Fair Havens

About Fair Havens

Fair Havens is mentioned in Act.27.8 as a harbor on the southern coast of the island of Crete, where the ship carrying the apostle Paul to Rome took shelter during difficult sailing conditions. The harbor's name, "Fair Havens" (Greek: Kaloi Limenes), suggests that it was a suitable place for ships to anchor and wait out unfavorable weather.

According to the narrative in Acts, Paul and his companions were sailing from Caesarea to Rome when they encountered strong winds that forced them to sail along the southern coast of Crete. After passing Cape Salmone, they arrived at Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea (Act.27.8).

While at Fair Havens, Paul advised the crew to spend the winter there, as he foresaw that continuing the voyage would result in damage and loss (Act.27.9-10). However, the centurion in charge of the ship decided to follow the advice of the pilot and the ship's owner, who wanted to reach Phoenix, another harbor on Crete, to spend the winter (Act.27.11-12).

The exact location of Fair Havens is believed to be near the modern-day village of Kaloi Limenes, which bears the same name as the ancient harbor. Archaeological evidence, including anchors and other maritime artifacts, has been found in the area, supporting the identification of this site as the Fair Havens mentioned in the Bible.

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.