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Sea turtle spotted in Falasarna

Sea turtle Caretta caretta in Falasarna

This morning we went to Falasarna beach for a swim.

It was a beautiful day, with crisp air and clear water. The sun was out. A breeze was blowing.

I put my wetsuit on and swam North along the coast. After about 15 minutes, I turned back and swam towards the surface flat rock lapped by the waves, where I had a sea rendez-vous with Fiona.

I swam around the rock and then stood on it. I saw Fiona coming from shore, so I swam to meet her. We met and we proceeded to swim again towards the rock, our focal point. After a few strokes, I heard her call: Look!

She spotted a sea turtle on the bottom, some 6-8m deep. The turtle, a Caretta caretta, was not moving. It looked like she was sleeping, head tucked in between some rocks. I took the camera from Fiona and dove to take some shots, but I couldn’t really get deep with all the buoyancy from the full wetsuit. It looked like the turtle had a big tail curled under her body, which would make her a he. A good size animal, probably and adult. We left him there to rest and swam back towards shore.

We enjoyed the bright clear water on the way back, and even basked in the full sun once we got out.

  • Winter Swimming in Falasarna
  • Falasarna Beach
  • Caretta caretta Sea turtle in Falasarna bay
Total distance: 1.45 km
Average speed: 2.97 km/h
Total time: 00:35:46
Download file: Swim-Falasarna-Wetsuit-Turtle-Short18022020.gpx
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Swim to the Shipwreck in Falasarna

Shipwreck Falasarna

Today I went for the first long swim in a while. The air was very clear in Falasarna, Antikythera well visible in the distance.

The sea had some swell from yesterday’s wind, about 0.5m waves, constantly rolling me to the side. No wind.

I have been taking a break from swimming seriously in the last couple of weeks because of pain in my right shoulder, which came after a 4.5km swim in Elafonissi.

I tried a light pull on my arm stroke, especially on the right, and I tried to emphasise rotation. At the same time, I tried a higher stroke frequency than normal. It went well. I got back a little cold though, actually a welcome feeling after some weeks of intense heat.

The shipwreck was surrounded by very cool light. The sun was setting and the sunken craft was just on the edge of the shade projected by the nearby rocky cliffs. The resulting light and shade play underwater was pretty good.

Also to note, jet-skis were absent today, next time I could swim to Limpet island, a swim I did only once and with support.

Total distance: 2.15 km
Average speed: 2.80 km/h
Total time: 00:49:44
Download file: Swim-Falasarna-Shipwreck-Short12072019.gpx
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The Falasarna Swim

After a winter of swimming in the rough sea, it was time for some calm waters.

A great day for a great swim. We went to the beautiful Falasarna beach, on Crete’s West coast, where I swam a good distance, 3.8km.

First around the offshore Limpet island, then to the WWII shipwreck in the Northern corner of the bay, then back to shore. The sea was super still, though the water temperature was still a bit cool for my taste. The water is crystal clear, and especially beautiful around Limpet island.

This is a great Open Water wild swim if you’re in West Crete.

Thanks to my support and video crew, you can see a short video of the swim:

Note about the GPS track: the gps was on the kayak, so while the route, total time and distance reflect my swim, the intervals will be different because the kayak was sometimes behind, sometimes in front of me.

Total distance: 3.72 km
Average speed: 2.68 km/h
Total time: 01:36:55
Download file: Swim-Falasarna-Island-Wetsuit-Short26052019.gpx