Heraklion → Santorini by ferry

How it works

Blue Star Ferries runs the conventional service with ships such as the Blue Star Chios and the Diagoras. These are full-size vessels with air-conditioned lounges, outer decks you can actually stand on, self-service and à la carte restaurants, shops and children's play areas. The crossing is listed at anything from 3 hr 15 to 3 hr 50 depending on the sailing, because some call at other islands on the way. The fare starts at €15.50, which is where this route becomes remarkable: it is less than a fifth of what the fast boat charges for the same water.

Good to know

• •The €15.50 fare buys deck or air-type seating, not a reserved window seat. On a three-hour daytime crossing in good weather that is genuinely fine, and the outer deck is the best part of the boat.
• •The conventional ship is far less likely to be cancelled in wind than the high-speed craft. If the forecast is unsettled and you have somewhere to be, that reliability is worth more than the ninety minutes.
• •Check whether your sailing calls at another island first. Some of the longer 4-hour-plus timings on this route are not slow boats, they are boats going somewhere else on the way.

How it works

SeaJets runs the fast crossing, most often with the Worldchampion Jet and Champions League Jet 2, and lists it about five days a week. The advertised fastest time is 1 hr 35, and a typical August sailing leaves Heraklion at 08:00 and is alongside at Santorini at 09:35. Seating is assigned aircraft-style in enclosed lounges; on most of these craft you cannot go outside during the crossing. Entry fares start around €67.70, with the headline vessels priced between €92.70 and €99.70 in high season depending on the day and how early you book.

Good to know

• •Work out the real cost per hour gained. Paying €92 instead of €15.50 to save about an hour and three quarters is roughly €44 an hour. For a day trip that is money well spent. For a one-way move between stays it very rarely is.
• •If you are at all prone to seasickness, take the big ship. The Aegean between Crete and Santorini is open water, and a catamaran in a following sea is a different experience from a ferry in one.
• •Fares on this route move with demand rather than sitting on a fixed table, unlike the mainland ferry lines. Booking three weeks out and booking three days out are genuinely different prices.

How it works

The ferry operator itself sells a packaged day trip from Crete, with departures from Heraklion and from Rethymno, bundling the high-speed crossing with the coach transfer at the Crete end and the transport up from Athinios at the Santorini end. It is the only version of this trip where the awkward parts, the early start, the port transfer and the climb out of Athinios, are somebody else's problem. Local agencies sell comparable packages, and one of the Crete bus operators advertises the day trip from around €160 a head.

Good to know

• •Compare the package price against doing it yourself before you assume it is a markup. A return high-speed ticket alone can be €140 to €200 in August, so a €160 package including transfers is not automatically the expensive option.
• •A day trip gives you roughly six to eight hours ashore. That is enough for Fira, Oia and a caldera viewpoint, and not enough for a beach as well. Choose before you go rather than on the bus.

How it works

Vehicles go on the conventional ferry rather than the fast craft. Two adults with one car is priced at €88.49, and two adults, two children and a car at around €103 to €107, so the vehicle itself works out at roughly €58 on top of the foot fares. You drive on at Heraklion and off at Athinios, which means you come off the boat at the bottom of the cliff road and drive up it yourself rather than waiting for a bus.

Good to know

• •Santorini is about 18 km end to end and its roads are congested all summer. For a stay of a few days, buses, a scooter or a taxi almost always beat shipping a car across and then parking it.
• •If you do bring a car, arriving at Athinios with it is the one situation where the port is an advantage rather than a problem. You bypass the bus queue entirely.