Kourtaliotiko Gorge and Preveli beach.

Kourtaliotiko and Preveli is a south-coast half day, not a second Samaria. The gorge sits in the hills above Plakias, where the road drops through a rocky cleft toward the Libyan Sea. Most visits are a short walk from the road into the gorge, a look at the cliffs and the riverbed, and then the drive down to Preveli. Preveli is the palm beach where a river meets the sea. You reach the sand by a path from the car park or by boat from Plakias or Agia Galini. A guided day from Rethymno strings the gorge, the viewpoint and the beach into four to six hours plus the drive. It is a different shape of day from a gorge you enter at dawn and leave by boat at dusk.

The walk inside Kourtaliotiko is optional and short compared with Imbros. People go for the scale of the cliffs and the cooler air in the cleft, then they swim. The palm beach has a river mouth you can wade, a stony entry to the sea, and a climb back to the car park that is steeper than it looks from the top. In summer the beach is busy and the path is hot. In May and late September you get the same geography with fewer people and a real chance of a free patch of shade under the palms. The monastery of Preveli is a separate stop above the coast. Include it only if the group wants a short cultural pause. It is not on the sand.

This day suits travellers based in Rethymno or Plakias who want a gorge and a swim without giving up the evening. It is an easy introduction for people who will never do Samaria. It is too little gorge for hikers who came for a full descent, and too much driving for a group that wants to stay on the town beach. If you are in Plakias already, you can do the beach by boat and skip the organised Rethymno coach entirely. That is often the better version.