The volcanic island of Santorini lies north of Crete. And this daytrip by fast catamaran is a great chance to take a close-up look at it. Curved around a colossal, sea-filled caldera that was formed by a massive volcanic eruption 3,500 years ago, it's all black cliffs, whitewashed villages and blue-domed churches. It's picture-postcard Greece.

Once you're on dry land, you'll take off on a scenic tour, exploring many of the island's attractions and learning about its history. Explore a caldera-edge town, where whitewashed houses, cobbled streets and tavernas cascade down the cliff-face in steep terraces.

You'll then have some free time in both Oia and the island's capital, Fira. Spend an hour or so snapping up treats in the quaint shops and boutiques. Or, visit some of the best lookouts to take photos – the views over the caldera are great. It's made for selfies.

A great experience, a little expensive but good value. The pick up bus arrived on time, we had great seats in the boat and the tour was very well organised.

Fantastic guide. Great place

Santorini is a beautiful island and definitely worth going to visit BUT it is very very busy, small streets crammed with tourists, long queues to take photos of view points. The ferry going over was fine but coming back it was absolute chaos, it was like a cattle mart. Too many people trying to get on to the ferry at the same time. The TUI rep was lovely and very informative.

The TUI element of this trip was overall pretty good. Theodora was a great guide. This is a good trip if you just want to see Santorini in a day, however it’s a very busy place, even at the end of September! The only thing that let the trip down was the Seajet coming back, it was like a free for all with people sitting in wrong places and lots of confusion around this. Obviously this is not something that can be remedied by yourselves.

this trip should never be a day trip. Pick up at 6am, arrive 1st stop at 12 noon. The first stop you are given an hour It was heaving, like cattle, cannot move nor see the “beautiful Santorini”. Toilets are charged for, cash only. you are then moved to your second stop and as we had added on the volcano swim, we had less than 40 minutes to just find somewhere to eat and back on the bus. The volcano swim is beautiful but again, 30mins! Bus had no aircon. Not worth £360 paid for 2 people.

I wanted to tip Marco, our guide, but as we transferred to the boat tour there didn’t seem an appropriate time. Marco was great. The right amount of humour and knowledge. He did warn about pick pockets and sure enough I saw a lady check a guys pocket in front of me. We thought it was really well organised. We were picked up on time, everything g worked liked clock work. The extra boat excursion was well worth it and a great way to finish the day.

Why you’ll love this…

Boat trip from Crete to Santorini
Free time in both Oia and Fira
See a different Greek island

Important to know

Lunch and drinks not included
This is a very popular and in-demand activity. Expect higher levels of attendance during July and August
The itinerary order may change on the day of the tour
Departs Heraklion port at 08:00, arriving in Santorini between 10:30 and 11:00
Returns from Santorini at approx 16:00 arriving in Heraklion at about 18:15
Bring your passport or official EU identification
Bring money for extras or gratuities

Cancellation policy

Receive a 100% refund if you cancel up to 1 day before the experience begins.

What’s included

Transport
Bus tour

This experience meets the Global Sustainable Tourism Council criteria. By choosing this experience you can protect the places you love, care for the environment and support local communities.

Booking fee

Good news! No extra fees are applied to this booking.

Pickup points

To see which pickup points are available, check under availability & prices.

Provider

TUI Hellas Travel, Tourism and Airlines SA, with Tax Number 094469778 and Travel License Number 0261Ε60000126100

What people say about this experience

4.1/5

All reviews are verified

Based on 66 reviews

Review categories

Staff

4.2/5

Safety

4.2/5

Service

4.2/5

Value for money

3.9/5

All ratings (66)

5 stars (30)

45%

4 stars (14)

21%

3 stars (19)

29%

2 stars (1)

1 star (2)

P
Paul N
Travelled as a couple
7 October 2025
5
United States of America
A great experience, a little expensive but good value. The pick up bus arrived on time, we had great seats in the boat and the tour was very well organised.
D
Debbie Simpson
Travelled with family
5 October 2025
5
United States of America
Fantastic guide. Great place
A
Anna
Travelled with a group of friends
3 October 2025
2.6
United States of America
Santorini is a beautiful island and definitely worth going to visit BUT it is very very busy, small streets crammed with tourists, long queues to take photos of view points. The ferry going over was fine but coming back it was absolute chaos, it was like a cattle mart. Too many people trying to get on to the ferry at the same time. The TUI rep was lovely and very informative.
T
Trees
Solo traveller
2 October 2025
3.4
United States of America
The TUI element of this trip was overall pretty good. Theodora was a great guide. This is a good trip if you just want to see Santorini in a day, however it’s a very busy place, even at the end of September! The only thing that let the trip down was the Seajet coming back, it was like a free for all with people sitting in wrong places and lots of confusion around this. Obviously this is not something that can be remedied by yourselves.
A
Ann-Marie
Travelled as a couple
21 September 2025
1
United States of America
this trip should never be a day trip. Pick up at 6am, arrive 1st stop at 12 noon. The first stop you are given an hour It was heaving, like cattle, cannot move nor see the “beautiful Santorini”. Toilets are charged for, cash only. you are then moved to your second stop and as we had added on the volcano swim, we had less than 40 minutes to just find somewhere to eat and back on the bus. The volcano swim is beautiful but again, 30mins! Bus had no aircon. Not worth £360 paid for 2 people.
D
Dionne
Travelled as a couple
19 September 2025
5
United States of America
I wanted to tip Marco, our guide, but as we transferred to the boat tour there didn’t seem an appropriate time. Marco was great. The right amount of humour and knowledge. He did warn about pick pockets and sure enough I saw a lady check a guys pocket in front of me. We thought it was really well organised. We were picked up on time, everything g worked liked clock work. The extra boat excursion was well worth it and a great way to finish the day.