Now the caves are a gated tourist attraction that you have to pay to be guided through. By the time we got there, the gates were closed so we weren't able to go up in them and explore. Fucking hippies. Always ruining it for everyone.
All the caves were carved in the rocks by the Romans and were used as a cemetery! In the late 1960s, a bunch of hippies found them and for two years the caves caves became a commune (Joni Mitchell actually spent six months here living in one of the caves). More and more hippies kept coming until the local authorities got fed up and kicked all of their dirty, patchouli-smelling asses the fuck off the beach. ("Take your guitar and MOVE IT, Harpo! Now!"). Boo-yah!
We parked the car and managed to get out on the beach with about fifteen minutes to spare before sunset. Matala is best known for the caves you see in the limestone rock in the background.
