A private transfer from Heraklion Port to Matala covers 62.9 km (39.1 mi) in about 1 hr 6 min and costs a fixed fare from €80 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Heraklion Port, 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Standard | Skoda Octavia, VW ID.3 | up to 3 | 3 | €80 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €90 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €95 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €130 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €200 |
|
Bus | Coach Bus | up to 52 | 30 | €415 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Matala 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 Matala: 62.9 km (39.1 mi), about 1 hr 6 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.
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 car leaves the port gate and crosses to the south coast, 62.9 kilometres in about 1 hr 6 min, ending at the bay under the caves.
Of everything the quay sells on the southern shore, this is both the nearest and the cheapest. Matala is 62.9 kilometres out at €80 for a Standard car, Lentas 67.8 at €85 and Agia Galini 71.5 at €90. Kalamaki, which the airport four kilometres away does sell, is not offered from here at all, so the choice from a ferry is between these three.
The route turns south out of the city and climbs away from the coast into the hills, and the sea is behind you within ten minutes.
The Messara opens beyond the climb, the agricultural plain that fills the centre of the south, with Mires as its market town on the way through.
Pitsidia comes shortly before the coast and the last kilometres drop to the bay. Matala is small and closed to traffic at the beach end, so the car stops on the approach road, rarely more than a short walk from any address in the village.
A dawn crossing suits this one. The Messara is farm country and it is awake at six, so the drive passes through a working plain rather than an empty one, and the caves above the bay are best seen before the day fills them.
The village behind the sand holds most of the accommodation on this stretch, among it Sunshine Hotel and Apartments, Calypso, Hotel Coral, Paradise and Armonia Hotel. None of them is far from where the car has to stop, which is the compensation for the beach end being closed to traffic.
Timing is the quiet advantage of arriving by sea. A six o'clock docking has the car at the bay by half past seven, which is well before the day trippers who make the same journey from Heraklion after breakfast.
The public route is a KTEL bus from Heraklion to Mires and a second on to Matala.
Both run on a rural timetable and the connection at Mires is the weak point. The first leg also starts from Heraklion's bus station rather than the quay, which after an overnight crossing means the city first.
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: 62.9 km (39.1 mi), about 1 hr 6 min, and the same fixed fare from €80 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Matala at the agreed time and takes you straight to Heraklion Port.
Matala back to the port is the same 62.9 kilometres at the same fixed fare.
The climb out of the Messara is the slow section northbound, worse in the early morning with farm traffic on the road, and evening sailings board well before the printed departure.
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.
About 1 hr 6 min of driving, the terminal time your ferry line asks for, and a margin for the plain and the climb back to the north coast.
Give us the operator and sailing at booking and the pickup is set against boarding.
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 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 Heraklion Port to Matala costs a fixed €80 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €130.
Cut into the sandstone cliff above the bay as tombs in Roman times, and occupied again in the late 1960s by the visitors the village became known for.
Over the headland south of the bay, about half an hour on foot. There is no road to it.
In front of the passenger terminal with a banner showing your name and ours. We track sailing arrivals, so a late docking moves the pickup.
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 €80 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 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 Matala and Matala to Heraklion Port are the same journey at the same fixed €80, 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.