Gramvousa Island and Balos Bay Full-Day Tour from Chania

The tour's overview section still reads "Enjoy a more intimate experience in a group capped at just 15" even though we took a coach bus full of tourists for Elafonissi and Balos. We stopped at Kissamos and those who booked the Balos tour got their tickets and boarded the ferry. We first docked at Balos Lagoon, the ride took approx 1 hour. Beautiful beach and somewhat similar to Elafonisi, there is also pink sand there. The ferry has self service bar where you can get lunch, I found it quite expensive though which is pretty much the reason for the 4 star rating except for 5. Then we went to Gramvousa island where there's also a nice beach, a sunken ship and an old Venetian fortress on top of the hill. Our guide was Simona, who was very friendly and helpful both before and during the tour.

It was good but not worth these money because it was 20€ only for a bus and additional you need to pay 36.

Should have read more reviews. I don’t know if they mention that you get on a boat with 1000 other people and theres one exit and entrance so the boat was packed and therefore the beaches were packed. An ordeal getting off the boat 3 times ugh!!! They ask you not to litter but there was so much trash. I didn’t enjoy being surrounded by so many people. At the end the guide says you can tip the driver but she didn’t suggest giving her a tip which infuriated me and makes me mad because it seemed very sexist or chauvinistic because sara was an awesome guide and also worked hard not fair only the driver gets the tips. Shame on you elafonissis travel!! all the photos are misleading because they show empty beaches so beware!

Saves you from arranging you own transportation to the port. The ferry is massive and designed by someone who did not want anyone enjoying the view, very unusual and uncomfortable seating. On the way back, the guide was kind to help a passenger who has requested a different stop but then waited there for 15 minutes, with everyone else waiting on the bus, tired and dying for a shower to wash the salt, have some food, only for the passenger and guide to get back in the bus. Made me miss the sunset too. That was very nice of the guide to help but came at the cost of everyone else on the bus. Even the driver had to press the bus horn couple of times.

Loved this experience! Our tour guide (forgot her name) was lovely and on top of everything. Our driver Nikko was great too. They communicated with us all along the way and answered all of our questions. Especially at the bus stop where there were multiple travel agencies and multiple busses. The ferry ride was great and had wonderful selection of food and drinks. Balos was stunning! A must see beach- especially for our 3 teenagers. The Gramvousa (2nd stop) was also very beautiful. Highly recommend!!

We were picked up by tour bus that had people going to Elafonessi Beach as well as Balos and Gramvousa so it took a while to get to the port if you were some of the first pick-ups. We had about an hour at the port before the boat departed but it was a good time to grab some breakfast. The boat had a pretty good selection - you could only pay with a card. The hour long cruise around the islands was beautiful and the beaches were wonderful for swimming. There were no loungers and sand at Balos was very wet - our towels soaked it up like a sponge. Gramvousa had another nice swimming area and a fortress atop the hill that you could hike up to. Fairly strenuous hike but worth it as the view from the top was lovely. We had about 2 hrs at each beach. Altogether a very nice outing.

I didn’t really get it. It’s 5 hours of travelling for 4 hours at two different beaches, neither of which were amazing. Knowing what I know now, I’d skip it. The service was fine however, pick up smooth and they responded quickly to my questions.

It was a wonderful trip. I recommend to take swimming shoes as there are lots of stones to get into the water. Water is crystal clear.

You have to see the color of the water to believe it ! The scenery is spectacular ! Great excursion. However I would not recommend for someone not steady on their feet as there was very rocky uneven ground on the treacherous walk to the lagoon and again to the island at least 10 minutes each way .

Awesome excursion! This is a great way to see some of the most beautiful parts of Crete. The bus will pick you up from (near or at) your hotel and everything after that is smooth sailing! The boat is comfortable and has many options for food and drink. The directions about getting off and on the boat at Balos and Gramvousa are very clear. Both locations are beautiful and it's the perfect amount of time to get a little taste of both of these gorgeous places.