Creta Maris Beach Resort

The honest review

Creta Maris Beach Resort is one of the largest and longest-established all-inclusive resorts in Hersonissos, on Crete's north coast — 680 rooms spread across a property built around a 250-meter Blue Flag-certified beach, which is a meaningfully bigger footprint than the other Hersonissos all-inclusives in this catalog (Lyttos Beach, Nana Golden Beach, Fodele Beach).

That scale shows up directly in the pool and water infrastructure: 17 freshwater pools plus a dedicated waterpark, spread across the grounds so families aren't funneled into a single crowded main pool during peak summer weeks. A heated indoor pool adds aquarobics and fitness classes as a shoulder-season and year-round option, which is unusual for a resort of this type.

The Asterias Kids Club is a real, staffed program with creative and craft-focused activity areas, and — notably — Creta Maris also runs a seasonal teen club (ages 11-15, expanding to 12-15 during the peak July/August weeks), which is a genuine differentiator; most Hersonissos all-inclusive competitors stop their structured programming at the younger-kids tier and leave teens to fend for themselves. That combination is why the kidAmenities score here runs at the top of the Crete set.

Dining matches the resort's scale rather than feeling stretched thin: 7 restaurants, 6 all-day snack points, and 9 bars including a dedicated wine cellar with Cretan and international selections — enough variety that a week-long all-inclusive stay doesn't feel repetitive, which is a common complaint at smaller AI properties.

Room stock ranges from standard deluxe rooms up through family rooms, one- and two-bedroom suites, and waterfront villas, giving families real flexibility on space and privacy rather than a single room category.

The honest tradeoff of operating at this scale: a 680-room resort inevitably feels busier and less intimate than a boutique Crete property, and getting a dinner reservation at the more popular à la carte restaurants during peak season requires booking early, same as at any large all-inclusive. Pricing sits in the same all-inclusive band as its Hersonissos neighbors rather than being a budget outlier in either direction.

For families who want the widest activity and dining variety in the Hersonissos all-inclusive market — plus one of the only real teen programs in the area — Creta Maris is the strongest pick in this cluster. Families wanting a smaller, quieter all-inclusive feel should look at one of the more compact Hersonissos properties instead.