Extreme sports to do in Crete
Crete is Greece’s largest island and offers ancient landmarks and white sand but also holidays full of active fun. Pack your bag, hiking boots, and a hut and explore the adrenaline-junkie’s paradise complete with hidden caves, gorges, trails, and off-road safari. Across the whole island, you can find a big variety of extreme sports for every taste. Find the one that suits you best from the list below:
Scuba diving
Either you are a certified scuba diver or not, Crete offers many diving centers to choose from no matter where you are staying. Old and new shipwrecks, big sea animals, underwater caves, and spectacular beauty. Here are just a few to check out around the island:
Divers Club Crete: offers two locations in the north of Crete, one in Agia Pelagia, and since 2016 also in Hersonissos.
Kalypso Dive Centre: Located in the Kalypso Cretan Village Resort and Spa, in the south of Crete.
Hiking
An extreme sport in Crete that you do not need to be extra fit, is Hiking. Pack your hiking boots, wake up early in the morning and start exploring the island. Worth mentioning is that the E4 European long-distance path that crosses the island from Kissamos to Zakros, after crossing all major Mountain Ranges in Crete (White Mountains, Kedros, Ida Range, Dikti, and Tripti). Hikers can explore a wide range of landscapes of great diversity. Apart from the E4, there are plenty of options for majestic mapped routes.
Rock climbing
Rock climbing is one of the most famous extreme sports in Crete. The whole island is full of rocks and mountains ready to be climbed. Among others, Kapetaniana is the best rock climbing area in Crete. The rock climbing is based around the isolated village of Kapetaniana, right above the Ai Giannis and therefore offers remote and peaceful rock climbing. It is almost 75Km from the Heraklion airport and thus is very accessible. 6 areas are offering single pitch sport routes from 15 to 40m long, plus a small amount of traditional climbing on Mount Kofinas, which are up to 150m long. And after the whole day of rock climbing and/or rappelling the mountain, you can enjoy the village Ai Giannis in a traditional house with a wonderful sea view and unique energy. You can find more info here.
Surf/kite surf/ sup/ water sports
Basically in the north part of Crete, on the organized beaches, you can enjoy many water extreme sports such as Surf of Kite Surf, SUP, Jet skiing, Sailing, and more. Either renting the equipment either visiting a certified center to teach you or taking you for a ride is an unforgettable experience. Here are some spots that you can visit:
SUP/Surf: Mykonaki – Kokkini Chani, Heraklion
Kite surf: Ammoudara Beach – iKite
Sailing: Lygaria – Sailing in Crete
Canyoning
By far Crete is the best host of Canyoning. As the whole island is full of gorges, some of them are easily accessible by inexperienced people with no need for equipment, and some others are accessible only to those who have great mountaineering experience and special gear. For extreme sports lovers, one of the most known gorges – and the longest in Europe (16Km length) – is Samaria gorge. Visitors can descend into the gorge and walk for about 6 to 8 hours. The path runs downhill and is quite easy but requires strong, comfortable footwear and some degree of physical fitness.
Another impressive – and one of the most beautiful – gorges in Europe is Ha gorge. It is a steep and difficult to reach gorge that requires special equipment and an experienced crew.
Mountain climbing
Mountain climbing in Crete can be a challenging and rewarding adventure. Crete is a very mountainous island and the largest of all the Greek Islands. It is home to three tall mountain ranges, all three reaching more than 2000m in elevation, so perfect for mountain climbing. You can find more information about mountain and trail paths at www.cretanbeaches.com
Paragliding
If you are an extreme sports lover, you should definitely try paragliding. With an experienced guide can help you during the whole process and paragliding above Falassarna beach will definitely highlight your holidays. Find more info here.
Bungy Jumping
Right inside the Aradaina gorge in Chania, there is the Aradaina bridge with a total height of 138m. This total height makes it the tallest bridge in Greece that you can bungee and only the second in Europe. The bungee jump from this bridge will definitely turn your holidays into an unforgettable endorphin rush. Let the professionals do the rest.
Find more information here.
Skydiving
And of course, the King of all kinds of extreme sports is skydiving. Crete is also the ideal place to visit for people that skydiving crossed their minds one or so. Having the professional pilot accompany you, there is nothing to be scared of. The breathtaking view of Crete above 4,000 meters, will definitely make a vacation in Crete island, unforgettable. More info here.
