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From Crete to Santorini...by ferry?

Posted by (Seattle, WA, USA ☔️) on

I'm looking for current info on ferries between Heraklion (or any other port on Crete) and Santorini:
Are the Greek ferry schedules out and reliable yet?

For context: We're going to a few islands in southwest Greece (specifically Rhodes, Crete, and Santorini) for a few weeks in September–October 2026. We will be spending the bulk of our time on Crete (more questions on that later...) with shorter stays on Rhodes and Santorini. I have already worked out most of my plan for getting around, the last bit I need to nail down is getting from Crete to Santorini.

There's a direct flight that's easy, short, and cheap (it's a nonstop HER-JTR, with no connection in Athens, on Aegean/Olympic). That flight goes in the afternoon. (I see that there are 1-stop flights that leave early morning from either Heraklion or Chania, with a one-hour connection in Athens, which would get us to Santorini by mid-morning, but that seems annoyingly indirect and inefficient - cost is ≈US$99).

I'd actually prefer going in the morning, to allow us to better utilize that day (with an afternoon flight, it kind of eats up most of the day). So I've been looking at ferry options. In part because it seems crazy to take a trip to 3 Greek islands and never set foot on a ferry (but I do things that many would call crazy all the time, so I'd get over it).

I know that Greek Island ferry schedules can be challenging to anticipate and make solid plans on, far ahead and from afar - not all schedules are released far in advance of high season, and not always on a predictable, rational (at least rational-to-me) advance timetable. So I get that. That said, the route I'm looking at would appear (to me) to be a pretty high-demand route, between major tourist ports, and (I think) still inside what goes for "high season" these days (we would be hopping from Crete to Santorini on Thursday 1 October).

As I'm writing this, it's early- to mid-February. When I search (what I think probably are) the popular ferry-booking search engines (eg ferry hopper or open seas) I only see a single option for this route: a 90-minute trip departing Heraklion at 0800 and arriving at Santorini at 09:35. I like the timing of that. OTOH, the price is a bit surprising: roughly US$110 to $115 (there may be extra "fees" tacked on, I haven't clicked thru to find out yet). It's on what's called a "Champions League" boat (trying not to roll my eyes too much at the marketing spin), apparently a quite large and fast-ish ship. The flight is just US$44, so the boat is roughly triple the price of the flight (I guess those footballers may be getting a piece of the action...).

So based on what I see right now, I have three options for this leg of our trip:

  • Fly direct. The cheapest option (by far) but has us traveling in the afternoon.
  • Fly via Athens. Takes longer, costs more, bet gets us to Santorini by 9 am. One-hour connection in ATH, hmmm.
  • Take the "Champions League" boat. It's the most expensive option, but the timing is good and we get to party with futball fans at 6 am so there's that (maybe that'll get us in the right mood for the complete Santorini experience?). And no FOMO over skipping the "Greek islands ferry experience."

So those are the options I've found. But here (FINALLY) is my question for you expert grecophiles:

Am I missing any other ferry options? Are there any other ferries on this route that I have missed (because it's still too early in the season to know, or because I'm just clueless and haven't looked in the right place, or some other mystery)?

Thank you and I hope the above all makes sense.

Γειά μας!

Posted by
3515 posts

Ah ah! No football teams on this Champion League Jet catamaran, just a few hundred tourists crammed together.

Unless something changes, this will be the only ferry to Santorini this morning, October 1st. The fare is the standard Seajets fare. No extra fees to deduct or add. You have to pay the exorbitant price of high-quality fuel to sail faster than other ferries, and also pay for the lavish lifestyle of Seajets' executives (personal observation).

The other option could be the Blue Star Chios, as shown in last year's timetable, but if the same timetable is maintained in 2026, this ferry won't run on Thursdays.

http://www.openseas.gr/HER/JTR/2025-10-02/2025-10-02/itineraries

And if you want to leave in the morning, it might not be possible, so there's no advantage compared to flying.

Posted by
7495 posts

Thank you both. Looking over the other sites, I don't see any additional ferry options (at least not on the day we need to go). So I guess it'll come down to how to weigh the price against other factors.

For the indirect flight via ATH, there's a 1-hour connection, which makes me go "hmmm....". It would be on a single ticket, and there's a second flight later that morning they could (in theory) put us on if we missed that 1-hour connection. But I know that's tight, and planes do experience delays...

Looking at potential for delays and impacts...these would be early morning flights (6 am out of HER to ATH, 8:40 am out of ATH). I generally assume risk of delay increases throughout the day (because it's cumulative, and an early delay will ripple through the day to later flights), so less chance of a delay with first flights of the day. Also, in many places, winds are calmest in early morning and chance of windy conditions increases throughout the day. These are just generally true but of course not always true everywhere. That said, I'm still left going "hmmmm" about that 1-hour connection in ATH.

Maybe it's worth forking over triple the price of the direct flight to get peace of mind on that footballer ferry...

Posted by
3515 posts

Looking over the other sites, I don't see any additional ferry
options.

No website (ferryhopper, openseas, greekferries, directferries or whatever) will give you the schedules until they've been finalized by the ferry companies themselves.

These websites all work like Google Flights or Skyscanner for flights, relying on GDSs (Global Distribution Systems) specifically designed to show you ferry schedules. No service has the exclusive right to know ferry routes better than another, and they all have to wait for the ferry companies to update the GDSs with the schedules.

They could (in theory) put us on if we missed that 1-hour connection.
But I know that's tight, and planes do experience delays...

I've already had 35-minute connections at Athens airport on a single ticket with Aegean, everything went smoothly. Upon disembarking from your first flight, you'll be almost directly in the boarding area for your connecting flight. Of course, the world isn't perfect (thankfully, otherwise it would be incredibly boring), and that doesn't rule out the possibility of a significant delay to your first flight. However, with a single ticket, you'll be put on the next available flight at no extra cost.

Don't forget to download the Aegean app, which will give you your boarding pass and all the real-time information about your flights.

That being said, even though I'm not a Seajets fan and not a football expert, I would take the ferry; it's much simpler, even if it's more expensive. It's like a giant airplane with rows of 30 seats, where you can go get food and drinks at the bar, take a stroll on the outside deck at the stern and admire the scenery. And you don't have to worry about the weight or size of your luggage, nor go through security.

It's up to you.

Posted by
7495 posts

Yeah, I've been moving towards that as the most reasonable choice. Other than being the most expensive option, it aligns best with our preferences for the day (that is: arrive at our destination early in the day, with no drama, and unless there's some clear benefit to doing something complicated, simple is better than complicated). She-to-whom-all-things-must-be-justified seems to agree.

I do understand that the various ferry systems slow-roll their schedule releases, and that's just how it is. There are many of them and they're not all running like Swiss watches, so it is what it is. I assume that at some point soon-ish (in the Spring?) the ferry schedules will have gelled (to the extent that they do at all) and then things are (more or less) set for the year. What's a reasonable guess as to when that magic date has passed? March 1? April 1? May 1? I would assume it's before summer starts to heat up.

I have another ferry question but will post that in a separate thread.

Thanks again for the shared insights.

Posted by
3515 posts

The publication date of ferry schedules varies greatly and depends on the company. As you've noticed, Seajets has already published its October 2026 schedule.

The only other ferry you could take is the Blue Star, which I mentioned in my previous message. Blue Star Ferries currently only publishes its schedules up to May 2026. You'll have to wait quite a while before you can access the October schedule.

Anyway, regardless of the publication date and the ferry company, it's primarily the sea and the weather that determine whether a ferry can sail or not. You won't know for sure until the day before departure at the earliest.

It could also be a strike that cancels your ferry, this happens from time to time...

Posted by
32 posts

There might be another highspeed ferry from Heraklion to Santorini. Hellenic Seaways could have the Hellenic Highspeed and Highspeed4 on alternate days between Heraklion and Santorini as part of a Heraklion-Piraeus route. Expect however that prices will not be much different from the Seajet prices.
The price of the flight tickets might be tempting. A 1 hour layover is not really a problem or something to worry about with both flights on 1 ticket. But it will take more time than the ferry where you only have to arrive up till 5 minutes before departure.

Fun fact: the football related names of (some) Seajets ferries started a couyple of years ago when the owner of Seajets, Mario Illiopoulos, took over the Athens football team AEK. And like many of those moguls he also wants to win the biggest prices and star in the brightest spotlights.
I'm absolutely no fan of Seajets and avoid using them at all times. But it's more for ethical reasons than it is for any other reason.

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