Plakias is the way it is because of where it is, a fair distance from both airports.
There are similar sized resorts with similar beaches much nearer to both Heraklion and Chania and they have developed faster and in different ways from Plakias.
Lots of people choose their holidays based on cost as the most important factor.
So the resorts nearer to the airports (and therefore cheaper) get those holidaymakers and develop accordingly.
If you don't mind the crowds, the burger bars, the noisy discos and the obnoxious drunks, go to one of the 'popular' north coast resorts.
People who like Plakias are prepared to pay the price of the extra travelling time from the airport.
Hello John,
When I first read your E-Mail I thought that it wasn't true about Plakias being the way it is because of its distance from the airports and greater cost. However, I had a look at the Cretan properties offered by Olympic and Kosmar and it is true that the resorts furthest from the airports (Plakias and Paleohora were the examples I looked at) were a bit more expensive than those nearer, both at the times I tend to go (May) and high season. It wasn't a huge difference though (up to 10%) and there were discrepancies.
I would be interested to know from someone well versed in the social history of Greece why different resorts have evolved so differently and I don't have a particular theory myself. Indeed some islands such as Kos, Zakynthos and Corfu are relatively small so none of their resorts involves a lengthy and expensive transfer. However, they have widely varying resort types. Compare Kardamena and Tingaki on Kos, Kavos and Agios Georgious (often referred to St George South) on Corfu and Laganas and Vassilikos on Zakynthos.
Clearly main stream tour operators believe that price is the main consideration. One of the reasons First Choice pulled out of Plakias may have been that their offerings were so cheap that they couldn't make a profit and that they believed the market wouldn't bear a price increase. However, Olympic, offering the same Kostas Chrysoulla for 5-10% more, presumably can.
Anyway, I'm glad that Greece does have such a wide diversity of resorts because there is no way I would ever go to the likes of Malia or Faliraki. Plakias is changing, but so far none of the changes has made it significantly less attractive to me and I hope that some of the things flagged up on this Forum for the future won't change that any time soon.
Mike