Sissi and Milatos: Tiny Harbours East of Malia

Drive 15 minutes east of Malia, turn off the national road, and the volume drops. Sissi and Milatos are the last two villages on this stretch of coast before the road climbs towards Agios Nikolaos, and neither got the resort memo. They are small, harbour-centred and unhurried, and they suit travellers who want the convenience of the north coast, about 40 to 45 minutes from Heraklion Airport, without any of its noise.

Sissi and its fjord

Sissi's harbour is the smallest thing of its kind on the coast: a narrow, crooked inlet, almost a miniature fjord, where a dozen fishing boats sit on green water below taverna terraces. Evenings here consist of choosing which side of the inlet to eat on. The village has grown a modest ring of apartments and one or two larger hotels on its edges, but the centre remains a few lanes deep. Swimming happens at Boufos, the sandy double cove just east of the harbour, sheltered, shallow and rarely crowded, or at the small beaches towards the hotel zone. A coastal path links the coves, and walking it in the early evening with the light going amber over the Gulf is the best free entertainment in the area.

Milatos, village and cave

Milatos is two places: a sleepy inland village on the slope, and a skala, a tiny seaside annexe, ten minutes below it, where pebble beaches stretch either side of a handful of fish tavernas that locals drive out from Agios Nikolaos to eat at. The water over the pebbles is exceptionally clear. The area's most sobering sight is up a gorge path east of the village: the cave of Milatos, a wide, low cavern where in 1823, during the Cretan uprising, thousands of villagers sheltering from Ottoman forces were besieged and ultimately killed or enslaved. A small chapel inside holds their memory. The walk to it takes about 20 minutes from the car park and the cave's scale only reveals itself once you are inside; bring a torch.

Where they fit in a holiday

Neither village offers nightlife beyond dinner, water sports beyond a pedalo, or shopping beyond a minimarket. That is the deal, and the upside is everything around them. Malia's Minoan palace and surprisingly good old village are 15 minutes west; our Malia guide covers both. Agios Nikolaos, Elounda and the boat to Spinalonga are 25 minutes east, making the best of east Crete an easy day out. The Lasithi Plateau is under an hour up the mountain.

Practical notes: a car is useful here but not essential if you are content with harbour life and the local coves, since taxis cover the short hops to Malia and beyond. Book harbour-side tables in August, and check locally for the small boat trips that run along the coast in season. Choose Sissi for the prettier harbour and slightly more infrastructure, Milatos for the quieter beaches and the better fish. Either way you will eat well, sleep well and wonder why the rest of the coast shouts so much.