Vai Beach 🏝️ is one of the most beautiful beaches on Crete, located at the very tip of the island’s eastern peninsula — 35 km from the Delfini Studio 🐬 and 25 km from the town of Sitia. It is a breathtaking place with crystal clear, blue water 🌊, fine light sand, and an exotic palm forest 🌴.
Vai is home to the largest palm grove in Europe, with more than 5,000 Cretan date palms (Phoenix theophrasti). The entire area belongs to the historic Toplou Monastery, located nearby.
There are several stories about how this unique palm grove came to be. One legend says the trees grew from date pits thrown away by Saracen pirates, later washed ashore. Another claims the palms were planted by the Phoenicians, who sailed the Mediterranean twenty centuries ago. The real explanation is probably simpler — the palm is an endemic species, naturally growing on Crete, and here it found exceptionally favourable conditions.
Due to increasing visitor numbers and the fact that not all tourists respected nature, the grove was declared a protected area and incorporated into the National Park. Thanks to this, it can still be admired today in its pristine, unchanged form.
