Boat trip
Chrissi island boat from Ierapetra.
Photo: Charlie Jordan / Pexels
Quick facts
- Region
- Lasithi
- Start town
- Ierapetra
- Typical duration
- 6–8 hours
- Type
- Boat trip
Chrissi, which many locals call Gaidouronisi, is the island south of Ierapetra. The day boat leaves the town harbour, crosses open water, and gives you a few hours on a sandy island with juniper and cedar. Shade is limited. The crossing cancels in strong south or west winds. You cannot leave when you are tired. You leave when the boat leaves. Facilities on the island are basic, and the famous beaches get crowded at the peak of summer.
The boat leaves Ierapetra harbour in the morning. Buy the return you will actually make. There is no later public boat to rescue a missed departure.
It suits people who want a full beach day on an island and can handle a small-boat crossing. Skip it if anyone gets seasick easily, or if you need to be back at a fixed hour that is earlier than the boat.
Chrissi island boat from Ierapetra needs 6–8 hours from Ierapetra. The months that usually work are May to October. Wind can still cancel a morning inside that window. Pack a hat, water and a layer for the return to Ierapetra, and read the meeting quay the evening before rather than guessing from a postcard of the harbour. The quay for Chrissi island boat from Ierapetra is in Ierapetra. A boat from another harbour is a different crossing, even when the postcard looks similar. A private charter to the same island is a different page. Children who can sit the crossing are covered in the section below, not as a second island.
Where you start
With children
Chrissi with children, or not changes the start, not the destination. If you go, take the morning boat from Ierapetra and the packed shade you can carry. If the wind is up at dawn, switch to Myrtos before you are in the queue. It suits older children who swim and can handle a long day.
Is it worth it
Chrissi island boat from Ierapetra is worth the hours from Ierapetra when it suits people who want a full beach day on an island and can handle a small-boat crossing. The day boat leaves the town harbour, crosses open water, and gives you a few hours on a sandy island with juniper and cedar. If that is the part your group will fight, leave it for another date.
What to bring
- Water and a hat, because Chrissi, which many locals call Gaidouronisi, is the island south
- Shoes that match the ground on Chrissi island boat from Ierapetra. The boat leaves Ierapetra harbour in the morning.
- A layer for the start in Ierapetra. May to October still has cool mornings and wind.
- The return hour written down. Chrissi island boat from Ierapetra takes 6–8 hours, and a second plan the same day is how you miss it.
Tips
- May to October is the window to trust for Chrissi island boat from Ierapetra. Outside it, ask whether the day is even running.
- Leave Ierapetra with 6–8 hours clear. The boat leaves Ierapetra harbour in the morning. Buy the return you
- Search “Chrissi island boat from Ierapetra Crete” and check that the meeting point really is Ierapetra.
Related tours
Boat tripKoufonisi island from Ierapetra
Ierapetra6–8 hours
Koufonisi here is the island south-east of Crete, with sand, a ruined Roman theatre and a long empty feel. It is not the Koufonisia of the Small Cyclades. Boats leave from the Ierapetra coast, often toward Makrygialos, and the crossing is weather-dependent. The island has little shade and no town. You bring water and you catch the boat home. A cancelled morning is common enough in a meltemi week to keep the day optional. The usual length is 6–8 hours, and the months that usually work are May to September. It suits people who want a remote beach and a ruin and can accept a cancellation. Skip it if the group needs services, or if the name mix-up with the Cyclades was the reason it sounded familiar. Confirm the departure harbour the day before. Makrygialos and Ierapetra are not the same quay.
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Myrtos beach day
Ierapetra3–5 hours
Myrtos is the long pebble-and-sand beach village west of Ierapetra, with a simple seafront and a mountain wall behind it. The day is a swim and a lunch, not a list of sites. The beach is open to the south wind. When that wind is up, the surf is the story and the tavernas are the better half of the visit. It is an easy drive from Ierapetra and a more honest beach day than a rushed Chrissi crossing in marginal weather. The usual length is 3–5 hours, and the months that usually work are May to October. It suits anyone based in Ierapetra who wants the sea without a boat. Skip it in a strong south wind if the swim was the only goal. Drive the coast road west from Ierapetra. The village sits on the beach. Parking is in town. Walk from there.
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Boat tripBalos and Gramvousa boat from Chania
Chania7–9 hours
The west-coast boat day pairs the Venetian fortress on Gramvousa with the lagoon at Balos. Boats leave Kissamos, so a Chania start includes a coach to the port and back. The road alternative ends above Balos on a steep path and never reaches the fortress. Shade on the lagoon is scarce, and the northwest wind cancels sailings. The usual length is 7–9 hours, and the months that usually work are May to October. It suits people who want both places and can give the day to them. Skip it if you dislike small boats, if someone cannot walk the fortress path, or if you are based in Rethymno and would spend the day on the transfer. You do not board in Chania old harbour. The boat leaves Kissamos, usually with a hotel coach from Chania included in the day.
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FAQ
Questions.
- Plan on 6–8 hours from Ierapetra. It suits people who want a full beach day on an island and can handle a small-boat crossing.
- May to October. Outside those months the day is often closed, cancelled, or a different trip. Ask the day before you leave Ierapetra.
- The boat leaves Ierapetra harbour in the morning. Buy the return you will actually make. There is no later public boat to rescue a missed departure.
- It suits people who want a full beach day on an island and can handle a small-boat crossing. Skip it if anyone gets seasick easily, or if you need to be back at a fixed hour that is earlier than the boat.
- Chrissi island boat from Ierapetra is worth the hours from Ierapetra when it suits people who want a full beach day on an island and can handle a small-boat crossing. The day boat leaves the town harbour, crosses open water, and gives you a few hours on a sandy island with juniper and cedar. If that is the part your group will fight, leave it for another date.