Elafonisi Private Tours Chania Crete

Jun 2023

Elafonissi beach is one of the must see places when you are travelling to Crete. Endless white sand and spectacular view of turquoise water. Excellent place for swimming and having fun. Of course it gets quite crowded around midday when all the tourist buses finally make their way to the scene, but no problem, there is a solution for that ! SeaStar Private Van Tour with guide driver gets you there way before the others. We went to Elafonissi with our family just couple a days ago and it was one of the best tours ever. Everything was easy, reliable and very flexible from the first booking to last minute of the tour, really good value for the money. Our guide and driver Manos deserves extra credits for making the tour so comfortable. He picked us up from our hotel in Gerani in the morning and had of course all the gears you need for a fun day (Cooler box, SUP and snorkeling). However what really made the difference was his nice personality, perfect service attitude, excellent knowledge and endless patience to answer all of our questions about Crete while travelling there and back. We also had a stop on the way back to see the Agia Sofia Cave in Topolia and to have a coffee break with a view. Basically you can plan the 8 hours Tour flexibly the way you like, the drive itself takes a bit over an hour each way. so plenty of time for beach, views, pictures, lunch etc., Go for it, ask for Manos and you won't be disappointed ! 10/10

Jun 2023 • Friends

We were scheduled for a boat cruise that was canceled due to weather. Sea Star provided us a van with a driver, Manos.
First, they arrived on time and the day excelled from there! Manos was absolutely amazing, took us on a hike to a fabulous beach while carrying a heavy cooler! On the way home he chose a perfect spot for us to dine. Great company, great value!

Watford, UK26 contributions

Aug 2022

Private Van ride down to Elafonissi beach which was such a great day out from the Hotel. The driver / tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable about the island and knows the best place to settle on the beach. He also brings a cool box, paddle board and snorkels which was great. The prices were very reasonable and it def pays to have someone with local knowledge to get you through the mountains safe and sound without sitting on a tour bus which must be hellish due to traffic. A great day and can't recommend the driver highly enough!

Aug 2022

We book a van tour to Elafonissi beach and this was SUPER great. Our driver was the best. He guided us all the way, had answer to all questions during the way from how to harvest olives to which birds we saw :-)

He placed us on the best sun beds on Elafonissi and supplied us with SUP, scuba masks and cooler.

London, UK16 contributions

Aug 2019 • Family

From the moment we spoke with Maria on the Sea Tour stand in town we knew it was the right trip for us. We have 2 young girls and wanted to see a little bit of the island without too much hassle so we opted for the private minibus tour.
We were collected from our hotel by Lazaros who immediately made us a feel comfortable and got us settled in the van. We headed to Elafonisi beach and the whole journey Lazaros pointed out places of interest and td us about villages we drove through and lots of knowledge about the island. We arrived before the crazy really started at the beach and found nice beds in a quieter part right at the front so we could keep any eye on the girls. We were provided with a SUP board, body board, rubber ring and snorkel equipment to use which was amazing.....the kids loved it! Elafonisis beach is truly beautiful but if you don't get there early don't bother.....by the time we were leaving at 1:30 the placed was packed solid and traffic was starting to build. We left the beach and stopped at a monastery for the views, then headed to a local village restaurant with a view of the mountain. On the way back we stopped at a spot that looked as if we were on the moon....
Lazaros was a really nice guy with so much knowledge and someone who really loves what he does and appreciates where he lives. Maria was wonderful too, really helpful, friendly and knowledgeable. Thank you!

Salzburg, Austria21 contributions

Jul 2019 • Family

Searching for boat trips in platanias, where the SeaKing has the biggest space, we found a small stand with brochures from SeaStarChania. This led us to the website of this company. We saw that they arrangent private tours both on boat and with a small Van.
We booked the Van tour to Elafonissi, and was contacted the same evening by Lazaros, advicing us to be there as early as possible, as the beach would be filled with tourists around noon when all the big busses arrived.
So we spent morning snorkling, even saw a Lion Fish. All the equipment was freely with the booked tour. So we had snorkling equipment and SUP and a big bathing ring.
On the way back Lazaros showed us some of the older parts of Crete and talked alot about the history. We were really taken by his generousity to help us have a good time, that we booked him once more, where we asked him to arrange a good snorkling place. So he took us to a very nice small cove with nice clear water and eventhough it was windy the water was very still. And only 5-10 other people than us.
We spend a whole day snorkling there.
I can only give Lazaros and his company the best recommandations from here.
This is what you should do, unless you like the overcrowded boats and ferrys that the big companies sell. This is specifically for you and not all the other people :)

Jun 2019 • Family

Lazaros and Maria were fantastic! We spent the best day of our vacation with them in Crete. We only had the day as we were on a cruise and our goal was to get away from the crowds. They took us to the Akrotiri nature reserve we were did a 2-3 hour hike thorough some of the most beautiful landscape we have ever seen. The hike ended up being too much for the grandparents, so Lazoros patiently guided them back to the monastery at the beginning of the trail head while the rest of us forged on. Maria was fantastic with the kids! She encouraged them, sang with them and was just an overall super guide. After the hike, they brought us to a secluded, locals-beach for the kids to swim. Maria was concerned that the kids were too close to some rocks, so she went in the water with them and played/swam with the for an hour. Lazaros got a cot out of his van for the grandparents to sit on in the shade and we had the best picnic lunch on the beach while the kids swam. We could not have asked for a better day. THANK YOU Maria and Lazaros -- I have already pass your info on to several people, including my sister and her family who will be in Crete this fall.

Jun 2019 • Family

Though this company may be better known for the boat trips they offer can also highly recommend their services on private van tours. They took us to Elafonisi fm Platanias. We had a party of 2 adults, 2 teens and a 4-year old. Trip was made on MB Vito, and the rent included a SUP-board, rubberboat, snorkling equipment and various watertoys. Driver was excellent and shared intetesting details of Crete during the drive over the mountain. You can take some beverages and snacks along as they have a cooler in the van. We stopped couple of times to take photos, and on the way back we stopped for lunch. It is possible to plan your own trip as well.
We asked offer for 5 persons and 10 hrs and got really good price.
This is a very good choice if you want to decide your own schedule and just relax and admire the scenery instead of driving yourself.

Hyvinkaa, Finland13 contributions

Jun 2018 • Family

We were two families and booked a private van to take us to Elafonissi. Our driver was really friendly and we all liked him a lot. A Sup board, small boat and snorkling equipment included. Recommed!