A Santorini day trip from Crete is a one-day sea journey from Crete to Santorini and back. On Santorini, white villages sit on the rim of a flooded volcano. Crete is the largest island of Greece. Santorini lies to the north of it, at the southern edge of the Cyclades islands. The crossing runs over the open Aegean Sea. The trip is one of the Greece Tours on Greece Ville, listed with the other Santorini tours.
This post covers the two islands in numbers, how a fast ferry crosses the Sea of Crete, why both islands sit on a volcanic arc, what the Minoan eruption did to Crete, the Atlantis story and the island names. It ends with the questions that come up on the day: ferry delays, help for disabled passengers, the donkey rules, stomach bugs at sea, sunglasses and tsunami warnings.
What is a Santorini day trip from Crete?
A Santorini day trip from Crete begins on the island of Crete and heads to Santorini. Crete is the fifth largest of Greece’s regions when ranked by population. The Sea of Crete bounds the Cyclades islands on the south side.
Anyone planning a Santorini day trip from Crete will meet the Heraklion regional unit. It had 303,017 residents in 2021. It borders Rethymno to the west and Lasithi to the east.
In 2011, the Kallikratis reform created the Heraklion regional unit. It came from the former Heraklion prefecture, an older area. That prefecture was created in 1915, after Crete joined the rest of Greece.
On a Santorini day trip from Crete, the land near Heraklion has a mountain. Mount Juktas reaches 811 metres. The Heraklion regional unit also includes the island of Dia to the north.
The Lasithi regional unit covers an area of 1,823 square kilometres. The municipality of Oropedio Lasithiou covers 129.9 square kilometres. The Ionian Sea bounds the Sea of Crete to the west.
- Santorini: On Santorini, the Profitis Ilias monastery was a major centre for monks in late Ottoman times.
- Cyclades: The majority of the smaller Cyclades islands are uninhabited, so nobody lives on them.
- Rethymno: The Rethymno prefecture, an older area, was created while Crete was still a self-governing state.
Crete scores 0.896 for 2023 on the Human Development Index, a living-standards scale. That is the fourth highest of Greece’s 13 regions.
How does a fast ferry cross the Sea of Crete?
A Santorini day trip from Crete can include a fast ferry. A fast ferry, or high-speed craft, is a civilian water vessel. Planing, which is skimming over the water, is used by fast ferries, racing boats, seaplanes and water skis.
On a Santorini day trip from Crete, the boat type shapes the ride. Early high-speed craft included hydrofoils and hovercraft. In the 1990s, two-hull catamarans and one-hull monohulls became popular.
As a hydrofoil gains speed, its foils lift the hull from the water. This cuts drag, the force that slows a boat. A planing hull also cuts drag by shrinking the wet surface.
On a Santorini day trip from Crete, hulled ferries commonly use pump-jets coupled to medium-speed diesel engines. Jet propulsion follows Newton’s third law, so the craft moves opposite to the jet it ejects.
Two hulls can meet less water resistance than one hull of the same length. They need less power. Piercing a wave instead of riding over it also reduces mechanical stress on the vessel.
- Sea state: WMO code 5 means rough seas with waves of 2.5 to 4 metres.
- Beaufort scale: Its wave heights describe the open ocean, not the waves along the shore.
- Nautical mile: It is not an SI metric unit, yet it stays in wide use at sea.
Wave-making resistance is the drag from waves a hull makes. It favours very long, thin hulls, so the majority of wave-piercing designs are multihulls.
Why do Crete and Santorini sit on a volcanic arc?
A Santorini day trip from Crete starts near the centre of the Hellenic arc. That arc is a mountain chain on the southern edge of the Aegean Sea plate. Volcanoes stretch from the Saronic Gulf in the west to Santorini in the east.
On a Santorini day trip from Crete, two plates matter. The African plate dives under the Aegean Sea plate at about 40 mm a year. Subduction means one plate sinks under another.
The Aegean Sea plate moves south-west at about 37 mm a year. Subduction under Crete began in the early Miocene, a past period. Subduction started farther east in the latest Eocene, another past period.
On a Santorini day trip from Crete, the volcanic arc matters. It lies about 200 km north of the Hellenic arc. Magma broke through the thinned crust and formed a chain of volcanoes.
The Hellenic arc has regularly produced magnitude 7 earthquakes in the last hundred years of recording. Magnitude measures earthquake strength. The arc is among the busiest earthquake zones in western Eurasia.
- Span: The Hellenic arc runs from the Ionian Islands in the west to just east of Rhodes.
- Trench: The Hellenic Trench, a deep sea groove, has two legs, 600 km and 400 km.
- Depth: The Matapan Deep, part of the Hellenic Trench, is about 5,120 metres deep.
Deeper earthquakes happen near the volcanic arc, while shallow ones sit near the subduction fault.
What did the Minoan eruption do to Crete?
A Santorini day trip from Crete is linked to an eruption that hit Crete hard. Tsunamis from the eruption devastated the northern coast of Crete, 110 km away. Ash and pumice, a light volcanic rock, fell across the whole island of Crete.
On a Santorini day trip from Crete, Amnisos tells part of the story. At this coastal town, the tsunami knocked building walls out of line. Marinatos saw pumice worn down by water there.
Marinatos took this as proof of tsunamis like those after Krakatoa’s 1883 eruption. The editors of the journal Antiquity added a note saying the evidence did not yet support his idea.
On a Santorini day trip from Crete, the timing of the eruption matters. Later pottery studies set the eruption a number of generations before the New Palace period on Crete ended.
Scholars now attribute the end of the New Palace period to human causes. The eruption came late in a period called Late Minoan IA. The palace destructions came later, in Late Minoan IB.
- Early ash: It came from an early phase, weeks or months before the main eruption.
- Impact: That early ash is thought to have had little impact on Crete itself.
- Storage: Fallen ash and pumice were sometimes collected and stored on the island.
After the eruption, new buildings at Palaikastro were made from high-quality cut stone. Sites such as Galatas and Kommos declined in the same period.
Why is Atlantis linked to a Santorini day trip from Crete?
A Santorini day trip from Crete brings up the legend of Atlantis. Plato introduced Atlantis in his dialogue Timaeus, written in 360 BC. He placed the legendary island beyond the Pillars of Hercules. The story says Solon heard it in Egypt.
On a Santorini day trip from Crete, the Atlantis story starts with Poseidon, one of the Greek gods. He was given Atlantis as his share when the gods divided the land.
The Atlantic Ocean was named in honour of Atlas, the eldest of Poseidon’s sons. Poseidon enclosed the palace on the central mountain with three circular moats, which are ditches filled with water.
On a Santorini day trip from Crete, the war in the Atlantis tale comes up. In the tale, Athens led an alliance that beat the Atlantean empire and freed the occupied lands.
Critias is one of Plato’s late dialogues. Plato says Egyptian records describe a great plain, three thousand stadia long and two thousand stadia across. A stadion is an old Greek unit of length.
- Doubt: Aristotle believed Plato had invented the Atlantis story in order to teach philosophy.
- Belief: Crantor, a philosopher, is frequently cited as a writer who thought Atlantis was historical fact.
- History: Nineteenth-century amateur scholars read Plato’s story as history, the best known being Ignatius Donnelly.
Atlantis has become a byword, which is a name that stands for an idea. That idea is any supposed advanced prehistoric lost civilization.
Where do the names Santorini and Candia come from?
A Santorini day trip from Crete touches old island names. The origin of the name Crete is unknown. The Greek name Chandax gave the Latin, Italian and Venetian form Candia. Candia named the whole island of Crete, and also the city alone.
On a Santorini day trip from Crete, the name of the island goes very far back. The name Crete first appears in Linear B tablets from the 15th century BC, written ke-re-te.
The original Arabic name of Crete came from the Greek words for “of Crete”. After the Arabs moved their capital, both the city and the whole island were called Chandax.
During a Santorini day trip from Crete, the island name changes with the language. In Latin the island was called Creta. Spanish wrote the name Candía, French wrote Candie, and English used Candy.
The name Thera was not known at the time of the Minoan Bronze Age. Linear B tablets from Knossos name an unknown entity, qe-ra-si-ja. That name has a possible link to Thera.
- Hebrew Bible: Crete is called kretim, a plural form that reflects more than one island.
- Heraklion: Under Great Power rule from 1898 to 1908, the ancient name Heraklion was revived.
- Another island: Stromboli, an Italian island, was known to the Ancient Greeks as Strongyle.
Locals were using the name Heraklion as early as 1867. In Ottoman Turkish the island of Crete was called Girit.
What do visitors ask about a Santorini day trip from Crete?
A Santorini day trip from Crete brings questions about sea travel, health and safety. EU rules protect passengers when a sea service is delayed or cancelled. Greek rules cover working donkeys on Santorini. Sun protection and tsunami safety matter too.
What EU rights apply on a Santorini day trip from Crete if a sea service is delayed or cancelled?
The carrier must tell passengers about a delay or cancellation as soon as possible. Passenger rights information must be public on ships and in ports. The carrier must reply to a complaint within one month.
What help can disabled passengers get on a Santorini day trip from Crete?
Carriers and terminal operators must give disabled persons and people with reduced mobility free help. The passenger receives confirmation that the needs were notified. Without notice, carriers must still make all reasonable efforts to help.
What Greek rules protect working donkeys on Santorini during a Santorini day trip from Crete?
Greece’s Ministry of Rural Development and Food issued working donkey rules. A working donkey is not meant to carry excessive weight for its size, age or condition. It must get proper food and fresh water daily.
How does norovirus spread on passenger ships during a Santorini day trip from Crete?
Norovirus spreads mainly through contaminated food or water or between people. The virus survives long on surfaces, so the environment can cause new infections. Outbreaks have been recorded on cruise ships, an ideal closed setting for spread.
What do sunglasses filter categories mean on a Santorini day trip from Crete?
Category 0 sunglasses let through 80 to 100 percent of light. Category 1 sunglasses let through 43 to 80 percent of light and suit low sun exposure. ISO 12312-1 covers sunglasses for general use.
What is the safe response to a tsunami warning on a Santorini day trip from Crete?
The sea can pull back suddenly before a tsunami. If the sea suddenly rises or falls, go to higher ground or as far inland as possible. Stay away until the all-clear, as tsunamis can last hours.