Great day out at the beach! - I can’t believe it’s only now that I remember to complete this review. We went down to the Elafonissi beach from Rethymno and our guide Lazarus was more than helpful. He also spoke German for the German tourists onboard. On the way there we stopped at a lovely cafe/restaurant within the mountains who provided us with fresh food and orange juice (charge). When we reached the beach, I’d say that there is a mile walk down to the beach itself. It’s not all pink as shown in the photos online but there are some pink bits there and it was SO BEAUTIFUL! When Lazarus saw I was struggling to walking up from the beach to the bus, he asked a staff member to drive me and my partner back up to the bus - Most people were not offered this service, but I was due to my access needs. We also stopped on the way back to Rethymno in this lovely village and Lazarus recommended us some places to eat. I had this honey chicken dish and it was to die for! I would definitely recommend Lazarus and this tour for anyone wanting a nice relaxing day at the beach!

This was a great... - This was a great experience and more than what we expected. A bus picked us up from Rethymno and we drove out to Elafonssi beach. It was approximately a 2 hour drive and well worth it. Kostas was a magnificent driver and maneuvered this huge bus through the mountains and Lazarus was a great guide. You get so much more than what you pay for.

Wonderful , entertaining and heartfelt full-day excursion. - We can really recommend 100 💯! Super bus driver, Lazarus our guide wonderful, very much was told us. You could listen for hours. Everything worked out great. Once again Markidis Markidis.

Great experience - Nice experience at the beach and professional and helpful service. Knowledgeable and friendly guide.

Wonderful!! Watch out for parking - I recommend: don't let the valet fool you who immediately blocks you at the first 5 euro parking, tell him that you have to go to the MEGA MARKET later! After this parking, it is full of space at 3 euros. The beach is about 8 minutes walk from the parking lots, there is space both in the umbrellas / sunbeds for a fee (even at 20 euros!) and as a free beach. The sand is very clear and fine and therefore makes the water very clear, you see very often the beautiful pink sand, the bottom slopes very gently and therefore allows you to lie in the water or swim a little further on, always in super crystal clear waters. We had not prepared for lunch.... and surprise!! There are two bars, one smaller perhaps even better than the other, which offer sandwiches heated on the plate well stuffed to the modest figure of 4.5... a dream for those used to the scams and unnecessarily exorbitant costs!! Even cold water, only 1 euro the 75cl bottle, really super reasonable prices to be on the most beautiful and quoted beach of Crete. Do not miss to go there!!!

Some flaws - We bought the excursion to Elafonissi that starts from rethymno! I must say that they were all very kind and nice and that the times were respected, the only thing not so nice was to make us stop in a place in the middle of nowhere forcing us almost to buy something!

Enjoyable and varied day out - Very easy to book and well organised. Our guide Lazarus was extremely knowledgeable and had many interesting stories about the places we travelled through on the way to Elafonissi. Huge shout out to Costas the driver for his precision driving through the Topolia Gorge which was stunning although I found myself holding my breath along those mountain roads! We stopped off at a village for a break for refreshments , once on way there and once on way back - we felt slightly herded through the cafe on the first stop off although there was no obligation to buy anything. Elafonissi was beautiful although of course very busy. Great for small children as the water is shallow in most of the area. We took Lazarus' advice to go as far as possible over the sand dunes. All of the sunbeds were already taken, and there was no other shade, so we bought an umbrella there 20euros, however because it was so windy (unusually windy even for breezy Crete), we couldn't get the umbrella to stay stuck in the sand. I would recommend taking an umbrella or even better a small beach tent. All in all, a great day out.

Overrated - The beach is in my opinion overrated. Crowded, with sunbeds and umbrellas free practically unobtainable, very windy area and not easy to reach. To get there you have to do a long hike, which makes it not comfortable.

Cancelled? - We waited for the bus and sent an app when it didn't come, but we only got a cancellation a half hour later by email without a reason.

Liars are shunned - The trip I had been looking forward to but the bus never showed up. When I finally got through to the tour operator Mandraki Travel on the phone, they claimed that my booking did not exist - even though I received several emails about it via Tripadvisor. Five minutes later I got an email that Mandraki gave me a refund - so strange considering they had no booking 🤣🤣🤣