[JohnQPublic]

I've been to the Greek Islands several times, and Crete was always on my to-do list, so when I heard some positive reports on the nightlife scene there, I decided to check it out. Normally I avoid traveling to European beach destinations in early August due to overcrowding, but based on information on Hersonissos in this forum, from exactly the same time last year, I decided to give it a try. It was a bit different than what I expected, so here's what I found.

Overview: Crete is the biggest of the Greek Islands (160 miles long) and has a population of over 600,000. The airport is located close to the main city of Heraklion (174,000 people) which is quite lively. Crete is also the birthplace of the Minoan civilization which dates back over 4000 years. So there's a lot to see and do if you get bored with going out. It's a huge package tour destination, so from late Spring to early Autumn, planeloads of people arrive several days a week.

The scene: Hersonissos is about a 30-40 min bus ride from Heraklion. It has a main street with restaurants, shops and hotels as well as a bar street along the waterfront. The bar street is about half as long as the main street and bars are on the landward side of the street and each one has a covered outdoor terrace on the seaward side of the street. In front of the terraces is the beach. It's pretty narrow. Other beaches can be found beyond the ends of the bar streets, they're a little bit bigger and better. The infamous British party town of Malia is about 10km farther out.

Most of the visitors are from Russia and the Netherlands, but depending on the time of the season there are also Germans, Swiss, French, Italians, Serbians and a mix of other nationalities. Scandinavians (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish) are there in small numbers but apparently haven't come in big groups for several years. You can meet English and Israelis who are staying in Malia too (mostly during the day at Star Beach). A lot of Eastern European girls are working in the shops along the Main Street. As far as ethnicity goes, you can see some occasional Asians from Central Asian Republics, a few Africans selling stuff or on holidays and quite a few Black and people of other ethnicities from Holland (and from the UK and elsewhere at Star Beach Club).


Nightlife: There are easily over 20 bars and clubs you can go to and you just have to try and see what's happening during the time you're there. Some of the best I found:

New York Bar – A cocktail bar with a small dance floor. It's one of the most crowded places. A favorite place for Russian girls and the guys who want to meet them. Cover charge is 10EUR, which gets you a free drink.

Palm Beach Club – A swimming pool by day and an upscale, outdoor cocktail bar with dancing at night. Girls come here when they want something a bit more classy than what most of Hersonissos has to offer. That means lots of Russians who really dress up and Western European girls. The average age here is probably around late 20s, so also some couples and people who aren't really out to party come here. Cover charge policy seems arbitrary, sometimes they charge you and sometimes not, but it's 10 euros with a free drink.

El Paradiso – A big bar with dancing. A good mix of all nationalities. They offer 2 for 1 drinks all night

BioBio – A favorite hang out of the Dutch. There are two of these. One plays hip hop and one plays house. During the time I was there the whole street in front was full of people drinking and dancing, like a big outdoor party until 6AM. This is a great place for guys who have good dance floor game.


Pre-club Game: Any restaurant along the main street where people are sitting down outside eating or drinking. Also any of the terraces in front of the bars and any bar offering two for one “happy hour” specials, there are often many groups of girls in these. The Star Beach Club (see below) also has a White Party every Monday from 8 – midnight.

Daytime Game: Any beaches, the cafes and pubs, walking down the main street. If you have a hotel with a pool, that's probably a good place too. The cheaper all inclusive hotels are on the two ends of the main street, so you will see groups of girls walking into the center all day long from these. Also these big complexes are good:

Star Beach Club – about 5 minutes past the end of the Main street. It's a big complex with water sports, bungee jumping, stuff for families, etc. This is full every day, with an American Spring Break atmosphere and you have lots of gaming possibilities here. The Foam Party every day at 4:30PM is great to see at least once. You can just sit at the outdoor bar next to the foam party dance floor and talk to people. The club is located on the Malia side of Hersonissos, so a lot of people from Malia come there too, which means there are quite a few English and Israelis.

Palm Beach Club – The swimming pool here is mostly girls, couples and a few families. It's not that big, so if you get there early and have some empty sunbeds next to you, you have a good chance to have single girls lying down next to you.

Food: The restaurants along the bar street are pretty bad unless you want pizza, souvlaki, gyros, or Dutch fast food. Try the main street for better.

Accommodation: Most of the tourists are coming on package deals and a lot of these include a hotel with swimming pool and all-inclusive meals and drinks. So people stay in the hotel all day, eat the free meals and sit around the pool and drink for free in the hotel day and night. Since most of the Russians don't have too much spending money outside of what they paid to get there, if you want to meet them, the best idea is to stay in one of these hotels. Otherwise you can probably get apartments for very cheap once you arrive.

Summary: The time of year when you go to Hersonissos is all important (that's true of most Greek islands anyway). The first 4 or 5 days I was there (end of the first week in August) I wouldn't have recommended Hersonissos at all. A lot of night spots were too crowded, very unfavorable ratios, too many guys only out to get a Russian girl, even if they couldn't communicate at all, and too many groups of 18yo high school guys. By the end of my stay (end of second week in August) I thought it was great. Like a different place, less crowded, good girl guy ratio, and just lots of fun and what I had expected. The beaches aren't that great, so a lot of people just go to swimming pools. Most of the locals and visitors are very friendly. If you get there during a bad period and you want to get out, there are lots of options, you can get to Santorini (great game spot) in about 2 hours by catamaran or just go to the beach, do day game and do tourist stuff.

[Akula]

(08-14-2013 09:47 AM)JohnQPublic Wrote:  

I've been to the Greek Islands several times, and Crete was always on my to-do list, so when I heard some positive reports on the nightlife scene there, I decided to check it out. Normally I avoid traveling to European beach destinations in early August due to overcrowding, but based on information on Hersonissos in this forum, from exactly the same time last year, I decided to give it a try. It was a bit different than what I expected, so here's what I found.

Overview: Crete is the biggest of the Greek Islands (160 miles long) and has a population of over 600,000. The airport is located close to the main city of Heraklion (174,000 people) which is quite lively. Crete is also the birthplace of the Minoan civilization which dates back over 4000 years. So there's a lot to see and do if you get bored with going out. It's a huge package tour destination, so from late Spring to early Autumn, planeloads of people arrive several days a week.

The scene: Hersonissos is about a 30-40 min bus ride from Heraklion. It has a main street with restaurants, shops and hotels as well as a bar street along the waterfront. The bar street is about half as long as the main street and bars are on the landward side of the street and each one has a covered outdoor terrace on the seaward side of the street. In front of the terraces is the beach. It's pretty narrow. Other beaches can be found beyond the ends of the bar streets, they're a little bit bigger and better. The infamous British party town of Malia is about 10km farther out.

Most of the visitors are from Russia and the Netherlands, but depending on the time of the season there are also Germans, Swiss, French, Italians, Serbians and a mix of other nationalities. Scandinavians (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish) are there in small numbers but apparently haven't come in big groups for several years. You can meet English and Israelis who are staying in Malia too (mostly during the day at Star Beach). A lot of Eastern European girls are working in the shops along the Main Street. As far as ethnicity goes, you can see some occasional Asians from Central Asian Republics, a few Africans selling stuff or on holidays and quite a few Black and people of other ethnicities from Holland (and from the UK and elsewhere at Star Beach Club).


Nightlife: There are easily over 20 bars and clubs you can go to and you just have to try and see what's happening during the time you're there. Some of the best I found:

New York Bar – A cocktail bar with a small dance floor. It's one of the most crowded places. A favorite place for Russian girls and the guys who want to meet them. Cover charge is 10EUR, which gets you a free drink.

Palm Beach Club – A swimming pool by day and an upscale, outdoor cocktail bar with dancing at night. Girls come here when they want something a bit more classy than what most of Hersonissos has to offer. That means lots of Russians who really dress up and Western European girls. The average age here is probably around late 20s, so also some couples and people who aren't really out to party come here. Cover charge policy seems arbitrary, sometimes they charge you and sometimes not, but it's 10 euros with a free drink.

El Paradiso – A big bar with dancing. A good mix of all nationalities. They offer 2 for 1 drinks all night

BioBio – A favorite hang out of the Dutch. There are two of these. One plays hip hop and one plays house. During the time I was there the whole street in front was full of people drinking and dancing, like a big outdoor party until 6AM. This is a great place for guys who have good dance floor game.


Pre-club Game: Any restaurant along the main street where people are sitting down outside eating or drinking. Also any of the terraces in front of the bars and any bar offering two for one “happy hour” specials, there are often many groups of girls in these. The Star Beach Club (see below) also has a White Party every Monday from 8 – midnight.

Daytime Game: Any beaches, the cafes and pubs, walking down the main street. If you have a hotel with a pool, that's probably a good place too. The cheaper all inclusive hotels are on the two ends of the main street, so you will see groups of girls walking into the center all day long from these. Also these big complexes are good:

Star Beach Club – about 5 minutes past the end of the Main street. It's a big complex with water sports, bungee jumping, stuff for families, etc. This is full every day, with an American Spring Break atmosphere and you have lots of gaming possibilities here. The Foam Party every day at 4:30PM is great to see at least once. You can just sit at the outdoor bar next to the foam party dance floor and talk to people. The club is located on the Malia side of Hersonissos, so a lot of people from Malia come there too, which means there are quite a few English and Israelis.

Palm Beach Club – The swimming pool here is mostly girls, couples and a few families. It's not that big, so if you get there early and have some empty sunbeds next to you, you have a good chance to have single girls lying down next to you.

Food: The restaurants along the bar street are pretty bad unless you want pizza, souvlaki, gyros, or Dutch fast food. Try the main street for better.

Accommodation: Most of the tourists are coming on package deals and a lot of these include a hotel with swimming pool and all-inclusive meals and drinks. So people stay in the hotel all day, eat the free meals and sit around the pool and drink for free in the hotel day and night. Since most of the Russians don't have too much spending money outside of what they paid to get there, if you want to meet them, the best idea is to stay in one of these hotels. Otherwise you can probably get apartments for very cheap once you arrive.

Summary: The time of year when you go to Hersonissos is all important (that's true of most Greek islands anyway). The first 4 or 5 days I was there (end of the first week in August) I wouldn't have recommended Hersonissos at all. A lot of night spots were too crowded, very unfavorable ratios, too many guys only out to get a Russian girl, even if they couldn't communicate at all, and too many groups of 18yo high school guys. By the end of my stay (end of second week in August) I thought it was great. Like a different place, less crowded, good girl guy ratio, and just lots of fun and what I had expected. The beaches aren't that great, so a lot of people just go to swimming pools. Most of the locals and visitors are very friendly. If you get there during a bad period and you want to get out, there are lots of options, you can get to Santorini (great game spot) in about 2 hours by catamaran or just go to the beach, do day game and do tourist stuff.

Thanks great data - perfect timing as I'm down there in a couple weeks and can report back.

How drunk were people generally getting at the bigger beach clubs during the day? We're you seeing the same girls at the pool and then later on, or were they different sorts of crowds?

Going to be a bit tricky to work the Russian angle if many are staying at the all-inclusive places, assume they will just drink for free as much as they can and then show up later at the clubs.

[JohnQPublic]

All inclusive hotels usually just give free drinks until 11 or 12PM.

[JohnQPublic]

Palm Beach Club - before midnight

By around 12:30 it looks like this

Star Beach Club during the Foam Party - the bartenders were very good at convincing girls to get up on the bar and do naughty things
These are 4 Dutch girls, the one with the high tops is at least 6'1"

[Hoen]

Those girls in the vids looked great! Good job filming.
That russian music just kills me though..

[Akula]

(08-24-2013 12:50 PM)JohnQPublic Wrote:  

Palm Beach Club - before midnight

By around 12:30 it looks like this

Star Beach Club during the Foam Party - the bartenders were very good at convincing girls to get up on the bar and do naughty things
These are 4 Dutch girls, the one with the high tops is at least 6'1"

Well I head down there solo now (my buddies didn't step up) so will check all these places out. Videos looking pretty good, and I'm sort of excited to be interacting with women other than Russian girls for a few days. Sure seems like working the daygame pool and early club scenes is the way to go. I'm on a bit of a mini-roll so hopefully I'll get some cross-mojinations working down there, but I'm not expecting anything as all my recent successes have been from 2-3 dates scenarios and no ONSs.

[JohnQPublic]

(08-26-2013 01:44 AM)Akula Wrote:  

I'm sort of excited to be interacting with women other than Russian girls for a few days. Sure seems like working the daygame pool and early club scenes is the way to go.

Yes go early. I don't have any 1:30AM videos because there were too many guys My beach info is incomplete because for the first few days I didn't get up early enough to go, but you should have enough for a few days.

I forgot to mention the strip clubs. There are three or four on the bar street. One on a side street almost across from NewYork bar has very hot girls from Vladivostok (and romania, ee, baltic, etc) and drinks are cheaper in there than in the bars ... just in case you get tired of the game.

[Akula]

Just got here and am now at New York bar which is starting to pick up. Lot of Germans and Dutch here and decent amount of Russians too. But my flight down was mostly Russian couples with kids did not see one single girl. Some kid crapped his pants right as we took off and the smell was pretty rank (( lot of crying kids on the plane all the way too. Hell of a start to my trip!

My taxi driver was this cool, smooth older cat who gave me a history lesson and taught me some Greek on the way to the hotel. Really good and interesting guy - booked him for the ride back on Sunday. Locals here seem pretty cool and very service oriented in a good non annoying American way.

Hoping this place picks up and I will have some stories to report. Stuff here is reasonably ceap compared to Moscow - €3-4 beers/shots. So far I like the fun vibe here. I mean yeah its touristy as hell but in a good way.

[Ferro]

I was in Hersonissos for three days in early August and I can confirm that this is a pretty good data sheet, though I only ever went out to the New York beach club. I would say that Paralia Katerini has maybe 2-3 times the amount of people, with the talent level about the same. Though girls in Hersonissos were much more approachable and receptive, likely because most of the Paralia girls were Serbs. I will return to Hersonissos when I can speak Russian.

[Akula]

Not much to report so far unfortunately. The first night I just went to New York club which was pretty dead until 11:30. Picked up after that but mostly really young Dutch with little viable targets. Lot of dudes probably 60-40. I was pretty tired from the flight and getting situated and my big Tuesday night out in Moscow so went home around 1am to rest up. Did semi lock down the bartenders by tipping and chatting with them, telling them I am from NYC, etc. Fun guys. Greeks are super friendly and really into having a good time - a host greeted me and shook my hand when I came back to the club after stepping out a bit early to explore the main drag.

Lot of Dutch and Germans here. And tons of Israelis now esp. at Star Beach. Fair amount of Russians too but more sparse.

I have already noticed that I am a bit out of my element and comfort zone here and need to recalibrate to the "beach vibe." Sad reality is that I am spoiled in Moscow and very few of the girls here are up to my normal standards and most of those are Russian or Ukrainian with a couple Dutch thrown in. I have no idea how to game Dutch women and do not think they will be too open to a US guy who is 15+ years older than they are)). Not really any opps to open the hotter Dutch anyway they run in packs. The Germans girls are almost without exception 10-20+ pounds overweight. The Dutch girls less so but still even the best ones are 5-10 lbs heavy. They all seem to be with boyfriends or bigger social circle groups here. I see a lot of in shape good looking (no homo ) German guys with seriously fat girlfriends. Lot of these girls have stretch marks around the waist/butt too, even young early 20's girls. Terrible. The Israeli girls are ok but nothing special probably in between the German and Dutch ladies. Every time I see a pretty girl my ears perk up and sure enough I hear them speaking Russian.

Went to Star Beach club early yesterday which was ok. Was approached by two sets of Israeli girls to take photos and chatted with them. Apparently there is a student convention/big weekend here and so that is why there are tons of them. It's less than a 2 hour flight here from Israel. I opened up these two younger girls who turned out to be from Moscow too - got an ok vibe but was not sure if they were here with guys so didn't pursue it too hard as we met in the pool. But that was it for me as I didn't feel like going out later.

Big problem for me is that the nightlife really doesn't get going until after midnight which is 1 am my time. I am only here four days and want to rest and relax and enjoy the nice weather so not going to stay out too late, so I am going to mostly work the day game angle at Star Beach which gets good around 4 but only goes for a few hours. Last night after boozing at the pool bar from 3-7 I was ready for bed by 12!))

[Akula]

Ok so had a little more luck yesterday with beach game at Star Beach. Had some "starts and stops" where I thought I was in like Flynn and set up with a group of Russians/Israelis but it all fell apart later when we all got separated. Am trying as best I can so can't complain as right after that I opened up almost by accident one of the last girls by the pool who turned out to be a Russian Top Tier blonde from Kalinningrad (!). Supposed to meet her later we shall see. None of these girls have phones that seem to work here (more likely they do not want to pay the high roaming charges) so you have to set up a time and place to meet which failed me last night with the girls from Perm.

Few observations and thoughts/advice:

-there is actually some topless sunbathing here - not a ton but still here. Yesterday at Star beach there was a group of 3-4 girls doing it early on and this am there was one Russian young girl doing it and Dutch girl with huge hooters on the beach showing their stuff. Interesting to me as I never see that back home.
-Star Beach is more and more of a sausage fest each day. Tons more Israelis and not many Russians. I met some girls from Perm and St. Pete who were great at first it seemed but later I lost them when we got separated. They were not really all that high quality but compared to the rest of the ladies they were good enough.
-Palm Beach Club has been utterly dead during the day, not sure why by its a nice place and setup. But last night it was packed after midnight with a lot of Russians so that seems to be the place to be for them. New York club and the other places I checked were like 60-40 guys to girls and the two ladies I opened before I got tired (a Russian and a Dutch girl) seemed to realize pretty clearly their value socIal value plus were partying/dancing with their friends so I got nowhere. Hard for me to run US club game it's not my forte for sure.
-Saooooo many stretch marks on the non-Russian girls asses and legs. Never see that in Russia. Diet or genetics? (Nature or nurture)? Just awful to see it on an early 20s girl.
-already eaten 5 chicken pita gyros man they are good!!

Going out to work the beach club again hope the ratios are better today who knows. The weather is beautiful at least.

[iknowexactly]

Good report, not sure I understand your description of girls, do you mean stretch marks or what we call cellulite in the US? Stretch marks look like stripes , cellulite looks like bumpy skin
Cellulite is much more common on backs of thighs, stretch marks are usually on belly from pregnancy, very young single 1st world chix won't have that much.

I have an absolute Dutch girl fetish, tall blonds and they are absolutely vacuous. I somehow find their vacant, cowlike gaze attractive. Think I'm too old for them too but who knows what if anything they're thinking?!!

[JohnQPublic]

Sounds like things have changed a bit since I was there. One of the better looking Russian girls I met there (from Moscow) told me she didn't like Star Beach Club and only went once. After that she went to the beaches in front of the bar street and I think a lot of the party girls were on the beach in front of the New York Bar. Also a lot of the Russian girls staying in the all-inclusive hotels seemed to mostly be going to the beach on the other side of the city from Star Beach Club (walk down past the port and turn left).

When I was there, topless girls were everywhere, in Star Beach Club, on the beaches and even around the pool at Palm Beach Club. Here's a prime English girl at Star Beach doing some exhibition right in front of the bar during the foam party:



It was hard to get a good photo because everytime she sat up, guys who were walking by would have to stop to pull out their smart phone and check messages (and maybe get a photo)

Also this one went a bit farther and did it right on the bar.

[Akula]

Well u are right Star Beach has been a bit of a dud but there are a few Russians here now. What I discovered is that the actual beach to the east of the Star Beach pool area has more Russians - mostly couples and families but a few single girls here and there. No sign of the girls from Perm or Kalinningrad yesterday or today unf. Maybe they went to the other side of town like u said.

@iknowexactly - The Dutch girls are the clear runners up to the Russians and I think are are sexy as hell. Many have a little extra weight on them but not too bad and they have this curvy sexuality to them. But man most seem boring compared to many of the other girls here. And they stick together. Re the stretch marks, its not cellulite but the scarlike marks on many overweight girls bodies.

Saw a fair bit more of topless girls out today - seems to mostly be the Dutch but also a few Russians as well. Its def nice to see!))

Even though there are a lot of dudes, night game seems to have decent potential here as it goes on all night long til 5-6am. I just didnt have the willpower or stamina to do it though. Daygame is tricky here as so many couples and families, but its doable. I guess I just didnt have enough game down here and only ended up with one number and no bangs, so thats a bummer. Cant say I tried too hard as I was mostly trying to relax and chill out. Rolling solo is tricky here too and i probably got too drunk at the pool parties and then had nowhere to go between the 8-12 "lull" in activity. I know those are all excuses but for whatever reason I just could not bring the Moscow magic with me unfortunately.

In any evet, I really enjoyed the trip, good food, nice people, great beaches and awesome weather. The little towns nearby called Koutoulofari and Picaradiso (?) are really nice to visit too and have a lot of great little restaurants and bars which I think would be great for instadates. I would def come back again, Greek food and culture is nice and its a lot of fun here. Next time I will know a little more about how to approach the scene here which should help. Would also like to explore more of the island.

[JohnQPublic]

Did you check out BioBio and El Paradiso?

[Akula]

(09-04-2013 02:14 PM)JohnQPublic Wrote:  

Did you check out BioBio and El Paradiso?

Sort of. By that I mean I walked by both places every night, but they were completely dead until around 12:00. Then when I looked in the two nights I was actually out past 1am they seemed to be sausagefests. But I won't claim to be the nightlife guru for Hersonissos for sure as I was always in bed by 1:30-2am, maybe they got better as it got later.

I will say that even though the ratios themselves might have sucked, it seemed to me that the Dutch guys just stayed together in their own groups and drank themselves silly, as did most of the other guys there, so assume it's actually like most clubs where 2/3 of the competition have no game and/or aren't even trying. I saw a lot of lame, 'hey you're so pretty what's your name girl' sorta approaches up and down the street though.

On another interesting note, was describing my trip to my Russian colleague today. Casually mentioned the ratios of ethnicities, and that my hotel was mostly German, but I didn't see them on the beach as much, to which he said "oh yeah, the Russians will always be on the beach, while the Germans tend to stay by the hotel pool." Which is exactly how it went down during my stay. So I guess that means always look for the Russian girls on the beach?

[JohnQPublic]

Interesting to see your thoughts, which are pretty similar to mine. The first week I was there, when the ratio was heavily guys, El Paradiso was one of the only doable places if you stayed at the bar. But I think your strategy was good. After 2AM most of the DTF girls were gone. Mine was kind of the opposite, go out all night and sleep most of the day, so I only had about 3 full beach days. I think a lot of factors work against you in Hersonissos, mainly that it's a big package tour destination and a) those places are not great when you're solo and b) you get these big groups.

I think the best period for the Greek Islands is end of June beginning of July. Then the last week in August, but it's not nearly as good. Hersonissos is OK and I'm happy I saw Crete, but it's not especially cheap there and for the money there are a lot of better choices, in the Greek Islands and elsewhere. If I were to go to there again, I'd do it the last week in June, but more likely I'd go with a girlfriend, stay in some romantic place like Chania, do the beach and tourist stuff and just relax. Otherwise, I'd fly into there, stay about 2 days, then take the boat to Mykonos with its great beaches and Tier 1 girls. Not many guys go there to game because it has the reputation of a gay island, but for the same reason maybe, a lot of 2 sets of girls are there. It's more expensive, but I found it more rewarding.