Elafonisi, Protected island reserve near Chania, Greece

Elafonisi is a low, flat island about 1.5 km long and 330 m wide, lying southwest of Crete. Its northwest coast is rocky and broken, while the southeast shore has small sea pools between dark rocks and sandy beaches. A lighthouse stands on the island's highest point, with the small Koundourakis chapel nearby.

On Easter Sunday, 18 April 1824, Ottoman troops discovered several hundred Greeks hiding on the island and killed most of them; survivors were sold into slavery in Egypt. A plaque on the island's highest point marks the event, and the Lafonisia sports competitions are held each August in memory. A large wooden cross commemorates the 1907 wreck of the Imperatrix, in which 38 people died.

The island's name means "Deer Island" in Greek. Each August the Lafonisia sports competitions are held in memory of the 1824 massacre, and a memorial plaque stands at the island's highest point. A miniature rock church, a proskinitiria of the kind seen at Cretan roadsides, stands between the lighthouse and the wooden cross.

The drive from Chania takes around two hours along a coastal road with parking available near the main beach. Visitors should bring water and sun protection, as the island offers little shade or facilities once you arrive.

The pink tint comes from pigmented microorganisms living in symbiosis with native seaweed, deposited by tides and waves. At the island's highest point a plaque recalls Easter Sunday 1824, when Ottoman soldiers discovered refugees hiding here after a horse walked across the shallow water; between 640 and 850 people were killed or sold into slavery.