Spend a week open water swimming in the warm, clear Mediterranean waters off the coast of Crete
Hike through gorges, forests, and dunes between swims, with classic Cretan taverna feasts waiting for you on land each day
Embark on a 2-mile open water swim to Limpet Island, completing the 'Falasarna Triangle' swim
Day 1
Welcome to Crete! Your host will meet you at Chania Airport and transfer you to your guesthouse near Kissamos. In the evening, join your host and fellow open water swimmers for a welcome dinner of traditional Cretan food.
Day 2
After breakfast, you'll head to a sheltered corner of Kissamos Bay for a gentle introductory swim. Your route will stick close to the shore, taking you above seagrass meadows, around the coastline and to a small cove. After getting dressed and having a quick snack, you'll hike back, stopping to admire the million-year-old fossils in the sandstone. In the afternoon you'll hike through Sirikari Gorge, a secluded area where griffon vultures nest, before spending the evening at a taverna enjoying a traditional Cretan meal, made with local produce.
Day 3
An early start today makes the most of Crete's beautiful mornings. You'll pack up some breakfast to go, then get driven to an eastern peninsula for today's swim. Your swim follows the coast from a tiny pebble beach to a dark, otherworldly sea cave where the light creeps in, casting myriad reflections as you swim. You'll continue past more caves towards a secluded cove where you can clamber out of the water, dry off and enjoy your beach breakfast looking out over the bay. You'll then hike the 'Villagers’ Path' – a coastal route past grand geological features with commanding views over the peninsula and the bays below – before a late lunch at a coastal taverna with amazing local seafood. Late afternoon, you'll drive back to the guesthouse to spend the evening relaxing.
Day 4
Today you'll have an adventure on the wild west coast of Crete, combining a hike in Kampos Gorge with a sea swim through crystal clear water to a remote beach (and another well-earned taverna feast!). Reaching the jump-in beach early, you'll swim along the rocky cliffs, around Cape Crow and towards a remote cove. Take in this glorious location while enjoying a large breakfast on the beach, fueling up for a hike through Kampos Gorge, dense with the Mediterranean flora of thyme bushes and carob trees. You'll criss-cross a small river during the steady climb, emerging at a tiny village where you'll find a traditional taverna.
Day 5
Today you'll head back to the rugged west coast to an open water swimming paradise: large, natural pools carved in the rocks. Launch into impossibly blue waters from a sheltered cove by a small chapel. Swimming towards a cape, you'll first reach a protected natural pool to explore, before passing under huge cliffs as you continue to a sheltered bay, reaching a perfectly circular pool with tranquil waters to immerse yourself in. Enjoy a snack on the rocks and swim further if you wish, before heading back to the guesthouse for some afternoon downtime. In the evening, you'll head to a village called Mezedopoleio and eat like the locals do – with plenty of small dishes of fresh local foods, shared between the whole party, with a variety of different tastes. Take your pick! There'll be local raki and wines to wash the good food down.
Day 6
With several days of swimming under your belt, it's time to tackle an open water challenge. Setting off from a quiet spot on the sandy beach, you'll swim out to Limpet Island: an elongated rocky ridge in the bay. The visibility in the water here is amazing and at times you'll be surrounded by schools of fish. There are two swim options, depending on how far you would like to swim today. Clamber out of the water and up some steps by the rock caves to reach a cafe for lunch, with far-reaching views over the Mediterranean. Later, you'll hike to a tiny cove. From here, using masks and snorkels, you'll explore a WWII shipwreck that lies less than 7 feet below the surface. Dry off, get dressed and then you'll be driven back to Kissamos to enjoy a free evening.
Day 7
Set off after breakfast and drive a scenic route all the way across the island to the south coast. Take a walk in the sand dunes, admiring the pink shoreline along small coves, before swimming in the shallow, turquoise waters between the natural rock pools dotting the bay. If you're feeling strong, you can circumnavigate the whole peninsula, swimming through deep, cavernous sections to a shallow, tranquil sea bed. After a post-swim snack on shore, you'll hike along a narrow trail to the juniper forest. These exotic trees grow over sand dunes all the way to the shoreline. You'll find cove after cove of pink sand, against the blue backdrop of the sea, where you'll have a picnic lunch, taking a dip in the sea before retracing your steps back to Elafonissi Beach.
Day 8
Your open water swimming odyssey had to come to an end eventually. After breakfast, your host will transfer you to the airport at Chania in time for your return flight home.
For active people who want to explore more wild and adventurous places
This trip has been rated as moderate as you can expect 3-5 hours of activity each day. You will need good fitness levels and to be able to swim! The trip suits both experience...
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Saturday 6th June 2026
to Saturday 13th June 2026
Only space left in single rooms for this departure!
Fully Booked
Saturday 20th June 2026
to Saturday 27th June 2026
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To request any extras, message your host via your Much Better Adventures account once you have booked your trip.
All extras must be paid before your trip starts.
You can leave your luggage at the guesthouse for the duration of the trip.
The beaches you will go swimming from near Kissamos, Falasarna, Elafonissi are listed as Blue Flag beaches, which means that seawater quality is tested regularly every season and if they fail the test they get closed. The other beaches you'll be swimming from are mostly quite remote and far from any population centers.
Your host also takes extra safety precautions such as avoiding close proximity to river mouths, which is not hard in the Cretan summer as they are almost all dried up!
The summer months in the Mediterranean are getting warmer every year due to climate change, and daytime temperatures can sometimes become too hot for hiking. If this is the case during your trip, your host has various tried and trusted ways to amend the itinerary – all of which will ensure that you are still able to enjoy the trip to its fullest. In these situations, the hiking time is likely to be shortened, and the group will therefore spend more time in the water.
Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.
Our team of Adventure Hunters co-create exclusive adventures which are run by highly vetted, specialist hosts. The trip is run by our trusted host partner in the destination. We only work with independent, local, in-destination experts who know the very best places to explore and how to stay safe. Read more information about the local teams we partner with. You’ll be introduced to the host straight after making a booking via the Much Better Adventures platform.
Much Better Adventures refer to the UK Government’s official travel advice when designing trips and monitoring trip operations. We recommend that all customers review the practical information available on the UK Government’s FCDO website, where you can find up-to-date advice by searching for your destination(s).
If you are based in the United States, you can also check the latest travel advisories from the U.S. Department of State.
For customers joining from other international locations, we recommend checking the official travel advice issued by your country of residence, as guidance may vary.
We recommend checking out the country-specific information and also talking to a travel nurse.
We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates daily, so prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.
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All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. You must be over 18 to join one of our trips.
You're always in good company on one of our adventures.
Our trips typically consist of a mix of solo travelers and small groups of 2 or 3 friends, with most in their 30s-50s.
Our sociable adventures are solo-friendly by design and naturally attract outdoorsy people with a shared mindset; a love for adventure, a desire to push themselves, and meet awesome, like-minded people along the way.
It’s this camaraderie that has so often turned a great adventure into a life-changing one.
Don't just take our word for it:
See here for more info about the Much Better Adventures tribe.
June and September usually bring fine sunny days and moderate-to-hot temperatures, with daytime highs between 73-84ºF. The water is a beautiful temperature for swimming, and it's particularly warm in September.
The hottest months are July and August, with daytime high temperatures ranging from 84-97ºF, an average day would be in the middle of this range. However, by the sea there is usually a breeze which moderates how this feels, and you'll be in and out of the refreshing water.
For departures during the warmer months (usually July and August), your host may occasionally slightly amend the itinerary to spend more time in the water if the weather becomes too hot for hiking.
October is still a fine month with excellent sea temperatures, and the bonus of a less crowded island. There can be the odd chilly day and evening. Daytime peak temperatures range from 63-79ºF.
Sea Temperatures
June: 68-72°F (a swimming wetsuit is recommended)
July and August: 75-81°F
September: 75-79°F
October: 73-75°F
We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre program, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity.
What's the number?
It works out on average at 352kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.
The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.
But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:
What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. We partner with the World Land Trust to ensure this trip achieves Net-Zero emissions. We also support their Buy an Acre programme, helping local communities to buy and protect natural habitats in perpetuity, ensuring the protection of the reserve and its wildlife.
Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.
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