Gramvousa Island and Balos Bay Full-Day Tour from Chania
3.4
42 Ratings
Gramvousa
Embark on a full-day adventure to Gramvousa Island and Balos Bay from Chania. Explore stunning beaches, crystal-clear waters, and breathtaking landscapes on this scenic bus and boat tour.
Duration: 10 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Gramvousa Beach - Discover the westernmost tip of Crete on a scenic bus and boat trip to Gramvousa Island and Balos Bay. Dip your toes in the soft white sand of some of the most beautiful beaches you ever have seen.
    Drive towards the west side of Crete in order to reach the port of Kissamos Kasteli.

After your escort gives you all the necessary information about the cruise, arrive at the port where the Gramvousa ferry is waiting for you to start the cruise.

About 10:20 AM set off for the island of Gramvousa which takes approximately 45 minutes.

Once you arrive at the island of Gramvousa you can either have a swim or you can take a hike to the top of the island to the Venetian fortress. There you have 2.5 hours before you continue to the lagoon of Balos which is 20 minutes from there.

As soon as you arrive at the lagoon you will have about 3 hours to enjoy.When you have enjoyed a swim and relaxation at the lagoon, the boat will take you straight back to the port of Kissamos.

  • Balos Lagoon - As soon as we arrive at the lagoon you will have about 3 hours to enjoy . When you have enjoyed a swim and relaxation at the lagoon, the boat will take you straight back to the port of Kissamos.
    As soon as you arrive at the lagoon you will have about 3 hours to enjoy. You may at any time go back to the boat for food or also hire umbrellas if the heat is too intense. When you have enjoyed a swim and relaxation at the lagoon, the boat will take you straight back to the port of Kissamos. This is a great photo opportunity as the sun will be behind you as you look out to the scenery of the island.

At 6:00 PM the ferry arrives at the port and the journey in this small paradise comes to an end. Return time in Chania approximately: 7.00 PM.

From Wednesday 21st June and for a short period of time the ships will not possible to disembark in the Balos lagoon.The cruise schedule will be as follows:2 hours & 15 minutes stay in Gramvousa .About 2 hours stop for open swimming at the beach of Balos.

  • Kastelli Kissamos Old Port - Drive towards the west side of Crete in order to reach the port of Kissamos Kasteli.

After your escort gives you all the necessary information about the cruise, arrive at the port

What's Included
  • Free time to explore Balos Lagoon and Gramvousa Island
  • Hotel pick-up and drop-off included
  • All legal taxes included
  • Comfortable travel with in-vehicle air conditioning
  • Liability insurance coverage provided
  • Accompanied by a professional driver
  • Guidance from a professional English-speaking guide
What's Not Included
  • Boat ticket to Gramvousa island and Balos lagoon(€30 per adult and children 5 - 12 years €14.50)
  • Food and drinks
  • Personal expenses
  • Entrance ticket to the Venetian Fortress (€1)
Additional Information

Embark on a picturesque bus and boat journey to the most western point of Crete, Gramvousa Island and Balos Bay. Experience the delight of stepping onto the finest white-sand beaches you’ve ever encountered! Once you reach your destination, you’ll board a boat that will carry you to Balos Bay, located at the peninsula’s farthest northern point. Relish in the 1-hour boat ride, followed by a 2.5-hour stopover at Balos Bay where you can take pleasure in the lagoon’s remarkable blue-green waters and soft white sands.

  • Take swimming suits
  • Seats are assigned by the theater box office and will not be known in advance of the performance date
  • At the time of booking please mention your hotel name and location. You will be notified by email about the pickup point and time
  • Pickup begins up to 90 minutes before tour starts and is done from central meeting points near the hotels, only in the areas of Panormo, Scaleta, Adele, Platanias, Missiria, Rethymno town, Atsipopoulo, Kavros and Georgioupoli
  • Infants will be seated with their parents on the bus and will not have their own seat
  • We need phone number and country code infront
Location
Gramvousa Beach
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.4
(42 Ratings)
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Fiona_k
Jun 12, 2024
Fabulous from start to finish - The most stunning trip. The tour guide lady also (futurura tours with red converse shoes) she was very good at her job. The day couldn't have went more smoothly. The sea water is clear and white sand. A trip you could only dream of. Thank you!
Review provided by Viator
Geash_m
May 31, 2024
Fun trip. lagoon was... - Fun trip. lagoon was beautiful would recommend bringing crocs as walk from boat is very rocky other than that great trip and fun
Review provided by Viator
Alex_m
May 7, 2024
Island paradise - Beaches are amazing. The itinerary goes as scheduled. You have enough time at each beach to enjoy what they have to offer. Kind of a must see if you visit this are of Crete.
Review provided by Viator
Robtraf
Aug 9, 2023
Experience of a lifetime! - The weather, the sea and the transportation. Simply the whole trip was an experience. Great people and fantastic tour guide!
Review provided by Viator
Kelly_v
May 26, 2024
Balos and gramvousa are... - Balos and gramvousa are beautiful! Only book this tour if you are capable of swimming to the beach from the boat. It doesn’t go all the way to balos.
Review provided by Viator
Joanne_m
May 7, 2024
Great boat ride to Gramvousa - The boat ride was wonderful, we enjoyed the scenery along the way. The beach at Gramvousa was very nice, crystal clear turquoise waters. But Balos was difficult, lounge lounge chairs are no longer allowed and most of the beach is rocky or has wet sand, so it's difficult to relax.
Review provided by Viator
Dai_d
Jul 26, 2023
Far pick up point - Even though the bus passed by our hotel, this company requested us to come to the meeting point where is far from our hotel. We had to walk 15 minutes. In the meanwhile, others seem to be picked up close to their hotel. We didn't make sense.
Review provided by Viator
Tomss1735sf
Oct 25, 2023
Too many people too slow and too many stops. - The staff and hosts were friendly and nice. The people moving parts of the tour detracted a lot however. The bus from Chaina stopped many many times to pick up tourists. The time on the bus was more than twice the time it would have taken just to drive straight to the harbor. Then the ferry to Granvousa Island and Balos Beach was absolutely packed, and traveled quite slowly in the water. It was hard to move around without bumping into people left and right. Way too many people on the ferry. Balos Beach sunbeds and umbrella.. 20 euros for the 2 hours we were there. We had a rental car parked in a garage at our hotel in Chania. I wish we had taken it. The journey would have been a lot less stressful.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Deborah_g
May 9, 2024
Go it alone - Received two different pickup locations in Chania from the company so I followed the directions of the most recent email. Waited an hour to be picked up and when I rang the company they told me it was the wrong location. Not impressed as having two people send different instructions is confusing. I missed out on the tour and the only thing good about it was I ended up organising it myself the following day and realised I didn't need Viator at all. Catching the local bus and buying the ferry ticket was easier than dealing with the company and i had a great time at Balos Lagoon.
Review provided by Viator
139spencerd
Oct 16, 2023
Bad organisation - We booked this tour as a special Anniversary celebration day about 3 months before our holiday to Greece. Then exactly in the 24 hours before the trip I get an email comfirming a different pickup location to what we had booked from the dropdown menu on Trip Advisor, and so on the day a confused driver asked where we was and no-one was able to pick us up, and we was unable to even be taken on the trip we paid for. No further responses from the tour operator for a refund. So essentially scammed for a non-existant trip. AVOID BOOKING WITH THESE. (Just to note another company on a different booking did not have this problem and picked us up from our pickup point no problem.)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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June 2024
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