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!

Would of been better - Good price nice place but had a horrible person on our bus who insisted I must not talk on the bus because he wants the bus to be quiet then he went to tell the tour operator who then thought it would be a good idea to ask me (who was on the bus first) to move to another seat?!?! Would of been a great day if it wasn’t for the aggressive man insisting I must not talk and the tour operator basically asking me to move when I was on first and he was the one with the problem!

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 🤣🤣🤣