Psili Ammos Beach – Greek Landscapes

Psili Ammos is one of the best beaches in eastern Crete. It’s wide, deep, and feels secluded despite being next door to one of the busies beaches of Crete, Vai. Vai beach is so well promoted, that most visitors don’t even know Psili Ammos is a short walk over the headland.

Psili Ammos beach in Vai, Crete — Psilli Ammos beach is just over the southern headland of Vai beach, but it is completely secluded.

Name: Psili Ammos beach (Ψιλή Άμμος)
Location: Lasithi, eastern Crete, Greece
Click here to see it on the map and to get directions
Overall Rating: 5/5
Joy Index (What the Water Felt Like): 5/5
Beach Berm: Sand
Seafloor: Sand and rocks
Access: There is no road to Psili Ammos beach. To get there you need to drive or take the bus to the nearby Vai beach.From there, climb up the steps to the observation post on the south end of Vai. Behind the kiosk you will see a footpath. This will lead you to Psili Ammos beach.You might have to find a way to go over the chain-link fence, but it is usually trampled by the previous hikers. You will reach the beach in about 5 minutes from there.
Amenities: There is nothing around the beach, but you can always climb back out to Vai beach where you will find plenty of restaurants and bars.
Snorkeling: The rocks at the south and north ends of Psili Ammos beach are a good place to snorkel.

Notes: Psili Ammos is nicely secluded because most bathers prefer the nearby Vai beach. Either because they prefer to be in close proximity to other bathers, or because they like the amenities of Vai.

Most likely, most bathers stay at Vai beach because they have no idea that such a beautiful swimming spot exists a short hike away.

It’s just as well because besides the beautiful expanse of soft sand and the crystal clear waters, a beach that is so secluded is a good thing in our book.

About Our Beach Rating

Our beach reports are based on personal on-site visits.

Beach Rating Scale:

5 = Superb! Best we visited. We would travel around the world to swim there again.
4 = Excellent. We would travel across Greece to swim there.
3 = Good. We would choose it among other beaches if we were in the area.
2 = Average. We would return to this beach if we were in the area, but not as our first choice.
1 = Disappointing. The beach was fine for one visit. We would return if desperate.

Sea Water Rating Scale:

5 = The sea water felt wonderful and clean. We would go way out of our way to swim there again.
4 = The sea water felt good and we would go out of our way to swim there again.
3 = The water felt nice and clean. We would swim there again if we were in the area.
2 = Nice sea. We had a good swim but did not notice anything special or unusual about the water.
1 = The sea water was not very inviting when we visited.

The beach reports and ratings are based on our simple (and unscientific) observations during our visit.
We enjoy the sea water when it’s crystal-clear and cooler rather than warm. We don’t enjoy swimming among flotsam any kind.
We also like the sand to be clean of debris, and a bit more more coarse than the fine, “sticky” kind. We also prefer the more undeveloped beaches (ie. the ones without bars, music, loud crowds, or salespeople).
Certain beaches we have visited once, while many we have seen several times. It is possible that conditions have changed since our visit, so use these reports as another point of reference in your research.