Hiking To Bolis Lagoon

8/7/2018

When we initially read that Bolis Lagoon was an hour drive from Kissamos, we figured it was a good 40-50km away. As you might imagine, finding out it was a mere 9 miles away came with quite the shock. Leaving the Airbnb I navigated our little Beemer (a car I’m really starting to enjoy) through the quiet town and out around the bay to an area full of farming land, olive trees, and crop fields. There was one other car with what looked like tourists inside, stopped on the edge of the road asking a local for directions which, given the road and time, I assumed were to the same beach we were headed towards. Thankfully our cell phone plans have unlimited international data and we’ve been able to utilize Google Maps since we first got here, so we passed by politely and continued following the little blue digital breadcrumb trail my phone was leading us down. Not much further down the road the olive trees gave way to rocky hills as the road turned to dirt, cut into the side of the terrain with a jagged and steep cliff as the only thing between us and the deep blue water of Kissamos Harbor.

Unexpected visitors

Hiking to the beach

We followed along at a comfortable pace, Dani peering out the passenger window and reminiscing about the same feeling of driving up New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington Auto Road for the first time last fall, slightly unnerved about the pitch of the slope next to us and her proximity to the edge. Another few kilometers up the road we ran into something I wouldn’t have expected, a pack of wild mountain goats blocking the road. I creeped the car up to them as they reluctantly moved out of the way, allowing us passage towards the beach parking lot. Dust kicked up behind us as we continued on, reaching a small flat area at the end of the long dirt road where we again found ourselves in the company of only a half dozen other cars. The funny thing about this lot was the elevation and complete lack of ocean water. Not one of the blogs we had researched or photos we had seen had ever alluded to the 1.5 mile hike over the mountain at the end of the peninsula in order to make it to the beach. The hike was rocky but somewhat graded over the pass, then began a surprising 500-vertical-foot descent down to the immaculate water below us. The descent itself was done with a makeshift staircase built by the Cretans, a genius move in my opinion to prevent the degradation of the hillside by people traipsing around. The stone “path” probably works wonders to keep everyone in line, though as we descended we saw only two other couples making their way down to the waters edge.

Panoramic of Bolis Lagoon

Our beachfront view

Hiking down into Bolis Lagoon

We picked out beach chairs and an umbrella and settled down for some reading and soaking in the sunshine, initially sharing the beach with maybe a dozen people. As the day progressed and sun moved across the sky, hundreds of others arrived by sailboat, ferryboat, and foot, the beach that had been so tranquil again becoming a madhouse. I thought to myself how adventures a few summers back while getting my sailing licenses had allowed me access to beaches the masses simply couldn’t get to, and how privileged I had been to experience that. It seems more and more now that places that were probably once filled with solitude are now known to the entire world with a click of their computer keyboard (we’re absolutely guilty of this too) and filled with people instead. These thoughts lingered on in my mind throughout the day, and around 15h00 we packed up and began the literal hike back to the car. The climb up was a little more difficult in the 90+ degree heat, but we made it back to the parking lot without incident, finding it overflowing with a hundred or more cars.

It took some convincing to move the mountain goats out from behind our rental car’s shade, but once they were gone and the car was packed we headed back down the long dirt road to town. I was surprised to see even more cars lining the cliff side of the already narrow route, parked as best they could in order to access the beach. Having not eaten, we stopped at an upscale hotel back towards the olive groves and had a small afternoon snack while overlooking the bay from their restaurant deck. As it turned out, our waiter's family lives in the United States and owns a very large Boston-based grocery store chain, Market Basket. He enjoyed conversation with us and even brought us free dessert before we left. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing utilitarian things like laundry and repacking, followed by great naps that brought us right up to dinner time. For simplicity and enjoyment we returned to Maria’s, the same restaurant as the night before, sharing more of the baked feta cheese, calamari, and salmon. Discussing the plans for tomorrow, we’ve decided to head out early driving back east towards Chanya, then on to explore the famous seaside town of Rethimno before making the final push to our Airbnb in the busy port town of Heraklion.