Now back from Plakias after our 10 day stay.
We flew out from Leeds Bradford on 9th September with Ryanair on the early morning flight to arrive in Chania at 1pm local time.
Not a good flight.
We got down to about 20 feet from the ground when the pilot decided not to land that time but to pull up abruptly and go around for another attempt.
We finally landed that time but this is not a good way to start a holiday.
Its a good job we packed extra underwear.
However, that was the only bad news for the rest of the 10 day stay.
Picked a car up at the airport and drove from Chania down to Plakias in about 1 hour 45 mins (we are not fast drivers)
Stayed with George at Creta Mare as usual and again, as usual, the stay here was faultless.
The place is kept spotlessly clean and the views from our room was breathtaking.
Breakfast is good, extensive and eaten on the patio overlooking the beach.
Now to the holiday:
Firstly the weather.
It is a cliché to say we never saw a cloud in the sky but for our 10 day stay, we never did see a cloud.
Mid day temperature ranged from 36deg down to 32 deg but was made bearable by a light (ish) wind.
Sea sometimes a bit rough but never too rough to prevent swimming and was beautiful and warm but still refreshing.
The best weather and beach holiday we have ever had in Plakias.
I can not comment on the sun bed wars at the far end.
We used the beds from the Plakias Suits rooms and always found space available on these but the beach between us and the far end beds was very well used by people coming for the day and bring their own tents/shelters/towels and not bothering with beds.
Interestingly, the mix of "clothed to no clothed" in this area was mixed and variable.
Again, no bad thing.
Eating out was again excellent. We ate at Gio Ma, with Sonya, with Sifi, at Lyceos and at the new tavern next to Cosy Backyard (excellent).
This side street, with the Sovilaki bar at the entrance, now seems to be a vibrant new area to eat out at as it has 3 or more excellent tavernas on it.
We would recommend you try this street.
For the first few days of our stay, the town was very busy but later in our stay, it became a little less so.
But, compared to previous stays in early September, the town was much busier.
We think a lot of this was to do with people coming into town for the day on the beach and staying on in early evening to eat at the tavernas.
Still need to pre book at the most popular places to ensure that you get a table on the night you choose.
As to the mix of nationalities, there was no great predominance of any one kind.
This gives a much better "feel" to the town and is, in our view, how we would want to see the town during our stay.
The town itself has changed very littler but:
There has been additions/extensions/improvements made to quite a few places in the town.
Nothing major and nothing to intrusive or out of character.
We left with the feeling that the local people are now a bit more optimistic about their future and the future prospects of the town and are now prepared to spend time and money to start to improve/regenerate/update the town.
This we feel is good news for the town but also for us, as visitors to it.
Overall view of the 10 day stay ?
9 0ut of 10
Would have been 10 out of ten if Ryanair pilot had landed first time it Chania airport.
But we will be back next September, this time for an 11 day stay.
