Vai Beach and its palm forest

Vai: the beach and the palm grove of Theophrastus

At the eastern edge of Crete, where the Sideros peninsula reaches out into the Carpathian Sea between Cape Sideros and Cape Plaka, a crescent of pale, fine sand opens between two rocky spurs; only at its northern end does the sand give way to pebbles. The bay lies 24 kilometres east of Sitia and six from Palekastro, the nearest village – a drive of about two hours from Heraklion. It is sheltered from the wind, the water stays shallow a long way out and is exceptionally clear, which makes for good bathing, children included. A small rocky islet sits picturesquely in the middle of the bay. What sets Vai apart, though, is the green behind it: a dense wood of palms that comes right down to the sand and has turned the bay into one of the best-known views on the island. In summer the beach is fully equipped, with sunbeds, parasols, water sports, a taverna and café among the palms, showers, and a pay car park some 200 metres back from the shore; precisely because of the crowds, the conservation rules deserve to be taken seriously.

A forest from antiquity

The grove consists of the Cretan date palm, which owes its scientific name to Theophrastus, the botanist of Aristotle’s school, who mentioned palms on Crete as early as the 4th century BC; Greuter chose the name in his honour when he described the species. The place name itself goes back to the Greek word vagia, the palm fronds of Palm Sunday. Local tradition has it that Arab pirates camped here and spat out the stones of the dates they had brought with them, from which the forest grew; other versions speak of Egyptian soldiers or Phoenician traders. Botany says otherwise: this is a native species, and a stand that, in the judgement of scientists, has existed for some two thousand years.

The grove numbers about 5,000 palms on some 250 stremmata – that is, 25 hectares – and the protected valley as a whole is considerably larger. The wood was once far more extensive: until 1957, when a large agricultural scheme grubbed up most of it, palms are said to have covered around 300 hectares, and what survived was barely a dozen. More important, Vai is not a plantation but a natural coastal ecosystem of palms, dunes, oleander, mastic bushes and springs that keep the valley floor damp; after a wet winter a shallow seasonal lake sometimes forms among the trunks. Around 550 plant species have been recorded in the surrounding area, among them dozens that grow only on Crete and the neighbouring islands. The grove was declared an “aesthetic forest” in 1973, belongs to the European Natura 2000 network of protected sites, and lies within the Sitia UNESCO Global Geopark, recognised in 2015. The land itself has for centuries been the property of Toplou Monastery.

This strictness has a history. In the early 1970s the hippies driven out of Matala moved on to Vai, followed by backpackers from all over the world who camped among the trunks – with campfires, rubbish and considerable damage to the trees; by the early 1980s the grove had become a permanent campsite and something close to a tip. Since it was fenced and cleared in the 1980s the forest has visibly recovered. The finest view of it is had by climbing the steps cut into the rock at the southern end of the beach to the viewing platform: from above, the valley of palms looks like an oasis among bare, ochre hills.

Neighbouring beaches and paths

North of Vai lie the ruins of Itanos and the three beaches at the foot of the ancient city; a small cove can also be reached on foot in about five minutes from the northern end of the main beach. To the south come quieter stretches of coast with no facilities at all, first the little bay of Psili Ammos, a few minutes’ walk from the viewpoint and prized for its seclusion. Chochlakies, with its coves of shingle and sand, deserves a mention of its own: from this hamlet on the road to Zakros a short gorge leads down to the lonely beach of Karoumes. The Sitia Geopark has waymarked two walking routes, one from Erimoupoli to Vai and a circuit over the hill of Skopeli. All of them cross open, shadeless country; in summer you need plenty of water, protection from the sun – and respect for the fences of the palm grove.

Between late morning and mid-afternoon in high season Vai is very crowded, because that is when the excursion coaches arrive. Those who come early in the morning or towards evening find the bay quieter and in better light – and can easily combine the visit with Itanos, Toplou Monastery or Palekastro.