We were lucky enough to go away on holiday during half-term to Kalyves Beach Hotel in Chania, Crete. You can check out our review here: Kalyves Beach Hotel: Our half term break. Today I wanted to share with you the Kalyves Beach Hotel Excursions we went on while we were there.
Kalives Holidays Car Hire
We love exploring when we go away, so it was amazing when Kalives Holidays gifted us car hire for a day. It’s great to have the flexibility to go off site and check out places you’ve read up about online.
After reading up on the local area, we went to Chania for the day. They dropped the car off at the hotel in the morning and we just had to park it in a car park next to the hotel when we finished.
Visit to Chania
On the northwest coast of Crete you’ll find the stunning town of Chania. Famous for its 14th-century Venetian harbour, waterfront restaurants, and narrow colourful streets. There’s a beautiful 16th-century lighthouse at the harbour entrance, and you can walk round the harbour right out to the lighthouse itself.
Chania is such a wonderful place with such charm. The weather was amazing, which made the harbour look even more beautiful.
As we strolled down the harbour, we couldn’t resist stopping to stroke the gorgeous horses that offered carriage rides around the town.
Chania is so vibrant and colourful. Shooting off from the main harbour road are lots of side streets packed with interesting shops. I couldn’t resist picking up some lovely new earrings.
What really stood out for us was how friendly the Greek people were. We had a wonderful lunch in one of the many harbour restaurants and paid around 30 euros for the three of us.
I adore independent shops and so Chania was such a treat. I loved checking out their small, unique shops. Ava bought herself a recorder which we immediately regretted!
We all thoroughly enjoyed our day in Chania and would recommend it wholeheartedly.
Iguana Beach
My husband found some information about Iguana Beach online, so we headed there when we left Chania old town. It’s located about 5km from the centre of Chania in the bay that’s formed east of the cape of the Holy Apostles.
It’s such a beautiful spot, quiet, with a cafe and shop on site. Perfect for relaxing or building sand castles!
Excursion to Elafonisi beach (The beach with pink sand!)
Kalyves Beach Hotel had gifted us two excursions with our trip. We took a trip to Elafonisi beach, famed for its pink sand.
The coach collected us outside the hotel at 7.40am and started the 2.5 – 3 hour journey to Elafonisi.
On the way we travelled through picturesque mountain landscapes. Winding up small mountain roads in a coach was quite an experience. We stopped at a small cafe nestled in the mountains to grab a drink and take in the awesome surroundings.
It’s quite a long journey, so we were very excited to finally arrive. I will say not to expect Barbie pink sand! It’s definitely more of a pink tinge.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such turquoise water in my life. We hired two sun loungers and the umbrella for 8 euros. It was actually windy, but so warm.
Ava spent so long playing in the water. We watched people kite surfing and just enjoyed the spectacular views.
It wasn’t long before Ava fell over and got completely soaking! It had to happen right?! I went to the on-site shop, but the only thing I could get was a scarf. I don’t think there’s anything a mum can’t do with determination and YouTube. After finding a ‘How to make a scarf into a dress’ video, I think I smashed it!
On the way back to the hotel, they took us to a fabulous restaurant in a small village. It was great to get the insight of a local and go to these gems, which we just wouldn’t have found by ourselves.
This trip costs 25 euro per adult and 10 euros per child. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Elafonisi. It was great that it included two additional stops plus around 3.5 hours at Elafonisi beach itself. It was a great day and I have genuinely never been to such a beautiful beach before.
Private boat trip from Kalyves Harbour
The second trip which Kalyves Beach Resort organised for us was a private boat trip.
We meet the boat and our captain at Kalyves harbour, just a short stroll down the beach from the hotel.
Our captain was very friendly, and it wasn’t long before we set off in a speedboat.
The captain took us to a secluded cove where we spotted goats climbing the rock face. He anchored the boat and there was the opportunity to swim in the cove. My husband doesn’t swim and Ava isn’t ready to swim in open water, so we just soaked up the sun for a while.
We then stopped at Marathi, which is a beautiful beachside town. We grabbed a drink (and made friends with the gorgeous Maggie, the bar owner’s dog), bought some local jewellery and collected shells on the beach, before heading back to the captain.
The 2 hour boat trip (which is what we had) can accommodate 5 people at a cost of 140 euros. You could also choose a one-hour trip for 90 euros. There is also the option of picking a boat that could accommodate 9 people for 130 and 220 euros, respectively.
For hubby and I this trip was our favourite part of our holiday. Ava loved it too, but she will always pick swimming as her favourite thing. We would totally recommend this trip to anyone heading to Kalyves Beach Hotel or Kiani Beach Resort. It was a truly special day.
Kiani Beach Resort Excursions office organised both trips. They have an office on-site so it’s very easy to arrange.
Disclosure: Kalyves Beach Hotel Excursions gifted us both excursions and the car hire as part of our holiday review package. In return for our honest opinion.