Elafonissi beach

Elafonissi is a sandbar lagoon at Crete's south-west corner: white sand blushed pink by crushed shell, water in improbable turquoise, and an islet you reach by wading a channel that rarely passes the knees. The colours do the work — even in flat light the lagoon reads tropical, and in low sun it glows.

The day-trip buses own the middle of the day. Come after five: the lagoon empties, the sand cools, and the last two hours of light are side-on and warm. Wading across to the islet buys near-total privacy and dunes with juniper for wind shelter; the crossing itself — couple mid-channel, water to the shins, colour on both sides — is one of the best frames on the beach.

The pink is a tint concentrated at the waterline, not a paint job: shoot low along the wet sand to make the most of it and manage expectations honestly. It is a protected area — keep off the fenced dunes and take nothing, sand included.