Unforgettable Crete: Spinalonga, Elounda & Island BBQ

In one side it was 10/10 and in the other hand it was not a boat trip... so it was a 12 hour long excursion with a bus and a bit of boat... we stayed 5 hours on the bus, 1 on the boat, 1 hour swimming, 1 hour grill, 2 hours on the Spinalonga island 1 hour in an olive oil factory and 1 hours in Agios Nicolaus city. It was very beautiful and the tour guides were very nice so it's worth is to see this much beauty. The bus part was awful, we stayed a bit at like 10 hotels to collect the people (we started from Heraklion) . The swimming part was okay, a nice hidden ⛱️ ;) the bbq was not a big deal , I will insert a pic, and we had to pay 15 euro extra in cash for the food (1 slide of pork and a greek salad + 1 🍊)... the island is amazing, that was the best part (you have to have 20 euro extra in cash for the entrance) . So after the beach and the Spinalonga the boat trip was over, back to the bus and to an 🫒 factory. We got some tasting:) back to the bus again, and we had 1 hour to see Agios Nicolaus city. And back to the bus for another 2.5 hour busride back to Heraklion. It's a full day activity but maybe worth to book a normal boat trip only to Spinalonga and if you have a car it's easier to visit the other places (it was 90 euro per total, not 55 like when we did the booking). It would be nice to know the full program in advance...but it was well organised

We had a good time when on the boat, but we were misled by the operator… We were given the wrong itinerary. We were told to get to the boat 90 minutes before it actually departed (and left sat on deck bored). We were nearly left stranded in Elounda at the end - thankfully there was a bus route and we knew how to sort bus tickets… Despite being very prompt with messages, it was clear they didn’t really understand the excursion and its timings. For instance, we were told if we wanted a pick up it would be 8:10… for an hour-long ride for a 11:50 start! When we questioned this as it seemed very early they didn’t tell us that on route there would be two excursion stops, so we made our way there privately.

I read a lot of bad reviews for this excursion but I booked anyway as I really wanted to see Spinalonga. Contrary to previous reviews we had an excellent trip. We were collected efficiently, clear instructions were sent the day before. The tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable and was able to speak both English and German/Dutch? The trip to the Olive Factory was a lovely start to the day, as well as the stop to Agios Nikolaos, there was plenty of time to grab a bite to eat and enjoy the wonderful views and do some shopping. The trip to Spinalonga was well organised we had our own private boat for our group. The Island itself is just as amazing as expected. We had plenty of time to have a wander and explore. The last part of the trip was to relax for a further couple of hours on the beach in Plaka, this was great if you're hungry or would like a swim, however there wasn't much else to do, so we were twiddling our thumbs for quite a while and were ready to head back to our hotel. Cons of the trip - we would have preferred for the boat trip and entrance fee to Spinalonga to be included in the cost, with tickets pre-purchased. Although we were fortunate there was not a big queue I can see this being an issue in high season which then takes away the time to explore Spinalonga Island. They will also only accept cash for the additional charges.

This was a full day tour but we only spent one hour on Spinalonga which was insufficient. On Spinalonga we had a guide who was very informative. The guided tour took about 30 minutes and the remaining 30 minutes was insufficient to look around the island as we could not explore the town and also see the castle . The stops at Agios Nikolaos and the olive oil factory did not add value. The ship provided a quite acceptable BBQ, the swim/walk was OK but overall the experience was disappointing.

Visiting Spingalonga Island, swimming at the bay. The lunch was very nice and the boat quite comfortable. We would have liked more time in Agios Nikolaos to look at the shops and have a drink. The

It was a full tour bus but all went very smoothly thanks to the tour guide Manuella who was obviously very experienced at dealing with large groups.

It was a memorable experience! We had a great time and the price is really good for the whole day excursion.

Thank you for the enjoyable day that we had. First time in crete and didn't disappointed. Will do again.

I've wanted to go to Spinalonga for 25 years so was so looking forward to this trip. The guide on the bus was clearly in a bad mood, she kept standing up and telling people off if they were talking when she was and asking if they wanted the microphone instead of her. The person talking was Autistic and couldnt help talking! I told her when we got to Elounda that he was Autistic so she didnt shout at people again. We got to Spinalonga and had one hour there. The guide was with us for 45minutes, she was fantastic and held a black umbrella. We didn't have enough time to go to the Castle as we had to get back to the boat. VERY disappointed as I said above I've waited to go there since I was young!! There were too many people on the boat, when it came to being fed the food was thrown onto a plate. Very badly organised. I've given this three stars as I fulfilled my dream of going to Spinalonga. Otherwise it would of been one star.

It was a lovely excursion! The tour guides were extremely friendly and helpful! The coach was a nice size and had much needed air-con on it! Everything ran smoothly from pickup time to drop off! Thank you for a lovely experience! Also, the BBQ was AMAZING!! Absolutely delicious!!! ☺️