Dominant Swell and Wind Direction : This is an island, so swell can come from any direction, but the most consistent surfing is the North coast in winter with swells coming south...
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cst not real
This person making the long posts is not to be trusted. He is a local gypsy that will rob you blind if you get in touch with him. Be careful of others claiming to be locals. This is Greece, nothing is illegal. Waves are for everyone!
summer in Crete 2009 info for surfers
Use wannaurf.com here for "spots"...here's some info from our website (email us for the URL):
Surfing in Crete is illegal by law when the "red flag" is issued by the Port Authority (usually anything over 6 BF windscale/waist high waves) and all watersports and small water craft are not allowed to enter the water. This includes even body surfers and surfers believe it or not (ffor some reason, windsurfers don't get hassled by the law). The process is simple: the hotel owner of any such beach tells his watersports center to not allow any water sports (including surfers who may happen to appear just after the "red flag" is issued) and he makes sure the lifeguard is strict. The hotel owner is the one who dictates the action in front of his beach. Period. The hotel owners and police do NOT understand what surfing is; they are just starting to understand what windsurfing is (that's a start at least). If there is a swiiming or surfing accident or worse, a drowning in front of the hotel, the owner is in serious trouble (huge fines is just a start of his punishment for allowing people in the water during a red flag day), with the police and local mafia, who try to let the tourists abroad think of Crete as a safe destination, especially in the water (ever notice how all postcards of Crete have no waves whatsoever?). Capishe? It is all business with them, and rightfully so. They can take things into their own hands the Cretan way to protect their investment and economy, so be warned. Because tourism is down by a huge percent here, ego's are flaring up more quickly for those in the business side of things. It's all about money, money, money for them. The good thing is that most of the local authorities are our friends or relatives, so we have found a way to by-pass this when there is a decent day or two OR if you need serious help. We've been fooling around in the surf since the 70's here, so we know what's going on.
Crete mostly gets heavy winds and decent waist to head wind chop - the rare good clean waves happen once or twice a year - so don't expect a "great" epic sesh here. It is not a surf destination to say the least. Tourism is the bread and butter for the economy here and as the local government officials/media/mafia, etc see it; the less drownings, the better (see above). The police and port authorities do enforce and uphold the law especially in touristic or crowded areas if called by a lifeguard on duty or a business owner, etc. so it is always best to respect the law and the local businesses here (repeat for emphasis). The local "authorities" have the right of way always. Do not mess with them. In other words, if you are thinking of surfing here univited by a local surfer, best DON'T. It is best to find a real surf destination; don't waste your time, money, and vacation time here on wind chop and aggro authorities. Too many people come here and think they can score a clean, head high wave only to get majorly skunked. That is why most of us locals travel a lot abroad to get our real surf fix. As for the local surfers here, we do our best to keep it on the low down and be as friendly as we can with travelling surfers. When they are cool, we are cool. We are Cretans by blood. We are very hospitable on one end; and on the other end, if provoked and the necessity to restore order occurs: just remember the Cretan motto is "Freedom or Death" (we always choose "freedom"... so chill out). The locals rule here. This is our home. You are a guest of the island and of the people here. Period. In fact, locals all around the globe should (and do) rule their own backyards, it is just part of surf culture. Nothing new here. Just the way it is. We just wanna be able to surf the few decent days a year here with our crew and rip it up without a crowd. Can you dig that? If we were Hawaii or Indo, there would be room for everyone. But Crete is NOT a great surf island. It is great for windsurfers and kite surfers, but we are NOT into that. We don't have good waves here unless you like wind chop and sea urchin-infested shallow reefs, so best try the other spots in Greece that are more accomodating. So if you do show up suddenly and you are at our local spot, just know that we can all get along in and out of the water. It's entirely up to you. Capishe?
*** Remember: if you give respect, you'll get it back. If you cross the line, .... you know the answer. Be cool. Be safe. Be real.
Contact us (locals) at: cstgreece (@) yahoo.com
Respect and stoke brothers and sisters, and surf it up real and with da flow...cst
Info on surfing in crete
Surfing in Crete (Greece) website providing important information on the illegalness of surfing in a touristic vacation spot. Site explains surfing in Crete by the locals that have been surfing since the 70's in Crete.
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comment by Anonymous, 2009-09-11 23:38:44