Kedrodasos: The Honest Guide to the Cedar Forest Beach
Elafonisi's wild sibling — junipers on white dunes, turquoise shallows, no facilities and fragile ground rules.
One headland east of Elafonisi’s famous lagoon hides its untamed sibling: Kedrodasos, the “cedar forest” beach — in truth ancient junipers, sculpted low over white sand and flat rock shelves, fronting shallows that do the same impossible turquoise with none of the sunbed infrastructure. It is the connoisseur’s Elafonisi, and it survives only because visitors carry its rules in with them.
The honest facts
- Access
- from the Elafonisi road, a signed side track leads to informal parking, then a 10–15 minute path down; alternatively the E4 coastal walk from Elafonisi itself (~30 scenic minutes). Sturdy sandals minimum.
- Facilities
- none. No canteen, no sunbeds, no bins, no shade beyond the junipers — and the junipers are the point of protection, not furniture.
- THE RULES THAT MATTER
- the trees are ancient, protected and dying where root systems get trampled — do not hang hammocks, camp beneath, or picnic on their root mounds; keep to sand and rock; carry every scrap out. The free-camping era loved this place half to death; being better than that era is the entry fee.
- The water
- shallow lagoonlets between rock shelves and open turquoise beyond — swimming, floating and snorkelling all excellent; south-westerlies can stir it on rough days.
- Conventions
- long-standing naturist tolerance across much of the beach; coexistence is unremarkable here.
The right visit
Come as a day-half from an Elafonisi trip: lagoon-famous sibling in the morning coaches’ window, Kedrodasos from mid-afternoon when its light goes gold and its handful of visitors thins further. Water, shade, and a bag that leaves fuller than it came (someone else’s bottle counts) are the kit.
The honest downside
The absence of everything is total — August sun with no rentable shade is a real constraint; the paths are stony; and the beach’s fragility means its best visitors are its least numerous. If that reads as gatekeeping, Elafonisi’s organised half is 15 minutes away and superb.
Worth your time if: you wanted Elafonisi before the boardwalks — and will treat the trees like the elders they are. Skip it if: the beach day requires services — this one requires stewardship instead.
Photos on this page: both by dronepicr (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons, resized for the web. Everything above was checked for the date shown at the top of this guide. Nobody pays to be featured in a guide — no business, no sponsor, no paid mention, ever. Adverts, where they appear, are labelled as adverts.
How do you get to Kedrodasos?
From the Elafonisi road, a signed side track leads to informal parking and then a 10 to 15 minute path down. Alternatively the E4 coastal walk from Elafonisi itself takes about 30 scenic minutes. Sturdy sandals are the minimum.
Are there facilities at Kedrodasos?
None whatsoever. No canteen, no sunbeds, no bins, and no shade beyond the junipers - which are the thing being protected rather than furniture. Carry water, carry shade, and carry every scrap back out.
Why are the trees at Kedrodasos protected?
They are ancient junipers and they are dying where root systems get trampled. Do not hang hammocks from them, camp beneath them, or picnic on their root mounds. Keep to sand and rock. The free-camping era loved this beach half to death.
Is Kedrodasos better than Elafonisi?
Different. Kedrodasos does the same impossible turquoise with none of the infrastructure or the crowds, but the absence of everything is total. If August sun with no rentable shade sounds like a constraint rather than a feature, Elafonisis organised half is fifteen minutes away and superb.
Is Kedrodasos a nudist beach?
There is long-standing naturist tolerance across much of the beach and coexistence is unremarkable there.
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