A private transfer from Heraklion Port to Elafonissi covers 208.0 km (129.2 mi) in about 3 hr 31 min and costs a fixed fare from €240 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Heraklion Port, or the departure run back from Elafonissi 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Standard | Skoda Octavia, VW ID.3 | up to 3 | 3 | €240 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €299 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €320 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €340 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €432 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Elafonissi back to Heraklion Port 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 Heraklion Port to Elafonissi: 208.0 km (129.2 mi), about 3 hr 31 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 in front of the Passenger Terminal at Heraklion Port, holding a banner with your name and the company name on it. Ferry arrivals cluster, so the terminal forecourt fills quickly; the banner is what makes your car findable in it.
Heraklion Port sits inside the city, a few minutes from the centre and about 4 kilometres from the airport. Heraklion Port is the island's main ferry gateway, taking the overnight sailings from Piraeus as well as the routes from Santorini, Mykonos, Paros and Naxos.
Overnight ferries from Piraeus dock early in the morning, which is the port's busiest window and the one where on-demand taxis are hardest to find. A pre-booked car is already waiting when the ramp goes down.
Cruise calls berth at the same port area and follow the same procedure.
In front of the Passenger Terminal, where your driver waits with a banner showing your name and ours.
Stay at the terminal rather than walking out to the road. The port approach is one-way and busy at docking time, and the vehicle cannot stop on it.
Give us your ferry or cruise line and arrival time at booking. We track sailing arrivals as well as flights, so a late docking moves the pickup rather than costing you the transfer.
Tell us as early as you can if your sailing is cancelled or diverted to another port, so the driver can be reassigned.
Elafonissi is a beach and a small island at the south-western tip of Crete, joined to the mainland by a shallow sandbar that can be waded at most times. Elafonissi is known for the pink tint in parts of its sand, which comes from crushed shell fragments, and for water shallow enough to stand in a long way out.
The site is a protected area with no development on it. Facilities are limited to seasonal kiosks and a car park at the end of the road.
Getting there is the constraint. The approach is a long mountain road from either the north coast or the south, and the last section is slow.
We drop you at the car park at the end of the road, which is as far as any vehicle goes.
Elafonissi has no accommodation and no village. Tell us at booking whether you want the driver to wait or to return at a set time, since there is no taxi rank here.
The car leaves the port gate for the national road west and covers 208.0 kilometres in about 3 hr 31 min to the car park at the south-western tip of Crete.
Read that as a day rather than a transfer, because Elafonissi is not a place you check into. There is no accommodation, no village and no taxi rank: a protected beach, seasonal kiosks and a car park where the road stops. Tell us at booking whether the driver should wait or come back at a set time, since nothing at the far end will arrange it for you.
It is also the slowest route on the western list from this quay. At 208.0 kilometres in about 3 hr 31 min, Elafonissi takes 19 minutes longer than Paleochora two kilometres nearer, and the reason is the mountain approach at the end rather than anything on the way.
The north coast carries the first two thirds. Ammoudara, Agia Pelagia, Fodele, Bali and Panormos pass in order, and Rethymno arrives at 77.8 kilometres.
Georgioupolis and Apokoronas follow, the road climbs over Aptera above Souda Bay, and Chania is skirted at 139.0 kilometres. The western strip runs out past Maleme, and Kissamos comes at 173.0.
The last section turns south into the hills and works down the west of the island on a long, slow mountain road. The final kilometres are the slowest of the whole journey.
What waits at the bottom is a shallow lagoon and a small island joined to the mainland by a sandbar that can be waded at most times, with a pink tint in parts of the sand that comes from crushed shell. The water stays shallow enough to stand in a long way out.
The site is protected and nothing is built on it, which is the reason it looks the way it does and the reason the practical arrangements sit with you rather than with a reception desk.
A seasonal coach runs to Elafonissi from Chania in the summer months on a limited timetable.
From the quay that means Heraklion's bus station, close to three hours to Chania, and then a service whose return time is fixed for you rather than chosen. Outside the season it does not run at all, and there is no local transport at the beach to fall back on.
The return leg is the same journey in reverse: 208.0 km (129.2 mi), about 3 hr 31 min, and the same fixed fare from €240 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Elafonissi at the agreed time and takes you straight to Heraklion Port.
Elafonissi back to Heraklion Port covers the same 208.0 kilometres at the same fixed price.
The mountain road north is the first hour and it is slower in the dark, so an evening sailing from Heraklion needs the return leg booked with the boarding time in hand rather than judged on the day.
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 3 hr 31 min of driving in each direction, the boarding time your ferry or cruise line requires, and a real margin for the mountain approach.
Give us the operator and sailing at booking, and tell us the return time you want from the beach. Both legs are then set against the boat rather than estimated.
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 Heraklion Port to Elafonissi 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 Heraklion Port to Elafonissi costs a fixed €240 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €340.
No. The site is protected and has no accommodation and no village, only seasonal kiosks and the car park at the end of the road.
Arrange it at booking. Either the driver waits or returns at a set time, because there is no rank and no reliable local transport at the beach.
Paleochora is 206.0 kilometres from the quay at about 3 hr 12 min and Elafonissi 208.0 at about 3 hr 31 min. The final mountain descent is what adds the difference.
The sandbar joining it to the mainland is shallow enough to wade at most times. The water either side of it stays shallow a long way out.
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 €240 for a Standard car to Elafonissi.
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 ferry operator and sailing time when you book. We track arrivals, so a late docking moves the pickup rather than costing you the transfer.
In front of the passenger terminal, where the driver waits with a banner showing your name and ours. Ferry passengers all reach the quay at once, which is what the banner is for.
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. Heraklion Port to Elafonissi and Elafonissi to Heraklion Port are the same journey at the same fixed €240, 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 transfers we run, from the airports and ports to the resorts and villages along both coasts.