Experience! If you also want to take part at our contest and win 300 Euro in Prizes all you got to do is follow these 5 simple steps http://blog.vritomartis.com/share-your-cretan-naturist-experience/

Do you want to learn more about Vritomartis Naturist Resort and live the Vritomartis experience yourself? Visit our multilingual website vritomartis.com