An Agios Nikolaos catamaran cruise is a four to seven hour all-inclusive sail from the town marina across the Mirabello gulf to Spinalonga, Kolokytha and the Elounda coast, with a cooked lunch, drinks and water toys aboard from 70 euros. Plan the rest of the trip with Greece Tours.
This page covers the day: what it costs, the route, Spinalonga, Kolokytha, how much is under sail, what is included, the snorkelling, the season and how to book.
What does an Agios Nikolaos catamaran cruise cost?
From 100 to 170 euros a head for a five to seven hour all-inclusive day with lunch, drinks and water toys, 70 to 120 for a half day, and 900 to 2,400 for a private charter of the whole catamaran.
The all-inclusive fare covers the skipper and host, the fuel, a cooked meal, wine, beer and soft drinks, and the snorkelling gear. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise operator states this at booking and prints it on the ticket.
Water toys mean a paddleboard, a donut or a sea scooter and they separate the premium boats from the rest. That is the agios nikolaos catamaran cruise difference against a hire car day.
Private charters divide by the party, so eight people split 1,600 euros rather than paying eight fares. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise fills first on that count in August.
Children go half price to twelve and the minimum age runs four to six on the shared boats.
Card payment is taken at booking and the crew tip is cash at the end.
Where does the cruise leave from and go?
The marina at Agios Nikolaos beside the bottomless lake, sailing north into the Mirabello gulf to Spinalonga, Kolokytha and the Elounda coast, with two or three swim stops and lunch at anchor.
Mirabello is the largest gulf in Crete and it is sheltered from the meltemi by the Sitia mountains behind it. Every agios nikolaos catamaran cruise is planned around it before the lines come off.
Kolokytha is the peninsula beyond Spinalonga with a sand-bottomed bay the boats anchor in. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise carries the lunch and the jackets for it.
Elounda’s shallow lagoon and the sunken city of Olous lie on the route between them. The agios nikolaos catamaran cruise timetable is shaped by it more than by demand.
The eastern shore under the Sitia mountains holds coves with no road access at all.
Boarding runs from 09:30 for a day sail and 17:30 for a sunset cruise.
What is Spinalonga?
The fortified islet at the mouth of the Elounda lagoon, built by Venice in 1579, holding out against the Ottomans until 1715, and used as a leper colony from 1903 to 1957. It is now an archaeological site with a landing fee.
The Venetian walls run the circuit of the island and the Ottoman village sits inside them. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise is sold on that, and the listing says so plainly.
The leper colony housed patients from across Greece until a cure ended the isolation policy. The agios nikolaos catamaran cruise season turns on this more than on the calendar.
Victoria Hislop’s novel The Island put the place on the tourist map in 2005. Guests on a agios nikolaos catamaran cruise meet it within the first hour.
Entry costs 8 euros and is not included in most cruise fares, which the listings state.
Catamarans that land allow 45 minutes to an hour ashore, and the ones that do not hold offshore.
What is Kolokytha?
A peninsula north of Spinalonga with a sheltered sand-bottomed bay, a chapel, no road worth the name and no facilities, reached by boat in ten minutes from the islet.
The bay shelves gently over sand and the water there is the calmest on the route. This is what a agios nikolaos catamaran cruise delivers across the Mirabello gulf.
The chapel of Agios Loukas stands on the ridge above the anchorage. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise operator states this at booking and prints it on the ticket.
Land access is a rough track from Elounda and a 40-minute walk, which is why the boats have it to themselves. That is the agios nikolaos catamaran cruise difference against a hire car day.
This is the long swim stop on almost every Mirabello cruise.
Shade is absent and the boats provide the umbrellas and the water.
How much of the day is under sail?
One to three hours. The Mirabello gulf is sheltered and the wind is lighter than on the north-west of the island, so the catamarans motor the passages and sail when the afternoon breeze fills in.
The Sitia mountains block the meltemi, which is why this coast sails when Chania does not. The agios nikolaos catamaran cruise fleet is prepared for it through the season.
Mornings are flat almost every day from May to October. Every agios nikolaos catamaran cruise is planned around it before the lines come off.
Guests take the helm on request and nothing is required of anyone. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise carries the lunch and the jackets for it.
A catamaran stays level under sail, which is what makes it the family boat here.
Listings that describe the day as a cruise rather than a sailing trip are the accurate ones.
What is included on board?
A welcome snack, a cooked lunch served at anchor, wine, beer, soft drinks and water, snorkelling gear, towels, and water toys on the premium boats.
Lunch leans on Cretan produce: dakos, graviera, olives, oil, grilled meat and fruit. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise starts with this settled on the waterfront.
Unlimited drinks are standard on the all-inclusive products and named when they are not. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise is sold on that, and the listing says so plainly.
The Spinalonga entry fee is excluded on most fares and stated on the listing. The agios nikolaos catamaran cruise season turns on this more than on the calendar.
Dietary requests are handled with a day’s notice and vegetarian is the default alternative.
Crew tips run 5 to 10 percent in cash at the end of the day.
What is the snorkelling like?
Clear water over rock and sand with 15 to 25 metres of visibility, octopus, moray and sea bream, and the sunken remains of Olous visible in the shallows off the Elounda causeway.
Olous was a Hellenistic city that subsided into the lagoon, and its walls show through the water a metre down. The agios nikolaos catamaran cruise route is set by it rather than by the clock.
The Kolokytha bay has the clearest water on the route and a sandy bottom that keeps it bright. This is what a agios nikolaos catamaran cruise delivers across the Mirabello gulf.
Masks and fins come with the boat and a mask of your own fits better. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise operator states this at booking and prints it on the ticket.
Non-swimmers use a jacket and the stern ladder and stay beside the hull.
Sea urchins on the rock edges are the only hazard and reef shoes handle them.
What is the season and the weather?
April to the end of October, with daily departures from June to mid-September. The sea runs 20 degrees in May and 26 in August, and the Mirabello gulf stays workable when the rest of Crete is windy.
Eastern Crete is the driest and warmest corner of the island and the season runs long. Crews brief it on deck before a agios nikolaos catamaran cruise leaves the quay.
Cancellations for weather are rare here and the refund is automatic when they happen. The agios nikolaos catamaran cruise fleet is prepared for it through the season.
June, September and October give the calmest water and the thinnest crowds.
The Ierapetra side of the isthmus is 40 minutes south for a completely different coast.
Prices drop 20 to 30 percent either side of the peak six weeks.
How does it compare with the Spinalonga ferry?
The small boats from Agios Nikolaos, Elounda and Plaka run to Spinalonga for 12 to 25 euros return. A catamaran costs 100 to 170 and adds the anchorage at Kolokytha, a meal, drinks and the water toys.
The ferry is the better buy for anyone whose only interest is the island and its history. It decides which agios nikolaos catamaran cruise format fits the party.
The catamaran buys the swimming, the food and a day rather than an hour. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise starts with this settled on the waterfront.
Plaka is the shortest crossing at ten minutes and the cheapest of the three.
Groups of eight or more charter a whole catamaran for less than eight shared seats.
The wider list of local departures sits at Agios Nikolaos boat trips.
How do you book an Agios Nikolaos catamaran cruise?
Book three to five days ahead from mid-June to early September and a day ahead in the shoulder months. The catamarans cap at 12 to 20, so a departure sells out rather than thins.
Private charters need a week in August and take a deposit at booking. The agios nikolaos catamaran cruise price reflects it, stop by stop.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before is standard on the platform listings. The agios nikolaos catamaran cruise route is set by it rather than by the clock.
Weather calls are made by the skipper at 08:00 on the day.
Hotel pickup from Agios Nikolaos, Elounda and Istron is included on most products.
Operators confirm the berth and the boarding time by message the evening before.
What is Agios Nikolaos itself?
A town of 11,000 on the Mirabello gulf built around Voulismeni, a small round lake 64 metres deep joined to the harbour by a cut channel, ringed by cafes and backed by streets that climb the hill behind.
The lake was a closed pool until 1867, when the channel was dug to link it to the sea. A agios nikolaos catamaran cruise fills first on that count in August.
Local stories call it bottomless, and the measured depth settled that a long time ago. Crews brief it on deck before a agios nikolaos catamaran cruise leaves the quay.
The marina where the catamarans berth sits two minutes from the lake on the northern side.
Kitroplateia and Ammos are town beaches within walking distance of the quay.
The archaeological museum holds finds from the Minoan sites of the eastern province.
Evening on the lake front is the other half of a sailing day here.
What is Elounda and the Olous lagoon?
A resort village eleven kilometres north with a shallow lagoon behind a causeway, the submerged remains of the Hellenistic city of Olous in the water beside it, and the island’s densest cluster of luxury hotels along the shore.
The causeway crosses a canal the French navy cut in 1897 through the ancient isthmus. The agios nikolaos catamaran cruise timetable is shaped by it more than by demand.
Olous minted its own coins and its city walls now lie under a metre of water. It decides which agios nikolaos catamaran cruise format fits the party.
A fifth-century basilica floor with a dolphin mosaic sits beside the causeway on the land side.
The lagoon water is warm, shallow and flat, which makes it the calmest swim on the coast.
Catamarans pass through the channel when the draught allows and around it when it does not.
Elounda’s hotels supply a large share of the cruise passengers on this gulf.
What are the common mistakes?
Assuming the Spinalonga entry fee is included, booking a boat that holds offshore when you wanted to land, underestimating the sun on a foredeck, and treating the cruise as a ferry to the island.
The 8-euro site ticket is excluded on most fares and the listings say so in the fine print. Guests on a agios nikolaos catamaran cruise meet it within the first hour.
Some catamarans land and some pass, and the difference is stated on the product page. The agios nikolaos catamaran cruise price reflects it, stop by stop.
Anyone whose only goal is the fortress takes the small boat from Plaka for a fraction of the price.
The fourth error is booking a long day with a toddler when the half-day trip exists.
The fifth is skipping the swim stop at Kolokytha, which is the best water on the route.
Reading the route and the inclusions on the voucher prevents all five.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an Agios Nikolaos catamaran cruise cost?
From 100 to 170 euros a head for a five to seven hour all-inclusive day with lunch, drinks and water toys, 70 to 120 for a half day, and 900 to 2,400 for a private charter of the whole catamaran.
Is the Spinalonga entry included?
On most fares it is not. The site ticket costs 8 euros and is stated as excluded on the listing. Some catamarans land for 45 minutes to an hour and others hold offshore, which the product page says.
What is Kolokytha?
The peninsula north of Spinalonga with a sheltered sand-bottomed bay, a chapel and no facilities, ten minutes from the islet by boat and 40 minutes on foot from Elounda. It is the long swim stop on the route.