Diving and snorkel
Snorkel on the eastern beaches.
Photo: Nadiia Astakhova / Pexels
Quick facts
- Region
- Lasithi
- Start town
- Sitia
- Typical duration
- 3–4 hours
- Type
- Diving and snorkel
Snorkelling in the far east is a shore entry or a short boat on a calm morning, usually toward the Palekastro bays rather than Vai’s surf. Visibility is good when the wind is down and pointless when it is not. The bottom is rock and seagrass. There is no reason to expect a wall of coral. If the north wind is already on Kouremenos, choose another hour or another day.
Guides meet in Sitia or at Palekastro. Independent swimmers should enter only where the beach is staffed or obviously calm. Morning is the slot.
It suits swimmers who can judge a shore break. Skip it for non-swimmers and for anyone set on a specific cove in a rising wind.
Snorkel on the eastern beaches needs 3–4 hours from Sitia. The months that usually work are May to September. You need to be honest about whether anyone is certified, and you need a calm sea. A south or north wind that stacks up a shore break is a day to cancel, not a day to insist. Confirm the meeting beach in Sitia that morning. Snorkel on the eastern beaches gets in the water on the Sitia coast. Clarity and wind on another shore are a different booking.
Is it worth it
Snorkel on the eastern beaches is worth the hours from Sitia when it suits swimmers who can judge a shore break. Visibility is good when the wind is down and pointless when it is not. If that is the part your group will fight, leave it for another date.
What to bring
- Water and a hat, because Snorkelling in the far east is a shore entry or
- Shoes that match the ground on Snorkel on the eastern beaches. Guides meet in Sitia or at Palekastro. Independent
- A layer for the start in Sitia. May to September still has cool mornings and wind.
- The return hour written down. Snorkel on the eastern beaches takes 3–4 hours, and a second plan the same day is how you miss it.
Tips
- May to September is the window to trust for Snorkel on the eastern beaches. Outside it, ask whether the day is even running.
- Leave Sitia with 3–4 hours clear. Guides meet in Sitia or at Palekastro. Independent swimmers should enter only
- Search “Snorkeling Sitia east Crete” and check that the meeting point really is Sitia.
Related tours
- Day trip
Kouremenos wind and beach
Sitia3–5 hours
Kouremenos is the beach north of Palekastro where the summer wind is the attraction for windsurfers and kite surfers, and the nuisance for everyone else. A lesson is a real product here. A simple swim is better on a rare calm morning or at Chiona next door. The beach is long and lightly built. It is not Vai. Bring what you need. The village of Palekastro is the backup for lunch. The usual length is 3–5 hours, and the months that usually work are May to September. It suits people who came to use the wind, and beginners taking a lesson. Skip it as a family swim on a typical July afternoon. Drive from Sitia via Palekastro. Schools meet on the beach. If you are only swimming, look at the flag and the whitecaps before you commit the day.
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Diving and snorkelDiscover scuba in the Gulf of Mirabello
Agios Nikolaos4–5 hours
An introductory dive from Agios Nikolaos is a first tank with an instructor in shallow gulf water, after a briefing on land. You do not leave certified. The site is sand, rock and seagrass, chosen because it is calm, not because it is famous. A cold, blocked ears or a panic in the pool session are reasons for the instructor to stop. The afternoon wind can move the boat site or cancel the water time. The usual length is 4–5 hours, and the months that usually work are May to October. It suits healthy adults who can swim and want to try a tank once. Skip it if you needed a certification card this week. That is a different, longer course. Centres meet in Agios Nikolaos or Elounda and transfer to the boat. Fill in the medical form honestly. The gulf crossing is part of the hours.
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Sitia bay boat trip
Sitia3–5 hours
A boat from Sitia stays on the bay and the near east coast. It is a swim cruise, not a ferry to a famous island and not the Spinalonga day. Departures are fewer here than in Agios Nikolaos, and the wind at this end of Crete cancels trips often enough that you should have a shore plan. The town harbour is the start. You come back to the same quay. The usual length is 3–5 hours, and the months that usually work are May to October. It suits swimmers based in Sitia on a calm morning. Skip it if you needed Vai. The beach is a road trip, and the boat will not take you there. Confirm the boat the evening before. The harbour is in the centre. Morning is the flat-water slot.
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FAQ
Questions.
- Plan on 3–4 hours from Sitia. It suits swimmers who can judge a shore break.
- May to September. Outside those months the day is often closed, cancelled, or a different trip. Ask the day before you leave Sitia.
- Guides meet in Sitia or at Palekastro. Independent swimmers should enter only where the beach is staffed or obviously calm. Morning is the slot.
- It suits swimmers who can judge a shore break. Skip it for non-swimmers and for anyone set on a specific cove in a rising wind.
- Snorkel on the eastern beaches is worth the hours from Sitia when it suits swimmers who can judge a shore break. Visibility is good when the wind is down and pointless when it is not. If that is the part your group will fight, leave it for another date.