The tiny beach of Machairida is located 14km northeast of Chania and only 1 km west of the chorafakia village , hidden well inside a rocky bay. The bay has its northern limit set by a knife shaped cape and that is why it is called machairida ( knife=machairi).Others claim that the name was given to it by the flower machairida ( gladiolis italicus) that flowers also in Crete.

The bay is almost always calm and at its center there is a small sandy beach with fine white sand perfectly combined with the green water and the rocky surroundings.Water here is deep and clear grace to the currents that change direction many times a day .It is not an organized beach and its isolated character is attractive to nudists.