Boat Trips Crete

"The catamaran left Kissamos just after eight and the bare rock of Gramvousa came into view within the hour, Venetian fortress walls sitting high above the waterline. Balos Lagoon shifted from pale turquoise to deep blue as the sun climbed over the sandbar. Of all the boat trips crete offers from the northwest coast, this one gave us the longest swim stop."

"We sailed out of Sfakia toward Loutro and the Libyan Sea was flat enough to see the bottom at around ten metres. Wind picked up on the return leg and spray came over the bow, which the crew had warned us about before we left the pier. Our boat trips crete tickets were scanned at the dock in under a minute."

"Approaching the Spinalonga fortress from Mirabello Bay gives a far better sense of the scale of the walls than any photo I had seen beforehand. The upper deck was crowded by late morning and shade was limited once the sun was overhead. Still worth the ninety minutes on the water for the approach alone."

"The skipper anchored in a sheltered cove near Elafonissi where the pink shell sand shows through the shallows. We snorkelled over seagrass and spotted small bream within the first few minutes of getting in. Compared with other boat trips crete has along the Libyan Sea side, this one felt unhurried."

"Our skipper threaded the sea caves east of Agios Nikolaos and cut the engine so we could hear the swell moving inside the rock. Afternoon light came through the entrance and lit the water a pale green. The Chania coastal cruise we did later in the week was busier, but this one stayed quiet."

"We booked an evening catamaran out of Chania and the sun dropped behind the headland while half of us were still in the water. The crew passed round bread and olives and nobody was rushed back aboard. Βαρκάδες στην Κρήτη at that hour are a different experience from the morning departures."

"The meltemi was blowing the morning we sailed and the crew rerouted to the lee side of the peninsula without any fuss. Water stayed clear and the swell was manageable on a larger hull. Among boat trips crete runs out of the north coast, the bigger boats handle choppy days far better."

"We went out from Agios Nikolaos on a cold bright day with maybe twelve people aboard. The Mirabello Bay water was dark and still, and the cliffs looked taller without the summer haze. The boat trips crete tours running in the low season are shorter, but you get the deck largely to yourself."

"Twelve hours out of Kissamos including two swim stops and the climb up to the Gramvousa fortress ruins in full sun. Bring more water than you think you need, because the shaded benches fill up quickly once everyone is back aboard. A Chania boat tour like this one covers more coastline than I expected."

"The route past Gramvousa and into the lagoon was good, but the boat was full and finding a seat in shade took persistence. Engine noise at the stern made the commentary hard to follow for the first half hour. Skip-the-line boarding with the lagoon tickets did at least save us time at the pier."