Kissamos - Crete
12th -19th July 2022
This will be my 4th visit back to this lovely homely Greek venue, where we practice yoga on a rooftop shala over looking the sea. Our meals are all home-made as well as absolutely delicious, and we literally step off the taverna patio straight on to a sandy beach with shallow turquoise waters beckoning.
Our yoga venue is on the very outskirts of Katelli which is a small town with a network of cobbled streets where you can find shops and cafes leading to a long beach and the sea where there are some lovely traditional Cretan restaurants. Here the sea is clean, warm and shallow making for easy swimming with a quiet strand of golden sandy beach. Our beach is called Mavros Molos and the yoga space is above the beach looking out to sea.
Behind this coastal plain the backdrop is mountainous, the area being broken into gorges and craggy peaks. This provides for many easy grade walks, the chance to see birds of prey, vultures and wild flowers and old rural ways like treading grapes.
Apart from sunbathing, swimming, snorkelling and yoga you can visit ancient ruins, take a day cruise, explore the Venetian town of Chania, walk gorges or just be still and enjoy the ocean.
Our hosts Mike and Maria own the beachside taverna. They will be feeding us after the morning yoga class and on 5 selected evenings during the week – we are keeping 2 evenings spare so we can visit other local restaurants.
Maria is a fantastic cook and during the week there will be the option of attending a cookery class where you will be taught how to prepare traditional Greek vegetarian meals. – which we will then eat!
There will also be an optional excursion to the organic olive oil mill at Astrikas, this is world famous olive oil which you can purchase on site if you wish. It is fantastic and includes both organic lemon olive oil and organic orange olive oil.
Yoga will take place twice a day on the yoga deck overlooking the beach with its sea views.
In the morning’s, there will be meditation, pranayama and an alignment based Hatha flow class beginning at approximately 8 am, after which we will have a hearty breakfast/brunch buffet.
In the evenings we will practice at Sunset from 5 00 pm, this time may vary depending on the group), these sessions will offer more passive aspects of yoga such as a Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga, Somatics, Technique, Therapeutic yoga, Meditation and Yoga Nidra
There will be no yoga on Thursday so that the group can travel further afield if they wish – there are fantastic walks and gorges to explore and we can either arrange official walks, or you can go off and explore on your own. There will also be an option of a boat trip.
Adventurous groups can travel to the other side of the island on one evening and have their class on the huge beach. This can be followed with dinner at the beach-side taverna.
Our rooms are simply furnished Cretan style, all have air conditioning and en-suite facilities.
They are in the area immediately behind the venue and whilst they do not have sea views it takes only a few steps to be actually on the beach.
All of the rooms at this venue (upstairs and downstairs) are along the side of the building, none face the sea.
There are three upstairs rooms which share a balcony and which carry a superior room supplement. Please note this is a taverna and not a hotel, rooms and furnishings are appropriate to that. All rooms have a fridge and a kettle.
Sun loungers and beach umbrellas are provided free of charge and there are comfortable chairs and a settee on the veranda above the beach for relaxing. You are also welcome to use the yoga space at any times that it is not being used for teaching.
There is a tiny supermarket close by and a small boutique selling clothes. A short walk takes you to the small central village area with its cafes and shops.
Meals – each day, after your morning yoga class, you will be served a delicious breakfast with home produced milk, eggs and cheese from the owners small-holding.
Your vegetarian group dinners will be on-site, on other nights we will eat out at the wonderful restaurants on the seafront. On some nights a fish option is offered.
Five group evening meals are included in the cost of your holiday.
Special diets cannot be accommodated however soya milk is supplied.
Includes – Accommodation, yoga, large vegetarian breakfast and five group evening meals.
Not Included – Flight, transfers and insurance.
TRAVEL
Flights – fly to Chania, from here you will be met by taxi and transferred to Mavros Molos Beach at Kissamos.
Direct flights to Chania from the UK are from Gatwick, Stanstead, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham and Bristol airports.
Cheap flights can often be found on the internet, contact the Free Spirit office if you would like help searching the internet for flights
You can also fly to Heraklion airport which will add two hours to your transfer time.
Transfers – are not included in the cost, however we will be teaming people up to share taxis from Chania airport to the venue. The transfer from Chania airport takes approx. 35 minutes.
Please note: if you are arriving into Heraklion airport then you must arrive in the afternoon if you wish to take the bus to Chania. We can arrange a taxi to collect you from Chania bus station or you can take the bus to Kissamos.
Cost
£590 shared room
£690 single room
Non yoga partners and friends are welcomed at a reduced rate most weeks, please ask for details
Three upstairs rooms with shared balcony are available at an additional supplement of
£60 per person per week sharing and £150 per person per week single.
