Agios Pavlos is a delightful small coastal village (well, it actually isn't even a village, but to make it easy I now call it a village - instead it is more like a collection of sandy beaches) close to Agia Galini in the south of Crete. It can be reached if you take a turn at the village of Akoumia. Compared to some of the other villages in the south Agios Pavlos is relatively quiet. There's a nice beach in the village with umbrellas and sunbeds (for families with children pherhaps), and two super-super beaches just outside the village. They can be reached by descending a very (!) steep sand dune. But once you are there it's a big reward. The beach is stunning and it's a delight to swim in the sea (in the nude, because nudism is allowed here). A lot of people don't want to go down afraid they won't make it, or even worse: not make it back up the hill again. It's not a place where you will run into families with little children. For us this is just the perfect place.

Defenitely in my top three of Cretan beaches or even in my top 3 of all beaches I have seen in all of my visits to the Greek islands: absolutely beautiful and recommendable for all the naturists! Don't be scared to go down to the beach, even I made it back up the hill. If you want there are some parasols and sunbeds on this first naturist beach in a row. I don't think there is any charge, because there is no taverna or anything on this beach (at least: I did not notice one) and I have never seen anybody walking around collecting money from people that were using them. Tips: bring lots of water and a sunscreen for your skin if you visit the naturist beaches.

When you have reached the large sandy beach of Agios Pavlos - the beach with the naturist section - you can walk past the big rock on the right (on your right hand side as you walk down). Behind this rock is a smaller beach. I would call it a small sand/pebble beach, and it is less easy to get into the water here, because there are pebbles, stones and rocks on the seabed. But you can find a nice place to lie in the shadow of the rock though here in case it is very hot, and there is sand to put your towel on. Behind this beach are a number of other beaches. For the large sandy beach you have to make a short walk through the water (approximately up to your waist). You walk through the entrance of the next rock into the water and right around the corner is the next beautiful sandy beach. Here it is very quiet. People who lie here are generally naturist and only few people have swimwear on.

A little outside the village there's also a little white church that's partly carved out of a rock. In the village itself there are a couple of places where you can rent a room, and there are two taverna's: one on the beach and one on top of the hill. In the last one you have a marvelous view over the bay, and the food is excellent. My Agios Pavlos is not to be confused with another village with one of the nicest Byzantyine churches (the church of Agios Pavlos), which is a 45 minutes walk away east of Agia Roumeli on a coastal path.