Rock Climbing in Crete

The largest developed rock climbing area in Crete, is situated around the village of Kapetaniana in southern Crete. Kapetaniana is an isolated village away from the main tourist regions, and therefore offers remote and peaceful rock climbing on solid white limestone rock. The style is mainly sports climbing but with some traditional climbing and covers over 120 routes. However it is only 75Km from the capital Iraklio (Heraklion), with its airport, and therefore is very accessable.
The routes are mainly single pitch on the many buttresses around Kapetaniana but also includes some multi-pitch routes on the nearby Mount Kofinas, which are up to 150m long. On top of Mount Kofinas there are many breathtaking views of the surrounding area and the sea.

There are other rock climbing areas within Crete, though these are relatively undeveloped and no formal guidebooks exist for them (unlike Kapetaniana). The main areas are; around Agiofarango, close to Kapetaniana; The Aradena gorge near Loutro on the southern coast; and The Therissos Gorge near Chania. More information about these other areas can be found on the ClimbinCrete web site. Around Chora Sfakion there is also some deep water soloing (DWS) and there are great possibilities for opening new long sports routes around Loutro.

As with most European sports climbing venues a 70m rope is ideal, though for the majority of the routes at Kapetaniana a 60m rope will be sufficient. The trad routes require mainly nuts and slings and the occasional cams. As Crete is one of the southern most islands it goes without saying it gets very hot in the summer, and the ideal rock climbing season is from autumn through to spring as the winters are very dry.

There is a guesthouse in Kapetaniana called Pansion Kofinas, who welcome climbers and walkers alike.