Kalyves lies about 20 km east of Chania in the Apokoronas area. It is on the coast at the entrance of Souda Bay. It essentially consists of one long road, with houses opening directly on to it, with the occasional alley behind. The town is bound on one side by the sea and the other by low hills. On Kastelli Hill, east of the town, are the remains of the fortified settlement Castello Apicorono, identified by some scholars as the site of ancient Ippokoronion, which is thought to have given the Apokoronas region its name. In classical and Byzantine times, Kalives is the likely site of Kissamos, one of the ancient city of Aptera’s two harbours.