Matala Beach
- Bohemian
- Sun-bleached
- Remote
A sheltered bay on Crete's wild south coast, where sandstone cliffs riddled with ancient caves loom over golden sand and impossibly clear water — and the counterculture never quite left.
- Bohemian
- Sun-bleached
- Remote
Matala has been many things over the millennia — Roman necropolis, fishing village, and for one glorious decade, the unlikely spiritual home of the global hippie trail. Flower children from across the world set up camp in the clifftop caves above the beach, drawn by the warm Libyan Sea, the remoteness, and an atmosphere of radical freedom. That era is long gone, but Matala wears its past lightly and well: peace symbols still colour the laneways, tavernas spill onto the sand, and the mood remains unhurried in a way that feels genuinely earned rather than performed. The beach itself is a beautiful crescent of coarse golden sand, the cliffs rising dramatically behind it, the caves now protected and open to visitors who can climb and peer out over the bay from the same vantage point that once sheltered a generation of dreamers.
Matala Moon
In 1970, a young Joni Mitchell spent two months living in these caves and left with the lyrics to one of her most beloved songs. Carey — released on her landmark 1971 album Blue — captures the warmth, wildness, and wistfulness of Matala exactly as it was: scratchy rock and roll, a full moon, and the sense that tomorrow would never come.
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