To all those tourists who seek closer to get acquainted with the pristine nature of Crete, guides first of all recommend visiting the sole on the island of Lake Kursnas (Kurn). It is located in the eastern part of the province of Chania. Directly from the city of Chania, the distance to Lake Kursnas is forty-five kilometers, and from the city of Rethymnon - twenty.
For the first time, this lake is mentioned in historical chronicles in the sixth century BC, but then he had a completely different name - Coresia in honor of the temple located right on the shores of Athena Koresti. Well, the current name - Kurnas Lake acquired during the Arab rule. The name is translated trite simply - "bath" or "lake".
The easiest way to come here to a rented car, but if you do not want to bother in his rental, you can easily get to a taxi or public transport. First you need to get from Rethymnon to the nearest to Lake St. Georgiupoli. And from there or taxi, or on a walking train.
The lake is located in the tectonic fault near the foot of the White Mountains. The lake has almost the correct round shape, and its bottom is three meters below sea level. It is powered by two springs with incredibly clear water filtered through karst rocks. It is noteworthy that even in the hottest summer, the lake does not dry up, which is unusually important for this region. And yet - the lake is just on the path of migration of migratory birds, so that twice a year of its surroundings turn into noisy bird bazaars.
The shores of Lake Kursnas are conditionally divided into two parts - on wild and well-maintained. There is a perfectly equipped beach with umbrellas and sun beds on the refined shore, and the catamaran rental is available. By the way, on the catamaran you can safely swim on the "wild" shore. Hunting, and fishing are completely banned on Lake Kursnas, so it is very often possible to see how ducks have some treats for themselves for themselves.
The uncompressed wild shore is completely covered with brown vegetation and is popular what the two-color freshwater turtles go here. But only in order to see them, we must come to the lake in the early morning. Also on this bank they have their nests geese and ducks that are completely unheed people. If you look at the lake from a nearby hill, you can see the dark spot allocated in its center. These are growing at the depth of three or five meters of algae. Many tourists dive from catamarans with masks and tubes to admire floating in the lake between algae stems with tiny fish and eels.