Getting from Dokos to Crete

If you are heading to Crete from Dokos you are making your way from an uninhabited rocky island in the Saronic Gulf to the largest island in Greece, with ancient Minoan sites, mountain gorges, excellent food and a coastline that stretches for hundreds of kilometres.

Take the ferry

There are no scheduled ferries from Dokos. Dokos has no ferry service and is accessible only by water taxi from Hydra, Spetses or Ermioni, with the crossing from Hydra taking around 30 minutes. Getting to Crete means arranging a water taxi from Dokos to Hydra, taking the Saronic ferry from Hydra to Piraeus, which takes around 1 hour 5 minutes to 2 hours, and then boarding the overnight Piraeus to Crete ferry, which departs around 9pm and arrives in Heraklion or Chania in the early morning after around 8 to 9 hours. Alternatively fly from Athens to Crete.

Getting there by air

Both Heraklion and Chania have airports with daily connections from Athens. Dokos has no airport. Taking the water taxi from Dokos to Hydra, the Saronic ferry to Piraeus and flying from Athens to Heraklion or Chania takes around 50 minutes on the second leg. Total journey time is around 5 to 6 hours. In Greece, airlines do not operate direct inter island flights.

Your best option

Arrange a water taxi from Dokos to Hydra before leaving the island, take the Saronic ferry to Piraeus and fly from Athens to Crete. Choose Heraklion for central and eastern Crete, Chania for the west. Pre-arrange your water taxi departure as you cannot hail a boat once you are on Dokos. If you are traveling with a car, note that Dokos is only accessible by small boat so a vehicle cannot be brought to or from the island.