Vai Palm Beach on the Greek Crete island is the largest wild palm forest in Europe. How it was formed, what to do on the Vai palm beach and why it attracts more and more tourists from all over the world – you will get to know about it in this publication. This place surprised us very much!

Resting on the beach of the Elounda resort, we explored the most interesting and beautiful places nearby. Surfing through the web pages of the most prestigious travel publications, we came across a unique place that was unconditionally included in our list of places to visit in Crete. And the very next day in the morning, we went on a one-day trip to the Vai palm beach.

The road from the resort of Elounda (where we left) to the beach is 100 km long (and took about 2.5 hours).

Vai Palm Beach is located 28 km east of the city of Sitia and 2 km from the village of Itan.

Along the mostly mountainous serpentine road, we came across such miniature churches-chapels

and amazing landscapes.

Also we noticed something similar to an archaeological excavation from the window of the car. As it turned out later, these were the remains of a Minoan city Gurnia.

Our road to Vai beach ran through mountain gorges, authentic villages and picturesque coasts.

Already a few kilometers away from the beach, it was clear from the surrounding vegetation that we were getting closer and closer to our destination.

The Theophrastus date palm, which grows here, is endemic, which means it is found in a very limited area. The forest occupies an area of more than 200 hectares and is considered the largest wild palm forest in Europe.

How Vai palm forest was formed?

It is believed that this forest was planted by Phoenician colonizers who settled in the village of Itan.

According to another version, Arab pirates once came here and went ashore, they ate the dates they brought with them, and threw the stones on the coast. As a result, a palm grove was formed.

Scientists, looking at the “Phoenix theophrastii” (Phoenix theophrastii), came to the conclusion that dates on the Vai beach have been there since ancient times and it is not thanks to the pirates or Phoenician colonizers.

In the 1980s, Vai palm beach was popular among wildlife enthusiasts from all over the world.

This is the most exotic beach we have ever been to. Very beautiful, luxurious, spreading palm branches create a cozy shade for vacationers, and straw umbrellas fit very harmoniously into the overall picture.

All the necessary infrastructure for recreation is arranged around the beach: parking,

sunbeds with umbrellas, changing cabins, showers, toilets and a cafe-restaurant with a wonderful view of the beach.

The beach is flat and sandy, the seabed here is rocky, with a flat bottom in the central part and sharp stones in its northern part.

The water in the sea was still warm at the end of September.

Resting on the beach, we noticed that people were climbing the mountain like ants. And we wondered where they all were going up. We decided definitely to check later what is interesting there.

There are lots of options for water activities on the shore, including a boat or a jet ski ride. And someone decided to snorkel just near the shore.

This is a great place for an exotic photo shoot.

We just couldn’t tear ourselves away from the tropical beauty. We wanted to take photos at almost every palm tree, because with each step they seemed more and more beautiful.

Some come here for a romantic wedding photo shoot.

It turned out that there was one of the most interesting locations of this place on the mountain – a viewpoint. You can climb the stairs to the site. Spectacular views from the mountain.

We wanted to stay here longer to enjoy that exotic picture, to capture in the memory every piece of the amazing palm forest and the beach next to it.

But we could not stay here for long, because we still had a long way back. Time to get down to ground.

After climbing to the viewpoint and before leaving the Vai palm beach, we decided to have some meal in a local restaurant with delicious Greek cuisine and a fabulous view of the beach.