Excursion d'une journée sur la plage d'Elafonissi, Crète

Very Good Organization and Excellent Welcoming! A magnificent discovery of this sublime beach and two other stopping places that allowed us to know the customs and riches of Crete

Mass tourism of the unpleasant kind. The shallow water is not suitable for swimming. It's more like splashing around for kids. The fee for the toilet of €1 was repulsive. The loungers on the east side do not issue proper receipts showing the price paid of 10€. We were happy when our ship left again.

A bit crowded but crystal clear water. Very nice beach. The ride is exhausting. Lots of parking.

At the Heraklion airport counter of SchauinsLand Reisen we received an envelope with information from Cretan Holidays, as well as an appointment at our hotel for a personal conversation with our guide the next day - Romy Drabkova. Very nicely informed we booked directly - Elafonisi beach and another excursion Everything top organized- modern coaches, friendly staff class

I am not saying avoid at all costs, but make our own arrangements. We left our hotel at near Kaylves at 0750, arrived in Chania at 0820, and then had to change onto another coach. Then we got to the Monastery at 1000 and we were told that we would be leaving by 1030. The monastery itself is impressive, but there is a shop that has been plonked there to rip tourists off with overpriced refreshments. This is sold as an opportunity to have breakfast. We arrived at the beach at around 1130 and remained till 1445 hours. Yes the beach itself was very impressive, pink sand can be seen in parts. It is still a fairly new idea as they were putting up more food stands and similar plots. 50 cents to use the toilets. I was told that we would stop off for lunch which we were told in advance we could purchase. But again you can see they have a deal with 3 or 4 restaurants where they are told will drop of "x" amount of customers a week. Food itself was nice. We arrived at 1530 and left at 1630 hours, did not get back to Chania town until gone 1835. All in all over 6 hours on a coach, that was too much and we were told 90 mins there and 90 minutes back. Can I suggest getting a hire car and going to the Monastery and then the beach. But 2 adults and 2 children total 120 euros is tooooooooo much Special mention for the, he was 55-60 spoke fluently in English, German and explained the sites to us in perfect detail.

We were promised a dream beach... we had marketing. Objectively, you will find better in France on the continent or in Corsica. Of course, there is a sandy beach which is not very common in ridge. The water is clear ... but less beautiful than in Corsica ... and the commercial environment (bars, shops,...) is irrelevant ... Beware of the commercial presentation of this site "catches tourists"!!