A Heraklion boat trip leaves the capital of Crete for the coast, the Minoan shoreline and the island of Dia. It is one of the Crete boat tours in Greece on Greece VIP.
This post covers what a Heraklion boat trip includes, the Minoan harbours and the coast east of the city. It also covers Dia, the war history in the sea and the sea life. Sea traffic, the best season and common questions come last.
Each section ends with a Heraklion boat trip or a nearby cruise that can be booked online.
What does a Heraklion boat trip include?
A Heraklion boat trip uses sailing yachts, motor yachts or RIB boats. Trips leave from the small marina in the old Venetian harbour. Gouves marina, east of the city, is a second boarding point. Licence-free motor boats are also rented there.
Rental listings for Heraklion offer motor yachts, sailboats, catamarans and RIB boats. Private cruises leave from Heraklion harbour. A RIB is a rigid inflatable boat.
One Heraklion boat trip uses a 53-foot sailing yacht of 16.15 metres. It leaves from the old Venetian harbour with a skipper and a hostess.
The port authority runs a fishing shelter and a small marina in the old harbour. Yachts up to 20 metres long moor at three floating docks.
Listings give the old harbour about 70 berths and a 2.5-3 metre draft limit. The old basin is 275 metres long and 155 metres wide.
Gouves marina lies six miles east of Heraklion harbour. It opened on 15 July 2005 as the first private marina in Crete. It holds 72 berths.
The marina takes yachts up to 18.5 metres long with a 3 metre draught. A Heraklion boat trip from Gouves can use a private RIB.
- Licence: Listed rental boats at Gouves need no boating licence.
- Capacity: These boats carry five, six or seven people each.
- Kit: Rentals include snorkelling equipment, GPS and safety equipment.
A self-drive Heraklion boat trip from Kato Gouves comes without a skipper or fuel. The fuel is charged by the amount used during the trip.
Which Minoan harbours does a Heraklion boat trip pass?
A Heraklion boat trip east of the city passes three Minoan harbour sites. Poros-Katsambas held the harbour town of Knossos. Amnisos served as a port of Knossos. Nirou Chani and Agioi Theodoroi near Kokkini Hani kept a Minoan villa and shipyard.
Poros-Katsambas lies on the west bank of the Kairatos river, 4 km north of Knossos. In Minoan times, it held the harbour of the palace.
At Poros, Antonis Vasilakis uncovered six long chambers in two rows, averaging 6 metres wide. They survive to 21-25 metres long. They were destroyed around 1320-1250 BC.
Stylianos Alexiou dug the chamber graves of Katsambas from 1951 to 1963. Nota Dimopoulou later recovered forty seals and three scarabs from six Poros tombs.
Katsambas shares its river valley with the palace. Pairing a Heraklion boat trip with tickets for the palace of Knossos links each harbour to its palace.
A Heraklion boat trip passes Amnisos, 7 km east of the city. Homer called its harbour difficult. Spyridon Marinatos excavated its two-storey House of the Lilies in 1932.
The villa’s lily fresco stands about 1.8 metres high, with red and white lilies, mint, iris and papyrus. Fire destroyed the building in Late Minoan IA.
- Cave: Worship in Eileithyia’s cave lasted into the 5th century BC.
- Nirou: Stephanos Xanthoudides found four bronze double axes there in 1918.
- Shipsheds: Spyridon Marinatos found Minoan shipsheds at Agioi Theodoroi in 1926.
Near Kokkini Hani, a Heraklion boat trip passes the Nirou villa. It covered about 1,000 square metres. Fire destroyed it in the 15th century BC.
What does a Heraklion boat trip see along the coast east of the city?
A Heraklion boat trip east of the city follows a long sandy coast. It passes Karteros bay, Heraklion airport and Amnisos beach. Further east lie Kokkini Hani, Kato Gouves and Analipsi. Each of these villages has a sandy beach.
Karteros bay lies 7 km east of Heraklion and stretches 3.5 km east. The Karteros river, rising on Mount Ida, meets the sea at Florida beach.
A Heraklion boat trip crosses a bay named after the Byzantine general Krateros. He landed here in AD 824 against the Saracens and was defeated.
Florida beach, where a river reaches the sea, lies beside Heraklion airport. Karteros beach lies close to the east end of the main runway.
A Heraklion boat trip then passes Amnisos beach, one kilometre of soft sand. It lies east of Paleohora hill, where ruins of ancient Amnisos were found.
Kokkini Hani, at the 14th kilometre of the road to Lasithi, had 1,733 residents in 2021. Its name comes from the travellers’ inn of Kokkinis.
A Heraklion boat trip reaches Kato Gouves, 18 km east, below Mount Ederi. Its church of St Constantine stands in a small pine forest by the sea.
- Karteros: The village had 1,106 residents in the 2021 census.
- Gouves: The inland village had 633 residents in 2021.
- Analipsi: The village had 1,107 residents in 2021.
Further along, a Heraklion boat trip reaches Analipsi, 21 km east of Heraklion. The village takes its name from the church of the Ascension of Christ.
What does a Heraklion boat trip see on Dia island?
A Heraklion boat trip reaches a limestone island of thorny scrub, rare plants and seabird cliffs. Dia holds one endemic plant, its own wild rabbits and an endangered lizard. Its bays sheltered allied fleets during the Ottoman war for Crete.
From a Heraklion boat trip, Dia shows limestone of the Tripolitza series. Its cliffs drop up to 60 metres into the sea. Ancient quarries cut its stone.
Botanists have counted 166 fern and seed plant species on Dia and nearby islets. The only endemic is Prospero talosii, a large relative of the autumn squill.
Phrygana, a low scrub led by thorny burnet, covers slopes seen on a Heraklion boat trip. The crevice plant Carlina diae was first described from Dia itself.
Dia’s wild rabbits were described as an endemic subspecies, Oryctolagus cuniculus cnossius. The Cretan wall lizard, rated endangered by the IUCN, also lives on the island.
Dia appears in the global list of Key Biodiversity Areas. Scopoli’s shearwater and the European shag appear on its bird list. Monk seals live offshore.
In 1988, the island a Heraklion boat trip visits, plus a sea zone, became an archaeological site. The Greek forestry service has managed Dia since 1938.
- Church: The Church of the Ascension dates from the mid-20th century.
- Basilica: Older basilica foundations lie beside that church.
- Scrub: Botanists name the thorny burnet Sarcopoterium spinosum.
Pococke wrote in 1745 that Maltese ships anchored at Dia during the Ottoman war.
What war history lies in the sea off Heraklion?
A Heraklion boat trip crosses waters where Royal Navy ships rescued the Heraklion garrison in 1941. Two of its destroyers were lost on that voyage. Other wrecks include a German fighter off Hersonissos and a French warship sunk in 1669.
The Royal Navy fought off northern Crete, in the sea a Heraklion boat trip crosses. It lost four cruisers and eight destroyers during the Battle of Crete.
Late in the battle, Rawlings took cruisers Orion, Ajax and Dido to collect the Heraklion garrison. Six destroyers sailed with them, including Hotspur, Hereward and Imperial.
The squadron left Heraklion by 03:00 with about 4,000 troops. At 03:45 Imperial’s steering failed. Her crew and soldiers were taken off, and Hotspur sank her.
German scout planes spotted the ships at 06:00. Over the next nine hours, 400 separate dive-bomber attacks were counted. One hit blew Orion’s forward turret overboard.
The destroyer Hereward was hit at 06:25. Italian MAS boats later rescued 165 of her crew and about 400 soldiers.
A Heraklion boat trip to Dia crosses the sea where the warship Thérèse sank. Her finds sit in Koules fortress and the Historical Museum of Crete. Both stops feature on walking tours of Heraklion.
- Ajax: Fire from a near-miss sent her back to Alexandria.
- German fighter: Downed in 1941, it lies upside down in shallows.
- Dia wrecks: At least six wrecks around Dia span the 1st to 17th centuries.
Thérèse blew up on 24 July 1669. Commander Vincenzo Rospigliosi then took the allied fleet to Dia, the crossing a Heraklion boat trip makes.
What sea life does a Heraklion boat trip meet?
A Heraklion boat trip crosses the Cretan Sea, where Risso’s and bottlenose dolphins swim. HCMR scientists logged 180 fish species in the South Aegean and Cretan Seas. Alien arrivals include a toxic pufferfish and a lone Indian Ocean dolphin.
Around Crete, Risso’s dolphins live mainly in the northern sea a Heraklion boat trip crosses. Bottlenose dolphins come close to shore in groups of up to 100.
Frantzis and colleagues logged 12 cetacean species in Greek seas from 1991 to 2002. Short-beaked common dolphins were never seen off northeast Crete, despite intensive searching.
On 7 November 2017, a lone Indian Ocean humpback dolphin was seen in Karavolas Bay, near Heraklion port. It was the species’ first record in Greek seas.
Loggerheads in Heraklion’s region nest at Messara bay, on the south coast, away from a Heraklion boat trip. ARCHELON data for 1990 to 1998 gave Messara 58 nests a year.
HCMR scientists studied 244 trawl hauls from 20 to 800 metres deep. Crete showed its own depth pattern of fish diversity, linked partly to its isolation.
A Heraklion boat trip to Dia reaches coasts where Halophila stipulacea, a Red Sea seagrass, was found. Mediterranean endemic seagrass meadows grow at Ligaria and Agia Pelagia.
- Pufferfish: The Cretan Sea’s first silverstripe blaasop was speared in Heraklion Bay in July 2005.
- Lionfish: HCMR reports large lionfish populations in parts of Crete.
- Alien fish: Trawl hauls off Crete held five alien species.
The same dolphin later reached Souda Bay, 100 kilometres west.
How busy is the sea around a Heraklion boat trip?
A Heraklion boat trip starts beside a busy Cretan transport hub. Heraklion airport counted over ten million passengers in the latest full year. Ferries sail daily to Piraeus, and summer routes reach the Cyclades. Up to five cruise ships can berth together.
Official airport statistics count 10,033,151 passengers at Heraklion in the latest full year. Only Athens handled more, with 33,913,690. Thessaloniki ranked third with 7,975,179 passengers.
International flights carried 8,116,971 of those passengers and domestic flights 1,916,180. The same airport counted 7,933,558 passengers in 2019, so traffic has risen since then.
Direct ferries also link Heraklion with Karpathos, Kasos and Sitia. Others reach the island of Chalki and Diafani, a port on northern Karpathos.
A Heraklion boat trip shares the sea with large ferries. Two ferry routes link Heraklion with Piraeus every day. Daily lines also serve the Dodecanese.
Summer adds daily fast and car ferry routes to the Cyclades. Direct links serve Naxos and Anafi. The port counted 933,930 ferry passengers in 2021.
The public Heraklion Port Fund became a company under Law 2932/2001. A state fund later agreed to sell 67% of the company and keep 33%.
- Quays: five quays run 3,058 m in total.
- Concession: port rights last until January 2063.
- Fishing fleet: about 90 boats use the old Venetian port.
A Heraklion boat trip near the old Venetian port passes both professional and amateur fishing boats. Traditional wooden boats called trehantiria lead that fleet.
When is the best season for a Heraklion boat trip?
A Heraklion boat trip fits Crete’s April to October season. Hotel bed occupancy stays above 30% in those months. It peaks in August at 86.1%. Average waves off Heraklion are lowest in September, when occupancy is still 77.3%.
Airport data name August as Heraklion’s busiest month in the latest full year. August brought 1,791,948 passengers. July followed with 1,695,522, and September with 1,473,944.
February had the lowest total, 125,635 passengers. International arrivals jumped from 13,275 in March to 251,062 in April. Total traffic fell to 246,159 in November.
ELSTAT puts Crete’s hotel bed occupancy at 3.3% in January and 6.9% in November. Both figures mark the low season for a Heraklion boat trip.
Crete counted 7,144,880 nights in tourist accommodation in August, against 90,949 in January. These island-wide figures also describe the season for boat trips around Crete.
A Greek university study analysed wave records from the POSEIDON station off Dia. The station samples the sea every three hours, year round.
The records give a mean significant wave height of 0.97 m. Monthly means range from 0.69 m in September to 1.18 m in January.
- Peak arrivals: 873,147 passengers landed in August.
- Commonest waves: these measure 0.5 to 1 m.
- High waves: those above 3 m match winds over 15 m/s.
Dia island blocks north-northeast waves at the station, sheltering a Heraklion boat trip off the city. Higher South Aegean waves come chiefly from the west.
What do travelers ask about a Heraklion boat trip?
A Heraklion boat trip raises questions about transport, piers, luggage, borders and healthcare. Twenty city bus lines serve the area. Ferries leave from the western part of the port. The terminal has no luggage lockers.
How does a traveler reach the port for a Heraklion boat trip?
Twenty urban bus lines serve the Heraklion area, the port authority says. The port bus station serves intercity routes to Chania and Rethymno. A taxi service runs at the passenger terminal. The port authority’s desk there hands out free maps.
Where does a Heraklion boat trip by ferry depart?
Ferries depart from the western part of Heraklion port, at the first and second piers. Ferry counters in the passenger terminal sell tickets. Passenger-only boats sell tickets beside their departure areas. The terminal covers 2,500 m² and offers free internet.
Can luggage be stored at the port before a Heraklion boat trip?
The passenger terminal has no luggage lockers. The port points travelers to an independent service for luggage pickup, storage, transfer and delivery. The terminal also has ATMs and a check-in and luggage control area for departing passengers.
What border check do non-EU visitors meet before a Heraklion boat trip?
The EU Entry/Exit System registers non-EU short-stay travelers, including American and UK citizens. At the first entry, at an airport or port, travelers give fingerprints and a facial image. No pre-registration is needed. The data is kept for three years.
Does the EHIC help with medical care during a Heraklion boat trip?
The European Health Insurance Card gives the same healthcare rights as people insured in Greece. The card is free from the home health insurer. It covers only public system providers, not private healthcare. It does not cover rescue or repatriation.
Which boats share the old Venetian harbour with a Heraklion boat trip?
The old Venetian port works as a marina for fishing vessels and small recreational boats. Summer brings yachts and sailboats touring the Aegean. Local sailing clubs host international competitions. The Rocca a Mare fortress there dates from the 15th century.