Spinalonga by Boat: Which Trips Land and Which Sail Past

Spinalonga is the one place in eastern Crete where booking the wrong boat does not just give you a different day — it gives you a different destination. Some trips tie up at the island's quay and let you walk the fortress. Others sail the walls from the water and never put anyone ashore. Both are sold under the same word, and the listings rarely say which one you are buying.

We sell four boats to Spinalonga, all of them out of the Marina of Agios Nikolaos, and they do not agree on this. One states the landing plainly. One describes stops around the island. One is named for Spinalonga and never touches it. This page reads all four out loud so the day you book is the day you get.

Quick Summary

Of the four Spinalonga boats we list from Agios Nikolaos, the shared catamaran at €140 per person is the one that states a landing: its own description gives you 60 to 90 minutes ashore to walk the fortress, and it warns that the archaeological ticket is separate. The three-hour private motor yacht at €855 for the boat explicitly does not land — it pauses offshore between Plaka and Spinalonga for photographs and swims somewhere else entirely. The semi-private catamaran at €140 describes stops around Spinalonga without stating a landing. The €1,800 private catamaran carries the same ticket warning as the shared boat.

The tell is the ticket. A boat that puts you ashore has to mention the entrance fee, because the site charges it at the gate and no fare here includes it. A listing that says nothing about a ticket is usually telling you, without saying so, that nobody is getting off.

Why the Landing Is Not Obvious from the Title

Titles on this route describe a destination, not an itinerary. "Spinalonga boat tour" tells you where the boat points, not whether it stops.

That is not deliberate mis-selling so much as a market habit: a sail-by past the walls genuinely is a Spinalonga trip in the sense the operator means it, and for a lot of passengers it is the better afternoon. The problem is that the reader who came east specifically to walk inside the fortress reads the same words and assumes a landing.

So read past the title. The reliable signals are the entrance-ticket note, the word around, and the length: a three-hour charter out of Agios Nikolaos has no room in it for a crossing, a landing and a swim.

The Four Boats, Read Out Loud

The shared catamaran that lands

The shared catamaran to Spinalonga and Kolokitha is €140 per person for six hours, with a ceiling of nineteen guests. It is the only one of the four that says outright what happens at the island: you step ashore to walk the Venetian walls, the former houses, the churches and the streets from the colony years, and around 60 to 90 minutes are usually allowed for the visit before the boat continues to Kolokitha Bay to swim.

Its notes then say that a separate entrance ticket is required for the archaeological site, is not included in the cruise price, and may change — so check the current rate. A boat that did not land would have no reason to print that.

Included: captain and crew, a full Cretan meal, water, soft drinks, juice, coffee and tea, Cretan wine, beer and raki, snorkelling equipment, and adult and child life jackets.

The semi-private with the toys

The semi-private catamaran from Agios Nikolaos is also €140 per person, runs five hours and caps at twenty-five. Its itinerary describes stops around Spinalonga and Kolokitha Bay, and it does not say passengers go ashore — so we do not say it either.

What it does carry is the best equipment list on the route: snorkelling gear, stand-up paddleboards, fishing equipment, sea scooters for adults and children, a transparent canoe, an inflatable platform and a slide, plus finger food and a lunch on the day cruise or dinner on the later one. With children aboard, that list matters more than the landing does.

The private catamaran

The private catamaran to Spinalonga and Kolokitha Bay is €1,800 for the boat, not per person, for six hours and up to nineteen guests — the same ceiling as the shared boat and the same route, with the deck to yourselves. It carries the same entrance-ticket warning.

Nineteen people dividing €1,800 is about €95 each, which undercuts the shared seat. Four people dividing it is not. That is a figure you work out, not one anybody publishes.

The three-hour charter that never lands

The three-hour private boat tour from Agios Nikolaos is €855 for the boat, up to eight people, at 09:00 or 12:30. Its title reads like the most direct Spinalonga trip on the list. It is the one trip here that certainly does not land.

Its own itinerary pauses offshore between Plaka and Spinalonga for sightseeing and photographs, and the substantial stop — around ninety minutes of the three hours — is a swim at Krios Bay. Included: a local skipper, snorkelling equipment, underwater sea scooters, fresh seasonal fruit, unlimited local wine, soft drinks and water, sunbeds and shaded seating, a deck shower, a cabin and a WC.

As a fast, comfortable short charter with a long swim it is a good buy. As a way to see the leper colony it is the wrong boat.

The Ticket That Decides the Budget

The entrance ticket to the archaeological site is €20 for an adult and €10 reduced, and it is not in any fare on this page. It is set by ministerial decision rather than by an operator, and it has not changed for the 2026 season.

Two exemptions are worth knowing before you count heads. Citizens of European Union member states aged up to twenty-five enter free on production of ID or a passport, and non-EU visitors aged up to eighteen enter free on production of a passport. A family with two teenagers can save the larger part of its ticket bill without asking for anything.

One rule runs the other way and almost nobody prints it: the reduced rate for over-sixty-fives applies only from 1 October to 31 May. Through June, July, August and September — most of the season the island is open at all — over-sixty-fives pay the full €20. Our guide to what is and is not included on a boat trip in Crete sets out the rest of the fare-versus-extras arithmetic.

Per Person or Per Boat

Two of these four are seats and two are hulls, and the numbers are not comparable until you do the division.

The €140 figures are per person. The €855 and €1,800 figures are for the whole boat, whether two of you turn up or the full eight and nineteen. A charter is not "six times more expensive" than a seat; it is a different unit, and a group of the right size can land under the per-seat fare while a couple cannot get close. Our guide to how many guests a private boat covers has the ceilings for the rest of the fleet.

Departure Times

The two €140 catamarans each publish a morning and an afternoon departure rather than a rolling timetable. The shared boat runs 09:00 to 15:00 and 15:00 to 21:00; the semi-private runs 09:00 to 14:00 and 15:30 to 20:30. The private catamaran matches the shared boat at 09:00 to 15:00 and 15:00 to 21:00.

The three-hour charter is the odd one out, with 09:00 to 12:00 and 12:30 to 15:30 only. There is no evening option on it.

We are careful with the word sunset here. What exists on this route is a late afternoon departure that is still at sea into the evening in high season — not a separately listed sunset cruise. Book the slot by its time.

If you want a landing, the morning sailing is the safer choice: it puts you at the island well inside the site's own opening season and hours, and the gulf is usually flattest early.

Getting to the Marina

All four leave from the Marina of Agios Nikolaos, in the town. Arrive about fifteen minutes before departure; the three-hour charter meets at the marina car park exit.

Ignore the location line on the listings, which often reads Spinalonga. Nothing departs from Spinalonga — it is an uninhabited fortress islet with a quay and nothing else.

Transfers are charged, not included, and the amounts are far apart. The shared catamaran prices pickup at €160 for groups of up to eight, paid on site. The private catamaran prices it at €150, paid on site. The three-hour charter asks €20 for a pickup inside Agios Nikolaos. The semi-private arranges a transfer on request and publishes no price at all.

One warning about the shared boat: its inclusions list names hotel pickup and drop-off on request, and its own transfer panel then prices that pickup at €160 payable on site. The listing contradicts itself. Treat the transfer panel as the binding one and confirm the figure when you book.

Trips you can book

From €90

Heraklion, Crete · 6 hours

Shared Catamaran Cruise from Heraklion to Dia Island with Drinks and Meal

Check availability

From €220

Balos, Crete · 7 hours

Shared Catamaran cruise Balos beach and Gramvousa Island (small group of 10 or 20)

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From €2200

Heraklion, Crete · 6 hours

Private Catamaran Cruise from Heraklion to Dia Island with Drinks and Meal

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From €70

Dia Island, Crete · 6 hours

Semi Private Sailing Cruise to Dia Island | All Inclusive

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Weather and the Best Time

The season is April to October, which matches the archaeological site's own 1 April to 31 October opening. Outside those dates the site is closed except by prior arrangement for groups, so a winter boat would have nothing to land at.

The water inside the Kolokitha peninsula is sheltered in a way the open north coast is not, which is why this route suits anyone in the party who is unsure about boats. The exposed stretch is the crossing between the marina and the island, and the wind in the gulf tends to build through the afternoon — another argument for the morning departure. Cancellations here are weather, not demand.

How to Choose

Decide the landing first. It is the only part of this day you cannot change once the boat has left, and it does not track the price: the cheapest way to stand inside the walls is a €140 seat, while the €855 charter puts nobody ashore.

If the fortress is the reason you came east, book the shared catamaran and put €20 a head aside for the gate. If the swim is the reason, the semi-private with the sea scooters and the slide is the better five hours, at the same fare. If you are a group of a dozen or more who want the day on your own terms, divide €1,800 before you dismiss it. If you have one morning and a small party, the three-hour charter is a good short day on the water — as long as you have read that it stays offshore.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Reading the title as an itinerary. "Spinalonga boat tour" names where the boat points, not whether it stops.

Forgetting the gate. €20 an adult, on top of every fare on this page.

Comparing €855 with €140. One is a boat and one is a seat. Divide first.

Assuming semi-private means private. It means a small shared group — here, a ceiling of twenty-five.

Turning up at Plaka. Plaka and Elounda run their own short crossings, which we do not sell. Every boat on this page leaves from Agios Nikolaos.

What We Do Not Sell

The short hops from Plaka and Elounda are the cheapest way onto Spinalonga by a wide margin, and we do not list them. They are worked largely by long-standing local boat cooperatives — Elounda's has run since 1970, Plaka's since 1980 — on their own timetables and fares, sold at the quay, and they are crossings rather than days out: no meal, no swim stop, no snorkelling kit.

That difference in who runs what is worth knowing, because it is also why the Agios Nikolaos boats behave differently. There is no boat cooperative in Agios Nikolaos. What leaves that marina are private excursion companies selling organised half- and full-day cruises — which is exactly why some of them never put anyone ashore.

If your only goal is to stand on the island for the lowest possible outlay, drive to Plaka and buy a ticket there. What our boats sell is the rest of the day around it: the Mirabello crossing, the Kolokitha swim, the food and the gear. That is worth saying plainly rather than pretending the alternative does not exist.

Where to Stay

Agios Nikolaos puts you walking distance from the marina and is the obvious base for any of these four. Elounda, fifteen minutes north, is quieter, with the peninsula in view. Plaka is smaller again and sits directly opposite the island.

For a family or a group, a villa around the Mirabello Gulf beats a room, because one base covers the boat day, the Lasithi Plateau and the eastern beaches without repacking. We run our own villa company, My Creta Villa, so when we point you at a villa we are pointing at our own business — worth knowing when you weigh the recommendation.

Villas around the Mirabello Gulf

My Creta Villa is our own villa company — same family as this guide.

From €570

Milatos, Lasithi

Villa Avia

12 guests · 5 bedrooms

View villa

From €450

Lasithi

Iris Stone Built Villa

9 guests · 3 bedrooms

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From €560

Lasithi

Blue Horizon Villa

10 guests · 4 bedrooms

View villa

From €400

Heraklion

Luxury Villa Kopsas

8 guests · 4 bedrooms

View villa

From €650

Heraklion

Palazzo Reale Superior Villa

13 guests · 7 bedrooms

View villa

From €430

Heraklion

Stone and Wood Villa

10 guests · 4 bedrooms

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Spinalonga boat trips: frequently asked questions

Which Spinalonga boat trip actually lands on the island?

The shared catamaran at €140 per person. Its description gives guests around 60 to 90 minutes ashore to walk the walls, the houses and the churches before the boat moves on to Kolokitha Bay, and it warns that the archaeological ticket is separate. The €1,800 private catamaran carries the same ticket warning.

Does the €855 three-hour boat tour stop at Spinalonga?

No. Its itinerary pauses offshore between Plaka and Spinalonga for sightseeing and photographs, and the ninety-minute swim stop is at Krios Bay. It is a private charter for up to eight, priced for the boat.

Is the Spinalonga entrance ticket included in the boat price?

No. The site charges €20 for an adult and €10 reduced at the gate, and no fare on this page includes it. EU citizens up to 25 and non-EU visitors up to 18 enter free.

Is €140 per person or for the boat?

Per person. The €855 and €1,800 figures are for the whole boat, up to eight and nineteen guests respectively, however many of you come.

Can I get to Spinalonga without a boat?

No. The island has no road, bridge or causeway, and there is no public ferry line to it. Every visit is by boat, from Plaka, Elounda or Agios Nikolaos. The Plaka and Elounda crossings do run frequently to a published timetable — they are licensed day boats rather than a ferry service.

Morning or afternoon departure?

Morning if you want to land, because it puts you at the island well inside the site's opening hours and the gulf is usually calmest early. Afternoon for the light on the way home.

Final Thoughts

Four boats, one island, and only some of them put you on it. That is an unusual situation and it is why this route is worth ten minutes of reading rather than a click on the first result.

Work out whether you want to walk the fortress or swim beneath it, and everything else follows: the boat, the slot, the unit the price is quoted in, and whether you need another €20 a head in the budget. Get that one decision right and there is no better half day on the water in eastern Crete.

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