Souda Bay

Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour near the town of Souda on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri peninsula and Cape Drapano, and runs west to east. The bay is overlooked on both sides by hills, with a relatively low and narrow isthmus in the west near Chania.

Near the mouth of Souda bay, between the Akrotiri and the town of Kalives, there is a group of small islands with Venetian fortifications. The largest island is Souda Island, giving its name to the bay.

Souda Bay is now a popular tourist destination although there are no real public beaches due to the presence of the Crete Naval Station. Villages such as Megala Chorafia and Kalives afford fine views of the bay, and house-building, particularly for foreigners and tourist companies, is spreading along the bay.

History

Ancient and Medieval

There have been port facilities on the bay since ancient times, previously serving the city of Aptera. Aptera was founded in the 7th Century BC and was an important city during the ancient and early Byzantine periods. It was destroyed by the Saracens in the 820s AD. The nearest large ancient city was Kydonia, which flourished in the Minoan era on Crete; moreover, during a portion of the first millennium BC Kydonia held influence over Aptera.

Suda Bay (ship)

Suda Bay was a 14.3 ton motor boat that was one of the first boats used for a commercial tourist operation in the Houtman Abrolhos.

Between 1946 and 1948, Suda Bay and Batavia Road were used by Dal Gaze and Alan Fox to transport tourists to and from the Houtman Abrolhos, especially Pelsaert Island. This represents the first known commercial tourist operation in the Houtman Abrolhos.

In 1948, the partnership between Gaze and Fox broke up, and thereafter Fox used Suda Bay for lobster fishing in the vicinity of North Island. A channel through the reefs just north of the island is today named Suda Bay Passage.

References

Further reading