A private transfer from Chania Airport to Matala covers 141.0 km (87.6 mi) in about 2 hr 32 min and costs a fixed fare from €203 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Chania Airport, or the departure run back from Matala at the same fixed fare.
Fares are per vehicle, not per person, and cover the whole car, so a family of four pays once. The price you see is the price confirmed on your voucher; it does not change with traffic, time of day, or a delayed flight.
| Vehicle | Typical models | Passengers | Bags | Fare | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €203 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €248 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €360 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Matala back to Chania Airport costs the same as the arrival leg. Child and booster seats are added at booking, at no extra charge.
The line is the road a driver actually takes from Chania Airport (CHQ) to Matala: 141.0 km (87.6 mi), about 2 hr 32 min door to door. Pickup and drop-off are marked at the coordinates the booking engine quotes against, not at the centre of the nearest town.
Your driver meets you inside the arrivals hall at Chania Airport, holding a sign with your name and the company name on it. Your transfer starts there rather than at a taxi rank, so there is no queue and no fare to agree on the spot.
Chania International Airport (CHQ) sits on the Akrotiri peninsula, on high ground east of the city. Chania International Airport handled 1,574,043 international arrivals in 2025, which makes it the island's second gateway after Heraklion and the natural entry point for western Crete.
The airport's position matters for what happens next. The road down from Akrotiri joins the national road just east of Chania, so Rethymno, Georgioupolis and the whole north coast run east without entering the city, while Platanias, Kissamos and the west coast run through or around it.
Chania Airport is a single-terminal airport, so the walk from baggage reclaim to the meeting point is short even when several flights land together.
Inside the arrivals hall, at the exit, where your driver waits with a name board.
Look for the board rather than heading for the taxi rank. If your flight arrives late at night, the driver is still there: the pickup is set against the flight, not the schedule.
Give us your flight number at booking. Your pickup is scheduled against that flight, and we track it, so a delayed landing moves the pickup rather than costing you the transfer.
Tell us as early as you can when a flight is cancelled or rerouted, so the driver can be reassigned.
Matala is a village on the south coast of the Heraklion region, set in a small bay under a sandstone cliff cut through with man-made caves. Matala's caves were carved as tombs in Roman times and were lived in again in the late 1960s, when the village became known for the people who stayed in them.
The bay itself is a single sand and shingle beach closed at both ends by rock, with the village immediately behind it and the caves in the cliff on its northern side.
Red Beach lies over the headland to the south, reached on foot in about half an hour, and the Minoan palace of Phaistos and the Roman site of Gortyna are both a short drive inland.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, apartment or villa in the village or on the approach road above it.
Matala's centre is small and closed to traffic at the beach end. Your driver stops at the nearest legal point, which is rarely more than a short walk from any address in the village.
The drive crosses to the south coast, 141.0 kilometres in about 2 hr 32 min, and reaches the Messara from the western end rather than through Heraklion.
That is the part worth knowing if you have read about this journey from the other side of the island. Guests coming from Heraklion drive south over the middle of Crete. From Chania the road goes east along the north coast only as far as Rethymno, turns inland there, crosses the plateau past Armeni, and comes down to the Libyan Sea at Agia Galini at 115.0 kilometres. Matala is 26 kilometres east along the gulf from there.
Your driver meets you in arrivals and the car comes down off Akrotiri onto the national road east of Chania. Aptera and Souda Bay open the run, then Kalyves and the Apokoronas villages, then Georgioupolis and Kavros.
Rethymno is skirted at 70.3 kilometres, and the climb south begins immediately after it.
The last stretch runs through the Messara past Pitsidia and Kalamaki, and Matala is at the end of it.
The bay is a single enclosed beach of sand and shingle, closed by rock at both ends, and the cliff above it is the reason the name is known. The caves cut into that rock are Roman tombs, reoccupied in the 1960s by the people who gave the place its second reputation.
Red Beach lies over the southern headland, about thirty minutes on foot, and Phaistos and Gortyna are both a short drive inland.
Sunshine Hotel and Apartments, Hotel Calypso, Hotel Coral and Paradise are among the properties in the village behind the bay.
No public route links this airport to Matala in a way worth planning around.
The coach network reaches the Messara from Heraklion, so the journey means Chania's bus station, close to three hours east, a change, and then the Matala service, which runs a few times a day. Most of a day and three legs against 2 hr 32 min from arrivals.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in Matala. There is no central drop-off point and no walk with your luggage at the end. These are properties in the resort we transfer guests to regularly; if yours is not listed, it is still covered, so enter the name when you book.
Villas, apartments and private addresses in Matala are served the same way. Add the address at booking and the fare stays as quoted.
The return leg is the same journey in reverse: 141.0 km (87.6 mi), about 2 hr 32 min, and the same fixed fare from €203 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Matala at the agreed time and takes you straight to Chania Airport.
Matala back to Chania Airport covers the same 141.0 kilometres at the same fixed price.
The run west along the gulf and the climb over the plateau fill the first hour and a quarter, then the north coast to Chania, then the Akrotiri climb at the end. An early flight means leaving Matala before dawn.
Book both directions together and the return is held at the same fare. Switch the form at the top of this page to Departure, or select a return when you book.
Allow about 2 hr 32 min of driving, the check-in and security time your airline asks for, and margins for the plateau road and the climb to the terminal.
Give us the flight number at booking. The pickup is calculated from the departure rather than estimated, and the time goes on your voucher.
The fare covers the whole vehicle rather than each seat, so 4 people pay the same as 1. The price on your voucher is the price you pay, with no booking fee and no card surcharge.
Your driver waits in the arrivals hall holding a sign with your name on it. You walk out of baggage reclaim straight to the car, without joining a taxi rank or agreeing a fare on the spot.
Child seats cost nothing extra. Reserve the seat in the booking form and state the child's age, so the correct seat is fitted before the driver sets off.
Cancel at least 24 hours before your pickup time and you pay nothing. Plans change; the booking does not lock you in.
The vehicle carries your party and nobody else. It runs from the pickup point to your exact address, with no intermediate stops and no waiting for other passengers.
Your pickup is set against your flight number, not a clock time. Transfers run at any hour, which covers night landings and pre-dawn departures.
Every booking is confirmed by a person and carries a voucher showing your route, vehicle, pickup time and fare.
These are the questions guests ask most often about the Chania Airport to Matala transfer, answered with this route's own distance, duration and fares.
Anything not covered here is answered when we confirm the booking.
A private transfer from Chania Airport to Matala costs a fixed €203 for an SUV carrying up to 4 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €248.
No. It turns south at Rethymno and crosses the plateau to Agia Galini, then runs east along the Messara gulf. The Heraklion approach belongs to the transfers from that side.
Tombs cut into the cliff in the Roman period, occupied again in the 1960s. They stand directly above the bay and are visible from the sand.
Over the southern headland, about thirty minutes on foot. There is no road to it.
Yes, considerably. Matala sits south of Heraklion, so an arrival there removes the whole western half of this drive.
Per vehicle. The fare covers the car and everyone in it, up to that vehicle's passenger and luggage limit. Two people and four people pay the same €203 for a Standard car to Matala.
Yes, at no extra charge. Reserve the seat in the booking form and state the child's age so the correct infant, child or booster seat is fitted before the driver sets off.
Give us your flight number when you book. We track the flight and move the pickup to match the actual landing time, so a delay does not cost you the transfer.
Inside the arrivals hall, at the exit, where the driver waits with a board showing your name. You do not need to find a taxi rank or a car park level.
Yes. Cancel at least 24 hours before your pickup time and there is no charge.
Pay by card online when you book, or in euros in cash to the driver. There is no card surcharge and no booking fee either way.
You receive a confirmation email with your route, vehicle, pickup time and fare on it. Check the details and tell us if anything is wrong. An automated receipt on its own is not the confirmation. The emailed voucher is.
Yes. Chania Airport to Matala and Matala to Chania Airport are the same journey at the same fixed €203, and both directions are booked from this page. Select a return when you book and the price is held for both legs.
Those routes are priced the same way as this one: a fixed fare per vehicle, confirmed before you travel. The same applies to every Crete taxi we run, from the airports and ports to the resorts and villages along both coasts.