Elafonisi Beach: Pink Sands Tour

Embark on a private tour to Elafonisi, the Deer Island with its unique pink sand beaches. Explore the Cave of Agia Sofia and Hrisoskalitissa monastery, and enjoy the picturesque road with stops at traditional villages and olive oil tasting.

Duration: 7 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Agia Sofia Cave - Our adventure begins with a visit to the Agia Sofia Cave, famous for its stunning stalactites and stalagmites.
    Just a 40-minute drive from Chania, we will reach the scenic village of Topolia, set within a tree-lined gorge. Rising 300 meters above us is the impressive gorge wall, with the quaint chapel of Agia Sofia nestled inside…
What's Included
  • Pick-up/drop-off at your hotel.
  • Comfortable Vehicle with a professional driver.
  • Accompaniment by a local expert/escort.
  • Entrance fees to Chrysoskalitissa Monastery.
  • Beach towels and umbrellas.
  • Water from the springs of the White Mountains “Samaria”, in bottles.
  • All Fees and Taxes
What's Not Included
  • Personal expenses, drinks, lunch/dinner.
  • Customary tips to your drivers, guides, and escorts.
Additional Information

The highlight of our journey - Elafonissi Beach, is translated from Greek as Deer Island. However, there are no Deers, but there’s pink sand and turquoise waters, creating perfect conditions for relaxation and swimming.
One more place that we’re going to visit on our way is Cave of Agia Sofia with impressive stalactites and stalagmites as well as…

Location
Agia Sofia Cave
Eparchiaki Odos Kaloudianon-Chrisoskalitissas,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.4
(18 Ratings)
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Mark_l
Sep 20, 2025
We had a wonderful day... - We had a wonderful day visiting the beach. Because it was just the two of us, our guide was able to accommodate our preferences and schedule. This became essential as it became too windy to stay long at the beach. The only recommendation I have is to have the tour include rental of beach lounges and umbrellas for each guest, rather than the portable ones brought by the driver. The cost of a private car is already high, including the beach rentals should not be a problem.
Review provided by Viator
Kelly_s
Jul 8, 2025
Pink sand beach ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - George ( our driver) and Christina arrived promptly at our port, so we could start our day nice and early. The vehicle was extremely comfortable for our family of 5, plenty of room and air con, which was a definite must for such a hot day. Christina was very knowledgeable and we learnt lots on the journey. The journey took about an hour and a half. We were offered stops on the way but declined as we were keen to get to the beach early. We were dropped off close by and had the opportunity to visit a shop/ cafe if we wanted. George offered us towels, beach mats and sun umbrellas to take with us if we wanted. He then left us there with our guide Christina leading us to the beach, she gave us plenty of top tips about the beach, the cabanas etc we managed to get the last cabana available which was 30 Euros for the day, so in the end we didn’t need the beach mats and umbrella’s George gave us- but considering we got to the beach way before 10, I would say always take them because there are very few available on the beach. If we did it again , we wouldn’t have got the Cabana and just used what George gave us because Christina had such good knowledge of the beach and took us away from the crowds to were the pink sand was much more vivid , and there were very few people in that area- thats were her local knowledge was paramount. Christina left us and arranged to meet us back at our Cabana at a specific time. The beach was beautiful, nothing like i’d ever seen before but it gets sooo busy- the area Christina showed us was much more secluded and peaceful and definitely had a lot more pink sand. We met George where he dropped us off, we had time to grab a drink and snacks and on the journey back, visited a pretty monastery and the cave of Sofia. We were offered complimentary bottled water throughout the journey and nothing was too much trouble. We were also offered to stop at a bee hive/ honey stop but declined - 5 stars from us, would highly recommend- The trip was around 8 hours but it would have been longer had we stopped at all of the offered stops- we were just nervous about getting back to the ship on time- in the end we had hours to spare!! Tip- the beach has lots of wifi issues to pay for items, so cash is best.
Review provided by Viator
Eric_h
Jun 26, 2025
Great experience touring... - Great experience touring the island! Our hosts were super accommodating and made modifications based on our interests. This was a phenomenal day and I highly recommend it!
Review provided by Viator
Kimberly_m
Jun 25, 2025
Amazing day! Outstanding... - Amazing day! Outstanding tour guide Christina who gave us an excellent review of Crete history and local cultural information. Our driver was also very fun and generous in sharing information on local food, culture and traditions. We enjoyed all 3 stops at the cave, spectacular beach and monastery. We stopped on the way back a a fun seaside cafe for drinks and dessert. Very fun day!
Review provided by Viator
Bentleyj13
Jun 14, 2025
Amazing!!!! - Amazing tour!!! George our private tour guide was the best and made us feel absolutely safe and was so knowledgeable!!! We loved the beach, cave, honey tasting, local taverna, and wine tasting! We could not have picked a more perfect tour!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Geoffrey_y
Jun 30, 2023
Perfect day in crete - Guide was fantastic. Transitions were seamless. She picked the perfect spot on the beach where you could really appreciate the pink sand. This is a fabulous beach and I highly recommend it when visiting western Crete. The Cave and gorge were also beautiful. My seven year old son had a fantastic time. Lunch was delicious. We can’t thank you enough for this wonderful day.
Review provided by Viator
Sharmeela_k
Jun 27, 2023
Amazing beach and historical tour! - The tour was amazing!! Yannis our tour guide was incredible! If you can request him- he will make it such a memorable experience. His historical knowledge and love of Crete really shows! Our driver also accommodated our request to be dropped off in Heraklion- nearly 3 hours away! This tour was the highlight of our trip to Greece!
Review provided by Viator
Lucia
Jul 23, 2022
Wonderful - A beautiful beach with wonderful water. A lot of people in the area, yet there is a lot of sea and in the water there is always space. It is worth passing through the water to the island of elafonisi. At the bottom of the beach of the island there is a naturist area but we didn't get there. From 16:00 it started to get quite windy but I think it's not usual. There are beach bars and paid wc
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sightsee40299503234
Nov 21, 2023
Amazing pink sands and cave - i would have given a 5 star if not for the tour guide named Silvana. She is friendly and nice but doing her job as a tour guide she failed. She told more personal stories. She didn't explain the history or information about the places we went. She mostly told her petsonal story.As soon as we got to the shore, she took off and left our things unattended. She was also on a couple of calls. But the beach is so beautiful and so as the cave. It was an amazing to see the pink sands.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Laurence60240
Oct 12, 2025
Paradise beach - Paradise beach, saturated with tourists. Windy place. Unfortunately, visited in October 2025 with capricious weather. The rain came in the form of a major flood, forcing everyone to leave. So, the magic side of the pink sand effect, was not there. Disappointed.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $700 (Per Group)
up to 15 guests
1 - Traveler
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).