Aqua Luna Bay
Where the sea beginsat your doorand you say yes
Romantic Beachfront Suite & Garden — Pigianos Kampos, Rethymno, Crete
Only the garden stands between the house and the sea — ten metres, and you are in the water. Here at Pigianos Kampos, on Crete's north coast, the day begins in salt: wake before anyone else, cross the garden, and dive. Everything else can be decided wet.
“Only a charming garden separates the apartment from the sea.”
The apartment
Small, on purpose
Forty-five square metres for two: one open studio where the bed faces the morning, a bathroom, and a kitchen that takes breakfast seriously. A king bed — or two singles, if you ask. Nothing spare, nothing missing.
Most of the living happens outside. The elevated garden faces the water — sunbeds, a table under umbrellas, a hammock that swallows whole afternoons — and dinner happens in the wide paved courtyard as the light goes, with the sea doing the talking. The area runs on solar energy: the same sun that dries your towels powers the lamps.
The beach
Wake, walk, dive
The sea starts where the courtyard ends. Wake before anyone else, cross the garden, and swim while the water is still yours — coffee can wait.
The beach in front feels private, though the map says otherwise — a quiet curve of sand and clear blue water, with no road to cross and nothing to carry. At night you will hear it from the bed.
Every summer
The beach keeps older appointments
Loggerhead turtles — Caretta caretta — nest on this beach. On warm summer nights the females haul themselves above the tide line and bury their eggs in the sand in front of the house.
Weeks later, the sand stirs. If your timing is kind, one evening you will watch the hatchlings climb out and make their first journey — a few unsteady metres from nest to sea — while you stand very still, whispering them on.
The cape
Venice anchored here
On the small cape in front of the house, the rock remembers ships. A Venetian harbour worked this shore; its remnants are still there to trace.
Look closer and you find tanks carved straight into the stone — holds where the region's olive oil waited before it was shipped out by sea. Swim past the point and you are floating over an old trade route.
Where you are
Rethymno, within reach
Pigianos Kampos is a quiet seam of beach and farmland just east of Rethymno, the sand running on toward Skaleta — close enough for the old town's Venetian harbour and long alley dinners, far enough that at night you hear only the sea. Between us and the town runs the livelier stretch of Adelianos Kampos and Platanias — tavernas, bars, evening lights, all ten minutes away and never any nearer than you ask.
Behind the coast, Crete climbs — first to Adele and Pigi, the old villages our seaside plains are named for, five minutes up and a century back — then on to mountains, gorges, monasteries, and small roads that reward a slow drive. 35.3816° N, 24.5744° E — that is where you will be.
Finding us
Ten metres from the water
Georgiou Metaxaki 1, Pigianos Kampos 741 50, Crete, Greece
- The water
- 10 metres, through the garden
- Rethymno
- 9 km — a 15–20 minute drive
- Chania airport
- about 1 hour 10 minutes by car
- Heraklion airport
- about 1 hour 10 minutes by car
- The exit
- Sfakaki, off the national road — from either airport
- Parking
- free on the property — within the grounds, sheltered
If you come by yacht, drop anchor in the bay in front of the house and bring the tender up onto the sand — the steps from the beach end at the garden, and by then the coffee is on.
Beyond the garden
Where we would go
Our own map of the area — the sights, the tavernas, the swims: the places we send friends to when they ask. Open a pin and see why.
Your hosts
We are Manolis and Aphrodite, and this stretch of coast is home.
We will meet you at the door, point out where the turtles nested last summer, and tell you which taverna we actually eat at.
The rest of the time, the place — and the sea — are yours.
For two
Come as two
People have proposed on this beach — at the far end, at sunset, when the sand turns gold. We usually find out at breakfast, from the shaking hands.
Honeymoons, anniversaries, or no occasion at all: the suite holds two people and the whole sea.
If a day matters, tell us. The garden will be yours that evening — that is all, and it is enough.
A closer look
The place, in pictures
Interior
The garden
The beach
Around Rethymno
Guests are kind to us.
In their words
Honestly the best vacation we’ve ever had… Manolis and Afrodite are by far the best hosts we’ve ever had… It’s even more beautiful than the pictures!
Before you ask
Questions, answered
Two, at most. The suite is one open studio of 45 m² with a king bed — or two singles, if you ask.
Check-in is from 16:00, check-out by 11:00. Arriving earlier or leaving later is considered case by case, subject to availability — just ask.
Ten metres, with the sea view beginning at the garden table. The garden opens straight onto the beach — a quiet, near-private stretch of sand — and snorkelling gear is waiting in the suite.
Yes — free, guarded, and within the property’s own grounds. Driving in, take the Sfakaki exit off the national road.
Rethymno is 9 km away — 15 to 20 minutes by car along the coast past Stavromenos. Both airports, Chania and Heraklion, are about an hour and ten minutes — arriving from Heraklion, you will know you are close when the road curves above the bay of Latzimas. The bus stop is a five-minute walk, with buses every half hour.
Two restaurants are next door, within walking distance, and a good supermarket is ten minutes on foot. For everything beyond — the tavernas, the sights, the swims — there is our own map of the area.
It is fully equipped — an oven, a Nespresso machine, and the cooking basics already in place: oil, herbs, tea. There is a washing machine too.
Both. Air conditioning, a smart TV, and fast WiFi at speeds up to 450 Mbps.
We keep the suite pet-free. And much as we love small guests, this is an adults-only stay — the suite and its beachfront setting are made for two adults, and not the right place for young children. Honeymoons, anniversaries, quiet escapes: that is what this house does best.
Booking is paid securely online. Anything left to pay at the property is settled in cash, in euros. The small overnight environmental fee is set by Greek law.
Your dates can be changed from your personal booking page — the link is in your confirmation email. For a cancellation, write to us; the booking terms you saw before confirming are what apply.
Please do. Anchor in the bay right in front of the house, come ashore in the tender and pull it up on the sand — the steps from the beach lead straight to us, and the coffee will be waiting. A welcome, not a mooring: the seamanship is all yours.
Talk to us
Ask us anything
We answer between 09:00 and 23:00 Athens time — usually within the hour. The house, the beach, how to find us with a rental car: whatever you are wondering, just ask.
Book directly with us
- The fair price
- No platform sits between us, so no commission sits on the price — what the calendar shows you is already the direct price.
- The hosts, one message away
- Manolis & Aphrodite answer before you book and long after — a real phone, a real inbox.
- Your booking, in your hands
- A personal page to change your dates or cancel, and every term in plain words before you confirm.
Your stay
Choose your days
Two guests · 45 m² · Check-in 16:00 · Check-out 11:00
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