Many of them are accessible to tourists, some only to archaeologists and biologists. Some are ecologically protected. These include:
- Gramvousa - a pirate island opposite the Balo lagoon
- Elafonisi - there is a plaque on the island commemorating the tragic event of 1824, when several hundred (640-850) Greeks, mostly women and children, were killed by Ottoman soldiers. There is also a large wooden cross commemorating a shipwreck from 1907. It was the passenger steamer Imperatrix, which sank off the coast and still rests at the bottom of the sea
- Chrysi - it is home to the largest natural cedar forest (Cedrus Iibani) in Europe
- Paximadia - these are two small, uninhabited islands that from a distance look like one. Locals call them Elephantaki, because they look like an elephant lying in the water, with its trunk facing west. According to Cretan mythology, on these islands, the goddess Leto gave birth to the god Apollo and the goddess Artemis
- Spinalonga (Kalydon) - a fortified island that was once used as a leper colony
- Dionysades - a small group of Sitia islands that is part of a protected area with many rare plants and animals, including Eleonora’s falcon (Falco eleonorae), which finds refuge there.
