My husband and I are going to Greece for the first time and are visiting Crete. We are flying directly there from Athens, but are considering returning by boat. My concern is that the trip is long and I am prone to sea sickness. Also, we would prefer not to take an overnight boat. What kind of boat would you recommend? Which is most comfortable? Are there boats where one can be on the deck? Is there a high speed ferry? Any information that you can give me about the trip would be appreciated. Thank you.

May of '97 we took ferries from Piraeus to Mykonos and then on to Santorini. The sea was very rough (to the extent that we almost didn't get to leave Myk. as scheduled), and I, prone to seasickness, did get sick. As the seas calmed down and we got closer to Sant., I was fine. The ferry was relatively comfortable, and we were able to on deck or below, as we chose. I understand the seating on the hydrofoils is similar to that of an airplane, and no strolling around, etc.

The next year we went to Crete and flew to and from Athens. I think a ferry ride is fun (once or twice!), but I would not consider Athens-Crete by ferry unless I just loved sea travel.

We loved Greece and the islands; you will have fun!

When we were in Greece a few years ago, we flew the longer sectors (e.g. Athens to Mykonos) but caught the catamaran on the shorter routes, like Mykonos to Naxos. I get very seasick and found the catamaran trips fairly smooth and mercifully short. The ferry trips are about half the price and take twice as long, you can also be on the deck in the open air (catamarans are fully enclosed). If it were me, I would fly to Crete and back which would save time and mean I wouldn't spend hours feeling ill. When I was researching I came across a great website www.greektravel.com - it might be helpful for you.
Kay

The car ferries are extremely large and stable ships, so unless there's been a storm or there are high winds and the seas are rough, the ride is very smooth. There don't appear to be any express boats directly back to Athens/Piraeus, but there are many car ferries that make the trip during the daylight hours, leaving as early as 9 a.m. from Iraklio and even earlier from Chania and taking about 6-9 hours to make the trip, depending on the boat.

This website should be helpful to you:

http://www.gtpnet.com

Because the car ferries are so large, there's a lot of deckspace for sitting and strolling.

Thanks to everybody who took the time to answer my question. As of this writing, we have decided to fly both ways.

We traveled from Athens to Naxos and Naxos to Santorini by the larger car ferry. I too get sea sickness but had no problem. Brotherleelove is correct....they are very large boats and very stable. you can sit outside or inside. We flew back from Santorini to Athens but was so glad we did the ferry for most the trip....I couldn't imagine not seeing the site we saw coming around the corner of Santorini. It's wonderful to approach by ship and watch the other islands go by. Extra time to work on your tan too