What's Included on a Boat Trip in Crete (and What Is Not)

Almost every boat day we sell in Crete is described as all-inclusive, and on most of them the word is honest: a crew, a proper meal, drinks that keep coming, and enough snorkelling kit for everyone aboard. The trouble is that all-inclusive describes the boat, not the day. Three costs sit outside the fare with enough regularity to be worth naming, and none of them appear in a product title.

The clearest example is a pair of catamarans in eastern Crete that cost exactly the same and exclude opposite things. One includes your hotel pickup and leaves you to pay the archaeological ticket when you step ashore. The other has no ticket to pay and charges you for the transfer. Same €140, same stretch of water, different bill at the end. This guide reads the inclusions out loud, boat by boat, so the number you budget is the number you spend. If what you need is the whole-boat arithmetic instead, our guide to how many guests a private boat covers sets out the guest ceilings and the extra-head charges.

Quick Summary

On the all-inclusive cruises we list, the fare covers the crew, food and drink, and the water equipment — on the shared Spinalonga catamaran that means a full Cretan meal, water, soft drinks, juices, coffee, tea, Cretan wine, beer and raki, snorkelling gear including mask, snorkel and fins, and adult and child life jackets. Three things routinely sit outside it. The Spinalonga entrance ticket is €20 for an adult and is never part of a boat fare unless the listing says so. Hotel transfers are included on some boats and charged on others at the same price. Fuel and a refundable security deposit are handled at the base on any boat you drive yourself. Everything else on a Cretan boat day is usually already paid for.

What All-Inclusive Covers on a Cretan Boat

All-inclusive on these cruises is a catering and equipment promise, not a promise about the destination. It means you do not open a wallet once you are on board — no bar tab, no charge for the snorkel set, no upsell on the second helping of lunch. The crew, the fuel, the mooring and the swim stops are all in the number you paid at booking.

What it does not mean is that everything the day contains is covered. If the boat lands somewhere that charges admission, admission is yours. If a car has to bring you to the pontoon, that may or may not be in the fare. Reading the phrase that way makes the exceptions predictable rather than annoying.

The Spinalonga Ticket and Why It Sits Outside the Fare

Spinalonga is a state archaeological site with its own ticket booth, run by the antiquities service rather than by any boat operator. That is the whole reason the two are billed separately: the boat brings you to the island, and the island sells its own entry a short walk from where you step off.

The adult ticket is €20. Entry is free for citizens of the European Union up to the age of 25 on presentation of identification, and the site is open daily from 1 April to 31 October. The shared catamaran to Spinalonga states this in its own listing — the entrance ticket is not included in the cruise price — and it is the single most common surprise on an eastern boat day. Bring cash for it.

The history is worth the ticket. The Venetian fort dates from the late 16th century, and the island ran as a leper colony from 1903 to 1957; the cruise allows roughly 60 to 90 minutes ashore, which is enough to walk the lanes without rushing. For the route in full, our sailing site's Spinalonga catamaran guide covers the day properly.

Two Catamarans at €140, Two Different Exclusions

This pair is the clearest illustration in our catalogue of why the fare alone tells you nothing.

The shared catamaran to Spinalonga and Kolokitha is €140 for six hours. It includes hotel pickup and drop-off on request, and it lands on the island — so add €20 an adult and your real figure is €160.

The semi-private catamaran from Agios Nikolaos is also €140, for five hours, and carries the longest equipment list we sell. Its listing states plainly that the transfer cost is not included but can be arranged on request. Its itinerary describes stops around Spinalonga and Kolokitha Bay without stating that passengers go ashore, so we will not promise you a landing on it — ask at booking if walking the island is the point of your day.

Two identical prices, two opposite answers. Neither listing is being evasive; they are simply different products that happen to have converged on the same number.

Kit, Food and Drink on Board

The equipment is where the shared and semi-private cruises quietly outspend everything else, because the cost is spread across a full deck.

On the shared Spinalonga catamaran: snorkelling equipment including mask, snorkel and fins, and adult and child life jackets. On the semi-private catamaran in the east: snorkelling gear, paddleboards, fishing equipment, sea scooters for adults and children, a transparent canoe, and an inflatable platform and slide. The second list is the reason families with older children tend to prefer that boat even though it is the shorter day.

Catering scales with the format rather than the price. A six-hour all-inclusive cruise feeds you a full Cretan meal with wine, beer and raki alongside the soft drinks. A five-hour semi-private day runs to finger food and a lunch. A one-hour skippered harbour trip at €120 is a boat and a skipper, and a boat you drive yourself carries safety equipment and no catering whatsoever. None of that is stinginess — it is what fits in the hours.

Why Dia Carries No Landing Fee

Dia is the uninhabited island about 7 nautical miles off Heraklion that most of the northern sailing days we sell are built around. It is a protected Natura 2000 site, there is no ferry and no public boat to it, and a booked trip or a charter is the only way across.

It is also, for the purposes of this page, the simple case. The boats that go there anchor in one of the island's southern bays to swim and snorkel rather than putting anyone ashore, so there is no gate, no booth and nothing to pay when you arrive. On a Dia day the fare really is the whole cost — which is why the €98 four-hour semi-private and the €70 six-hour version are cleaner comparisons against each other than any two eastern boats are.

Boat days you can book

From €70

Dia Island, Crete · 6 hours

Semi Private Sailing Cruise to Dia Island | All Inclusive

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From €70

Dia Island, Crete · 6 hours

Semi Private Sailing Cruise to Dia Island | All Inclusive

Check availability

From €70

Dia Island, Crete · 6 hours

Semi Private Sailing Cruise to Dia Island | All Inclusive

Check availability

From €70

Dia Island, Crete · 6 hours

Semi Private Sailing Cruise to Dia Island | All Inclusive

Check availability

Fuel, Deposits and the Hour Clock on Self-Drive Boats

A licence-free boat is priced for the hull and the hours, and two costs are settled at the base rather than at booking. Fuel is yours, and a refundable security deposit is held against the boat while you have it. Extra hours beyond your booked block are charged at a set rate, so the cheapest way to overspend is to lose track of the time.

The short self-drive boat from Rodia Marina is €140 for two hours; the larger licence-free boats run €165 and €190 for two hours, €240 for four and €399 for a full day. Read all of those as prices for the boat, not per person — a group of five splitting €165 is buying the cheapest water in the catalogue. If you would rather not drive at all, the skippered hour from the same marina is €120 with the fuel already in it. What you may and may not do with a boat you drive yourself is a longer question, and we answer it in boating without a licence.

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Where Private Charters Add Cost

On a private boat the flat price covers a stated number of guests, and several of the boats we list charge per head above that number. The clause lives in the booking terms rather than the title, and it is the difference between a charter being the cheapest deck space on the island and the most expensive thing you book all week.

One more warning about the word private: it describes the deck, not the pricing model. Two of our private listings are sold per person with a small guest cap rather than as a whole boat, so check the unit before you divide anything in your head. Our guest-ceiling guide works through which boats include how many, and where the surcharges start.

Season, Weather and Cancellation

These boats run April to October, and wind decides more than temperature does. The prevailing summer wind on the north coast is north-westerly, which is why the eastern boats out of Agios Nikolaos keep sailing comfortably on days when the open crossings further west are unpleasant — the western shore of the Gulf of Mirabello sits in the lee of land.

Cancellation terms matter more here than they look. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure is standard across our listings, though booking fees themselves are not refundable. An operator who cancels for weather is doing the right thing, and in the shoulder months it happens.

How to Read a Listing Before You Book

Four questions answer almost everything. Does the boat land anywhere that charges admission — if yes, add €20 an adult for Spinalonga. Is the transfer named as included, or named as extra? Is the price per person or for the boat, and if it is for the boat, how many guests does it include? And which departure slot are you buying, since most of the boats on our list sell a morning and an afternoon version of the same trip and only one of them is out late.

Answer those four and the listing has told you the true price of the day. A fifth question only applies once you are taking the whole boat — engine or sail — and it changes the hours far more than the inclusions: we set out that trade in motor yacht or sailing yacht.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Assuming the island ticket is in the fare. On Spinalonga it is not, unless the listing says so. €20 an adult, at the booth, after you land.

Reading a whole-boat price as per person, or the reverse. Both errors are expensive and both are easy to avoid by looking at the unit rather than the number.

Treating the duration as door to door. The hours on a listing are hours on the water. Transfers, parking and the walk to the pontoon sit outside that figure.

Budgeting a self-drive boat without the fuel. The hire price is the hull and the hours; fuel and the deposit are settled at the base.

Booking the shorter eastern catamaran expecting to walk the island. Its listing describes stops around Spinalonga rather than a landing. If going ashore is the point, take the one that says so.

Where to Stay

Where you sleep decides which of these boats is realistic, because the transfer question is really a distance question. Basing yourself around Heraklion puts you within reach of the whole Dia fleet and both Rodia Marina boats, and none of them need a long transfer. Basing yourself in Agios Nikolaos, Elounda or Plaka puts you beside the eastern catamarans and Spinalonga, and makes the transfer line on a listing almost irrelevant.

We run our own villa company, My Creta Villa, so we can be straightforward about where it helps: all six of our houses are in Heraklion and Lasithi, which covers both of the areas this guide is about and nothing in the west. If Balos and the Kissamos boats are your reason for coming, book locally out there and treat the boat as the point of the trip. For shorter days around the eastern base, our guide to short trips from Agios Nikolaos sorts them by the clock.

Villas near the boats

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

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Milatos, Lasithi

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Palazzo Reale Superior Villa

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Boat trip inclusions: frequently asked questions

Is the Spinalonga entrance ticket included in the boat trip price?

No. Spinalonga is a state archaeological site with its own ticket booth, and the €20 adult ticket is paid on the island unless a listing explicitly says entrance is included. Citizens of the European Union up to the age of 25 enter free with identification.

What does all-inclusive actually include on a Cretan boat?

The crew, the food and drink, and the water equipment. On the shared Spinalonga catamaran that is a full Cretan meal, water, soft drinks, juices, coffee, tea, Cretan wine, beer and raki, snorkelling gear with mask, snorkel and fins, and adult and child life jackets.

Are hotel transfers included in a boat trip in Crete?

It depends on the boat, not the price. The shared catamaran to Spinalonga includes hotel pickup and drop-off on request; the semi-private catamaran from Agios Nikolaos, at the same €140, states that the transfer is not included but can be arranged.

Do I pay anything extra on a trip to Dia island?

No. Dia has no ferry and no public boat, and the trips that go there anchor to swim rather than landing, so there is no admission of any kind. The fare is the whole cost of the day.

Is fuel included when I hire a boat I drive myself?

No. A licence-free boat is priced for the hull and the booked hours, with fuel and a refundable security deposit settled at the base. Extra hours beyond the block are charged at a set rate.

Final Thoughts

Most of what a Cretan boat day contains is already paid for by the time you step aboard, and the honest version of this page is that the exceptions are short and knowable. One admission charge, on one island, at €20 an adult. One transfer line that differs between two boats at the same price. One fuel-and-deposit arrangement on the boats you drive yourself.

Everything else — the crew, the meal, the raki, the mask and fins, the life jacket that fits your child — is in the number you already paid. Check the four questions above against the listing in front of you, and the only surprise left on the day should be how clear the water is.

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