0Passeios de barco & ilhotas circundantes

Creta tem quase 100 ilhas menores ao redor e muitas delas podem ser visitadas com passeios regulares de barco ou com aluguel particular. Algumas das ilhas são parques nacionais protegidos (chamado Kri-kri) embora e não pode ou não deve ser visitado. Muitas das ilhotas menos conhecidas também são difíceis de identificar, mesmo com o Google Maps não mostrando nomes. Embora possamos ter algumas páginas separadas para as ilhas mais populares para visitar, aqui resumimos detalhes de todas as ilhas para quem gosta de explorar um pouco mais longe

Ilhas com passeios regulares de barco disponíveis

Spinalonga & Mirabello Bay

Mira­bel­lo bay is a lar­ge bay on the north coast of Cre­te towards the eas­tern end of the island near Agi­os Niko­la­os. Spi­na­lon­ga (or Kaly­don as it is also known) is pro­ba­bly the best known island anywhe­re around Cre­te. It is famous as a for­mer leper colony and is fea­tu­red in the book ‘The Island’ by Vic­to­ria His­lop. Befo­re being a leper colony the island was the site of a Vene­ti­an for­tress and has been popu­la­ted on-and-off for nearly 2 mil­len­nia. Spi­na­lon­ga is a museum pre­ser­ved by the Gre­ek sta­te and costs €8 to enter (still a good pri­ce, but a nota­ble incre­a­se from the €2 it cost until recen­tly). Boat trips to Spi­na­lon­ga run regu­larly from Agi­os Niko­la­os (€16–25, 1 hour jour­ney) and Eloun­da (Retorno de € 12, 30–40min jour­ney) as well as from the nearby vil­la­ge of Pla­ka (Retorno de € 8, 5 minu­te jour­ney). Trips from Agi­os Niko­la­os and Eloun­da often inclu­de addi­ti­o­nal stop offs for swim­ming and can inclu­de gui­des or lun­ch, whilst tra­vel­ling from Pla­ka offers the oppor­tu­nity for lun­ch on the sea­front in Pla­ka at once of the taver­nas the­re. Most visi­tors spend around 90 minu­tes on Spi­na­lon­ga but if you want to be more fle­xi­ble the best opti­on is the boat from Pla­ka as this runs back and forth every 30 minu­tes and your tic­ket is an open return. Whilst it is a lit­tle bit of a climb it is worth fol­lowing a path to the top of Spi­na­lon­ga as the views are superb.

Agi­os Pan­tes, Miko­ro­ni­si & Niko­lo­ni­si are small islets just off the coast of Agi­os Niko­la­os. Some boat trips to Spi­na­lon­ga may stop by the­se to allow swim­ming. It would also be pos­si­ble for a strong swim­mer to swim to them as they are less than 1km from the coast, mas é preciso ter cuidado com barcos e esportes aquáticos. Kolokytha is a small island just behind the Kaly­don penin­su­la. Many boat trips to Spi­na­lon­ga from Agi­os Niko­la­os stop here as it has an uns­poi­led sandy bea­ch. Psei­ra is an island on the eas­tern side of Mira­bel­lo bay that has archa­e­o­lo­gi­cal remains from Mino­an and Myce­ne­an civi­li­sa­ti­ons. The­re are no regu­lar boat trips but a pri­va­te hire could be arran­ged and expe­ri­en­ced kaya­kers may cho­o­se to visit. Winds and cur­rents can be strong in the 2 mile cros­sing so it is not advi­sa­ble to swim or for inex­pe­ri­en­ced sai­lors or kaya­kers to attempt the jour­ney. Koni­da is a small islet of lit­tle note in the south of Mira­bel­lo bay just off the coast from Pachia Ammos. Moch­los is a small island only 150m off the coast from the cur­rent vil­la­ge of Moch­los. It is thought that in Mino­an times it was con­nec­ted to the main­land (sea levels were lower in Mino­an times), and the­re are ruins from a Mino­an set­tle­ment by the pre­sent-day vil­la­ge. Goo­gle Maps calls Moch­los ‘Nisi­da Agi­os Niko­la­os’. Moch­los is also a short dri­ve from Rich­tis Gor­ge making it easy to visit both in the same day.

Chrissi

Chris­si island is actu­ally 2 islands — the main Chris­si island itself and Mikro­nis­si apenas para o leste. Also known as Gai­dou­ro­ni­si (Don­key Island) Chris­si is another popu­lar island with daily boat trips from the har­bour in Iera­pe­tra whi­ch lea­ve around 9.30 — 10am and return around 5–6pm, levando cerca de uma hora em cada sentido. The regu­lar boat ser­vi­ce runs from mid May until late Octo­ber. The name Chris­si means ‘gol­den’ and it lives up to it’s name with fine gol­den sand that helps it look like a ste­re­oty­pi­cal ‘tro­pi­cal para­di­se’. The­re isn’t very much sha­de on the island so if you go in the sum­mer months it is impor­tant to take something to pro­vi­de sha­de and also take good qua­lity sun­cre­am. The fer­ri­es drop off on one coast and pick up on the other coast so make sure you know whe­re to go to cat­ch the ride home. It is also pos­si­ble to camp on Chris­si and some peo­ple do this. Most peo­ple who visit Chris­si do so for the cle­an water, beau­ti­ful sand, and warm shal­low bays per­fect for snor­kel­ling, but the­re are also some Mino­an ruins on Chris­si whi­ch can be viewed.

Gavdos & o golfo de Mesara

Gav­dos is another rea­so­na­bly well known island off the south west coast of Cre­te whi­ch can be rea­ched by boat from Pale­o­cho­ra or Cho­ra Sfa­ki­on. The­re is a regu­lar sche­du­le through­tout the year as Gav­dos has a small per­ma­nent popu­la­ti­on. Gav­dos is only 170 miles from Libya and is in fact the southern­most land in Euro­pe. Due to it’s size and his­tory Gav­dos is worthy of a full arti­cle of its own so we wont repe­at that here. Gav­do­pou­la is a small island to the north-west of Gav­dos whi­ch is a pro­tec­ted natu­re reser­ve for migra­tory birds and sea life. Much nea­rer to the coast of Cre­te are 2 small islets col­lec­ti­vely known as the Paxi­ma­dia islets. The­se are indi­vi­du­ally named Paxi­ma­dia Ena (1) and Paxi­ma­dia Dio (dois). Locals some­ti­mes refer to them as Elephant. In the peak months the Paxi­ma­dia islands can be visi­ted by boat from Kok­ki­nos Pir­gos and Agia Gali­ni. The web­si­te Cre­tan Bea­ches has good infor­ma­ti­on about the bea­ches on both.

Gramvousa & Kissamos Bay

Existem 3 small islands just off the north-west coast of Cre­te, perto de Balos Lago­on. Ime­ri Gram­vou­sa has the remains of a Vene­ti­an fort and thanks to it’s his­tory as part of Cre­tan inde­pen­den­ce from the Otto­man empi­re it is a popu­lar des­ti­na­ti­on. It is inclu­ded on most boat trips to Balos Lago­on. Apenas ao norte é Agria Gram­vou­sa whi­ch is less visi­ted. Pon­di­ko­ni­si (known to locals as mou­se island) is further to the west and is also uni­nha­bi­ted and rarely visi­ted. Next to it is a small islet cal­led Pon­ti­ka­ki, whi­ch means small mouse.

Dia & o golfo de Heraklion

Dia is a lar­ge island imme­di­a­tely north of Hera­kli­on that fea­tu­res in much Gre­ek mytho­logy and is now a pro­tec­ted natu­re reser­ve. The­re are sai­lings from the ports in Gou­ves, Her­so­nis­sos and Hera­kli­on but not as fre­quen­tly as to some of the other islands. It is pos­si­ble to arran­ge to stay over­night on Dia but this must be arran­ged with the Hera­kli­on port autho­rity. Dia ser­ved as the prin­ci­pal port for many civi­li­sa­ti­ons in Cre­te from Mino­an times and offers some inte­rest for his­to­ri­ans. Dia is not par­ti­cu­larly renow­ned for bea­ches but the­re are pla­ces to swim for tho­se wishing to do so. The­re are also 2 ilhotas por Dia: Paxi­ma­di e Peta­li­di whi­ch are uni­nha­bi­ted and rarely visited.

Outras ilhas e ilhotas notáveis

Agioi Theodoroi & Chanion Bay

Agi­oi The­o­do­roi estão 2 islets just off the coast to the west of Cha­nia. Existem 2 ilhas: Agi­os The­o­do­ros and Mikros Agi­os The­o­do­ros. Agi­os The­o­do­ros, also known as Tho­do­rou is the lar­ger island and is home to nati­ve Gre­ek Ibex cal­led Kri-Kri. The­re are the remains of 2 Vene­ti­an for­tres­ses, the higher one being cal­led Tur­lu­ru, whi­ch is a name some­ti­mes used for the island. The smal­ler islet of Mikros Agi­os The­o­do­ros is also known as Gla­ra­ki (Gaivota) and The­o­do­ro­pou­la. As the islands are an impor­tant natu­re reser­ve for Kri-Kri visi­ting is not per­mit­ted except during the ones-a-year fes­ti­val the feast of Saint The­o­do­re. Much nea­rer to Cha­nia is the islet of Laza­re­ta whi­ch has a small but nice bea­ch whi­ch is visi­ted by some boat trips and is popu­lar with snorkellers.

Baía de Souda

The­re are a num­ber of small islands in Sou­da Bay near Cha­nia. Nisi­da Sou­da (also some­ti­mes cal­led just Sou­da fea­tu­res in Gre­ek mytho­lody and is also home to a Vene­ti­an for­tress. The­re are limi­ted num­bers of boats that run trips to Sou­da in peak sea­son from vari­ous pla­ces on the north coast from Cha­nia to Rethym­non, but only gui­ded-tours are avai­la­ble. Leon is next to Sou­da island and is rarely visi­ted. Palai­o­sou­da, também conhecido como Marathi is popu­lar for snor­kel­ling and scu­ba diving. Pri­va­te boat trips can be boo­ked in Cha­nia. Kar­ga is on the south side of Sou­da bay near to Almi­ri­da. It is simi­lar to Palai­o­sou­da in that it doesn’t have much in the way of bea­ches so is mainly popu­lar with divers.

Baía de Malia

Existem 3 pequenas ilhas na Baía de Malia. Afen­tis Chris­tos is direc­tly in front of the main Malia tou­rist bea­ch and can (e é) nadou facilmente para. It has a small chur­ch on it. We advi­se visi­tors to not climb on the chur­ch or to ring the bell as this is dis­rep­sect­ful and is likely to offend locals. To the east of Afen­tis Chris­tos is Agia Var­va­ra whi­ch is rocky and of lit­tle note. Ainda mais ao leste, near Sis­si, is another small rocky out­crop whi­ch is not iden­ti­fi­ed on maps.

As Dionísias & Cape Sidero

The Diony­sa­des are a group of 4 islands off the north-east penin­su­la in Cre­te whi­ch are part of an envi­ron­men­tally pro­tec­ted area. Dra­go­na­da is the lar­gest island. Giany­sa­da is the southern­most island of the group. Paxi­ma­da e Paxi­ma­da­ki are home to Ele­o­no­ra’s Fal­con whi­ch migra­tes from Mada­gas­car. It is not advi­sed for regu­lar tou­rists to visit the­se islands. Ela­sa is on the oppo­si­te side of the penin­su­la from the Diony­sa­des, mais ao sul e leste. It is part of the same pro­tec­ted area and also should be left to nature.

The Grandes & Baía de Kouremenos

The Gran­des islands are less than 1km off the coast at Palai­o­kas­tro in Kou­re­me­nos Bay. The mid­dle islet is Pra­so­ni­si whi­ch has a bit of bea­ch. O outro 2 ilhotas, Savou­ra para o sul, e Paxi­ma­di to the north are lit­tle more than rocks. The­re are a num­ber of ship­wrecks in the area so it is a good pla­ce to visit for divers. Kou­re­me­nos Bay is popu­lar with wind sur­fers whi­ch gives an idea of the levels of wind in this part of the Cre­te. It would be pos­si­ble to swim to the Gran­des islands but care should be taken if the winds are strong as this can lead to strong cur­rents. The bea­ch at Chi­o­na (or Hio­na) on the main­land is a bet­ter bea­ch than anything on the islands as can be seen in the video below.

Saran­tos Nikos has fil­med a video of the Gran­des with a dro­ne whi­ch gives you an idea of the cla­rity of water and the small size of the islands. Also visi­ble in the video are parts of the main­land and the nearby island of Elasa.

Kavali & Kymo

Kava­li is a group of 3 small islets just off the coast at Xero­kam­bos. The lar­gest island is Kaval­los whi­ch is the southern­most. Kefa­li is just north of Kaval­las, e Ana­va­tis (also cal­led Kava­loi) is a lit­tle further to the east. Like the Gran­des to the north all 3 islands lack a bea­ch, and nes­ting spots for seve­ral spe­ci­es of bird inclu­ding fal­cons and vul­tu­res. The nearby Alat­so­lim­ni bea­ch on the main­land is a nice sandy bea­ch. The main­land nearby also has a sal­tla­ke in spring that attracts many migra­ting birds whi­ch may be of inte­rest to ornitho­lo­gists. Kymo (aka Kou­me­li) is a small islet a lit­tle to the south of the Kava­li group. It also has no bea­ch and has nothing of note to see.

Koufonissi e Cabo Goudero

Kou­fo­nis­si is a fairly lar­ge island to the south of east Cre­te. The­re are some­ti­mes regu­lar boat trips to Kou­fo­nis­si from Makrys Gia­los in peak sea­son but this hasn’t been the case every year so check befo­re tra­vel­ling. An alter­na­ti­ve would be a pri­va­te hire whi­ch would likely cost around €50–60 per per­son. Kou­fo­nis­si does have lovely sandy bea­ches, and some inte­res­ting Mino­an and Roman era ruins, as well as a more modern chur­ch — the chur­ch of Saint Niko­la­os, and a lighthou­se that was des­troyed in the second world war. Existem 4 other much smal­ler islets around Kou­fo­nis­si: Makrou­lo, Stro­gi­lo, Tra­chi­la e Mar­ma­ra none of whi­ch are par­ti­cu­larly noteworthy.

Baía de Psili Ammos

Tra­fos is only 100m off the main­land and can easily be swum to. The­re are the remains of the anci­ent town of Las­sea on the main­land. Mikro­ni­si (also known as Aghi­os Pavlos or St. Ilha de Paul) is to the west of Tra­fos and is occu­pi­ed by an oil sto­ra­ge ter­mi­nal so is not a pla­ce for tou­rists. A próxima ilha do grupo é Mega­lo­ni­si whi­ch is just west of Mikro­ni­si. Mega­lo­ni­si has a lighthou­se but is otherwi­se of lit­tle note. Papa­do­pla­ka is the smal­lest and most westward of the islets. It is the top of a reef that pro­tru­des from the water and has no beach.

Baía de Phalasarna

Pha­la­sar­na is a well-know bea­ch on the west coast whi­ch forms a natu­ral bay. Tem 3 ilhotas minúsculas que podem ser nadadas para. Kour­sa­roi is the towards the south of the bay and is the lar­gest. It is actu­ally a group of rocks rather than a sin­gle island and it has one tiny area of sand. It is less than 100m from the main­land bea­ch. Peta­li­da é o extremo norte do 3 and is around 400m from the nea­rest point of the main­land or about 1km from the main bea­ch. It is rocky and has no bea­ch. Pra­so­ni­si é o sul mais distante, approx 500–600m from the coast, and has a small bit of sand on the eas­tern side

Ilhas maiores com serviço de ferry de Creta

Antikythera

Antikythe­ra is a lar­ge inha­bi­ted island to the north west of Cre­te famed for the anci­ent tech­no­logy named after it. Boats sail regu­larly from Chania

Santorini

O famoso (and still acti­ve) vol­ca­no of San­to­ri­ni is due north of Cre­te and boats sail daily year round from Hera­kli­on. Higher spe­ed cata­ma­rans make the jour­ney from May to Octo­ber but out of sea­son only the much slower fer­ri­es pro­vi­de a ser­vi­ce. A round trip is typi­cally €100–150 per per­son in peak sea­son although it can be done for less if you wat­ch for dis­coun­ted pri­ces. San­to­ri­ni is much big­ger than most peo­ple rea­li­se as it is not a sin­gle vol­ca­nic cra­ter but an island for­med from a seri­es of erup­ti­ons over 200,000 anos. To dri­ve from the port to the most popu­lar northern vil­la­ge of Oia takes around 35 minutos, whilst wal­king would is a trip of 18km inclu­ding a climb of around 500m.

Outras ilhas

Fer­ri­es from Hera­kli­on also link to many other Gre­ek islands in the Aege­an including…

• The Cycla­des: Ana­fi, Andros, Ios, Milos, Myko­nos, Naxos, Paros, e Tinos
• The Dode­ca­ne­se: Chal­ki, Kar­pathos, Caixa registradora, e Rodes

Uma lista completa

For a com­ple­te list of all 93 ilhas, ilhotas, and tiny rocks poking out of the sea around Cre­te Wiki­pe­dia has a tem­pla­te table with a full sum­mary. As far as I am awa­re this inclu­des every bit of rock no mat­ter how nota­ble. Cre­tan Bea­ches also has qui­te detai­led infor­ma­ti­on about many of the more nota­ble islands and groups of islets although their list is not as com­ple­te as the one on Wikipedia.