We had heard that there was a mountain gorge in Crete with a river that leads to a hidden waterfall – called Kourtaliotiko Gorge, so after several days doing something we rarely do on holiday (just laying by the pool and beach at our hotel) we decided to take a trip out to find the gorge waterfall in the Crete mountains.
We were very glad we did, as it’s a very unique place, extremely beautiful and – although a bit of a challenge to get to – was well worth the trip.
The short video we took from inside the gorge having swum up the river to find the waterfall…
We were staying on the north of the island of Crete and had a hire car, which made getting to the Kourtaliotiko Gorge pretty straightforward.
Using Google Maps as the satnav, we headed away from the coast and into the mountains, which was a pretty simple drive of about 30-minutes from our hotel.
There is a lay-by at the side of the road with a ‘Kantina’ food van, which is the best place to park to access the gorge – although by around 10.30am on the July morning we visited, it had become completely full with cars and there was no space – so we had to drive further along the road to find another roadside parking spot a bit further away.
Next to the lay-by with the Kantina you’ll see a stone arch at the top of a path leading down the side of the gorge.
Head through the arch and down the steps and you’ll find yourself at a point where the path splits in two directions.
If you want to get to the bottom of the gorge and into the cavern where you can swim up to the waterfall (which is what we did), take the right-hand path, following the steps down until eventually you reach a platform with a pumping station and a ladder to climb down.
It’s a reasonably steep walk down this path which wasn’t that easy in the blazing hot summer sun, made more awkward by an absolutely howling wind we had on the day we visited, with gusts almost strong enough to blow us off our feet, so it was slightly treacherous, but not too bad.
Depending on the time of year and day that you’re visiting, you might find it pretty busy once you reach the ladder at the pump station to climb down the final bit of path into the valley floor.
When we arrived early in the morning (about 9.30am) there was only a handful of other people here.
But by the time it reached about mid-day, it became pretty packed, with probably 100+ other tourists all cramming into the space on the floor of the gorge valley where you enter the river for the final swim along to the waterfall.
Once you’re in the gorge, you’re alongside this beautiful, clear river with pools and mountain spring water cascading down the side of the valley from above you.
It’s a beautiful spot, but you’re not quite yet at the main attraction, which is the huge waterfall running down into a large cavern.
To get to this, you have to get in the river and swim. You can’t walk / wade to it – the river is too deep, you need to actually swim about 20-metres or so up-stream, into the cavern, so if you want to take photos, you’ll need a way of swimming with your phone or a waterproof camera.
We bought a simple plastic phone pouch with a strap to put round your neck, which kept the phone dry and left you with both hands free for the swimming.
Even at the height of the hot summer in Crete, the river water was icy cold – as it’s from a mountain spring.
Many of the visitors reaching this point of the gorge were putting a toe in the water and deciding against the final swim to the waterfall.
But all of those who did brave it were returning saying how worthwhile it was, so we got our swimming stuff on and headed into the river, swimming up and around the corner out of sight of the main pool area to find the waterfall.
After the swim of about 20-metres the depth of the river gets shallow again so you can easily stand up – and this is where we took these photos and video of the beautiful waterfall and the cavern within the gorge, where water cascades down all around you from the walls of the gorge above.
When we first arrived early in the morning, the gorge was too dark to take any decent photos, so we had to hang around until about midday when the sun was directly above and finally illuminating the waterfall within the cavern.
This was a very welcome bit of variety from the rest of our holiday in Crete, which was a relaxing all-inclusive hotel stay, which we loved – but were pleased at the chance to get a change of scenery from the hotel and enjoy this beautiful natural place in the more remote mountainous part of Crete.
The walk back up to the car was tougher than the walk down, as it’s a lot of steep steps in very hot sun – but it’s only about 15-minutes or so, and was certainly a good way of warming us back up again after the ice cold river swim in the gorge below.
The waterfall in Kourtaliotiko Gorge takes a bit of work to get to, with the walk down into the valley and the swim along the river, but it’s well worth doing so.