Crete - Chania

The nesting beach of Chania is located in Northern Crete, west of the city of Chania. It has a total length of approximately 13 km and is particularly popular during the summer months. The beach hosts an average of about 100 loggerhead nests each year.

You can meet the ARCHELON volunteers and find out more about sea turtles at the Information Station at the old port.

Attention beach users!

You are sharing the beaches with the protected loggerhead sea turtles. Sea turtles are globally protected species.

How to enjoy the beach without disturbing the breeding sites of the sea turtles

We are all welcome in the beach from sunrise to sunset. Please avoid the beaches during night hours.

Also, keep in mind that…

• driving on the beach and sand dunes is forbidden
• all beach furniture and umbrellas must be put away at night to allow space for sea turtles to nest
• the use of artificial lights, bonfires and parties on the beach at night are not allowed.

Turn off or cover the lights!

Help keep the beaches quiet and dark at night! Mother- sea turtles need free space in dark and quiet beaches to come ashore and lay their nests. When the baby turtles hatch, they will find their way to the sea by following the light of the moon and the stars. Artificial lights on the beach confuse the hatchlings, which will lose their way to the sea, and will die from dehydration or get run over by cars.

Help us keep the beaches free of artificial lights! Ask everyone to turn off any lights that reach the beach after 11pm!

More than 500 volunteers from all over the world help us protect the sea turtles in Greece every year. In 2022 about 85 Loggerhead sea turtle nests were recorded and protected by ARCHELON' volunteers/researchers on 14 km of nesting beach in 2022, despite the intense tourist activity in Chania.

The nesting beaches of Chania bay, along with other neighboring areas of high natural value, have been included in the European Union Natura 2000 network under the code GR4340003 "CHERSONISOS RODOPOU – PARALIA MALEME -KOLPOS CHANION".

ARCHELON- the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece was founded in 1983 and is a non-profit Association active all over Greece. All of ARCHELON activities in the Peloponnese, which include monitoring and protecting the reproduction of sea turtles, and raising public awareness, are performed in close collaboration with the local authorities.