An Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise lets passengers watch fish and seabed through windows below the waterline while they stay dry. More sea trips and island days are listed on the home page of tours in Greece.
This page covers what the trip is, how long it lasts, where it starts, how the viewing deck works, the sea life, Mirabello Bay and the questions travellers ask.
What is an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise?
An Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise sails out of the Cretan port town. The boat stays on the surface, yet a lower room has windows below the waterline. Passengers watch the sea life through the glass.
One operator calls its boat a specially built catamaran. It has a sun-protected upper deck. Below sits a cabin whose big glass windows lie under the sea surface. The same operator adds a board with facts and pictures of fish, to help passengers name what they see.
Another operator describes an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise in a fully air-conditioned space with submerged windows. It says the audio commentary plays in different languages. Two other listings name five languages: German, English, French, Russian and Greek.
Wikipedia explains the word semi-submarine as a vessel on the surface, not capable of diving. Its passenger space lies under the waterline, behind underwater windows. It is like a glass-bottom boat that sits deeper in the water. Wikipedia defines a submarine as a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater.
On a true tourist submarine, Wikipedia says, a surface vessel first carries passengers to an offshore operating area. The hull of a semi-submarine resembles a small ship, with the cabin under the waterline. It faces the same pressures as other surface vessels, so the windows can be large. Passengers can climb up from the submerged cabin.
Operators present an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise as a family outing. One listing calls it a trip for families and friends. Another lists family fun at the port and an experience for all the family.
How long is an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise?
Listings differ on how long an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise lasts. Two listings give 1.5 hours, which is one and a half hours. Another listing gives 1 hour and 25 minutes. The gap is only five minutes.
The listing with 1 hour and 25 minutes plans a longer visit overall. It says to plan around 2 hours for the whole activity. That time covers meeting the crew, a safety briefing, the sailing and the end of the activity.
The same listing says the second half of the sailing is for the upper decks. There passengers see Agios Nikolaos and the Cretan coast. A different listing says passengers sit on the top deck as the boat heads back into the port.
One listing gives three start times every day. They are half past 11 in the morning, then half past 1 and half past 3 in the afternoon. A second listing gives the same three times and asks passengers to check availability for the last one. A third operator says only that the boat leaves at three different times.
One operator’s schedule for an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise opens in late spring and closes on 25 October. It shows sailings on every day, Monday to Sunday. Wikipedia calls the climate of Agios Nikolaos hot-summer Mediterranean. The winters are very mild and rainy, and the summers are hot and dry.
Weather matters too. One marketplace says an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise changes in length and route with the weather. The same listing offers rescheduling when bad weather cancels a sailing. Wikipedia says boats of this type mainly work in clear, calm water.
Where does an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise start?
An Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise begins at the harbour of the Cretan town that overlooks Mirabello Bay. Three listings give the same address, Koundourou 5. Two of them ask passengers to reach the boat 20 minutes before departure.
One operator page says guests meet at the boat, 20 minutes before the tour starts. It adds that a car park at the port is there for guests to use. The same page says hotel pickup is not available. Another listing says transport to the meeting point is not included.
A visitor planning an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise can place the town with Wikipedia. It puts Heraklion to the west, Sitia to the east and Ierapetra to the south. The town is the capital of Lasithi, the regional unit at the eastern end of Crete. Heraklion is 64 kilometres away.
Wikipedia places Lake Voulismeni in the middle of the town. It describes a small, circular lake, 137 metres across, that was once freshwater. A channel now joins it to the harbour. French soldiers built the wider canal of today in the early twentieth century.
The listings tie the Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise to the port, not to the lake. Wikipedia says the lake spring stopped flowing and the water went stagnant, so locals called it the stinky lake. A channel to the sea let denser seawater flush the old water out.
How does a semi submarine work on an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise?
A semi-submarine rides on the water like a small ship. It carries a passenger room under the waterline, fitted with big windows in the hull. Passengers on the Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise watch the sea through that glass and stay dry.
Wikipedia says the passenger cabin sits deep within the hull, below the waterline. The interior is never sealed off, since it stays open to the air. The pressure on the hull is the same as on other surface boats of similar draft. Passengers can walk up to the open deck whenever they like.
One operator describes the vessel of the Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise as a catamaran. The cabin below the water sits one floor under the open deck and has large glass windows. A third listing mentions information boards on the boat.
Wikipedia calls a semi-submarine similar to a glass-bottom boat, with a deeper draft. For glass-bottom boats it says the glass gives a better view than looking down at the water from above. The viewer skips the shifting surface. In its words, the effect is close to what a diving mask gives.
Light sets the limits of the view. Wikipedia says the clearer the water, the deeper the light goes. It also says that at one metre depth only 45 percent of the solar energy at the surface remains.
One marketplace page says passengers watch marine life from a depth of 1.5 metres. It adds that sea life can be seen up to 20 metres deep. The same page says wildlife is unpredictable, so on the Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise its presence is never guaranteed.
What sea life can you see on an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise?
One operator of the Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise names breams and black gobies, and two others list sea turtles. No sighting is promised: one operator says wildlife is unpredictable and its presence is never guaranteed.
One operator says passengers learn the species of fish in their natural environment. A board of facts and pictures helps them name each fish. Another lists caretta caretta sea turtles and multi-coloured fish around the rocks. A third operator tells passengers to watch for dolphins, sea turtles and colourful fish.
Wikipedia gives plain facts about two animals that operators of the Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise name. The black goby is a small fish that lives in inshore water over seagrass and algae. Its maximum length is 18 centimetres. Wikipedia says the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta, uses the Mediterranean Sea as a nursery for juveniles.
Posidonia oceanica is a seagrass, known as Neptune grass, that grows nowhere except the Mediterranean Sea. Its meadows are large, and the plant grows well in clean water. Wikipedia ties its depth, from 1 to 35 metres, to water clarity.
Wikipedia describes a sea urchin as a round, spiny animal that crawls on the seabed and feeds mainly on algae. An octopus is a soft-bodied animal with eight limbs that hunts crustaceans, bivalves and fish. These are facts about each animal, not sightings.
Two operators of the Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise place the trip in the Cretan Sea. The Aegean Sea contains this water in its south, and Wikipedia also names it the Sea of Crete. Off north-eastern Crete it reaches a depth near 3,293 metres, though other maps show 2,591 metres.
What is Mirabello Bay, the water of an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise?
Mirabello Bay lies on the east side of Crete, as an arm of the Cretan Sea. Wikipedia ranks it as the biggest bay among the Greek islands. One operator places the Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise in this water.
Wikipedia also ranks the bay fifth in size among the bays of the Mediterranean Sea. Agios Nikolaos, a tourist town, looks out over the water. Wikipedia adds that the area mattered for the settlement of Crete in prehistoric times.
Elounda is a small town on Crete’s northern shore and sits inside the municipality of Agios Nikolaos. A shore road about 12 kilometres long links the two towns. On a clear day, Wikipedia says, it shows the whole bay and the eastern tip of Crete.
One listing of the Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise places the underwater view at the island of Agioi Pantes. Another page says this uninhabited island lies across the port and acts as a natural breakwater. It adds that the island shelters the endangered Cretan mountain goats called Kri-Kri.
The bay behind the Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise has a Minoan past. The Minoan civilization, Wikipedia says, was a Bronze Age culture based on the island. In the Late Minoan period, settlers founded refuge cities on high ground over the bay, Karphi among them. Gournia, a Minoan town in Lasithi, was occupied until Late Minoan I.
Kritsa is a village built on a rock hill among olive groves, 10 kilometres from Agios Nikolaos.
What else do travellers ask about an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise?
Does anyone get wet during an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise?
No. Passengers sit in a cabin below sea level and watch through large glass windows. One operator says the trip suits people who want to spend a day on the water without getting wet. Another listing says guests sit fully dry in an underwater chamber. A third listing says guests do not have to get their hair wet.
An Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise also has a top deck. One operator calls it sun-protected. Another listing says passengers sit there on the way back to port.
Is an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise suitable for small children and families?
Yes. One operator describes the trip as an outing for families and friends. Another operator calls it suitable for all ages. A travel page says there are no age restrictions and that children of all ages are welcome.
One listing sets a single rule for minors: an adult has to come with each of them. The travel page adds that life jackets and other safety equipment are provided for all passengers. It also says the semi-submarine is wheelchair accessible.
In which languages do passengers hear the commentary during an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise?
Two operator listings agree on five languages, and one of them says passengers pick their own for the audio commentary. The travel page names the same five in another order: English, French, Greek, German and Russian. Another operator says only that the audio commentary comes in different languages.
Are seats limited for an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise, and when do passengers meet the boat?
One operator says an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise has limited seats. Two listings give a passenger limit, and the numbers differ. One lists 38 passengers, the other a maximum of 48 guests.
Four listings agree on the arrival time, which is 20 minutes ahead of departure. Another operator page asks for at least 15 minutes. One operator says hotel pickup is not available, and another leaves out transport to the starting point.
What can passengers bring aboard an Agios Nikolaos semi submarine cruise, and what changes in rough seas?
One listing names two items to bring: a camera and comfortable clothing. The travel page says passengers are allowed to take photographs and videos during the cruise. Three listings leave food and drinks out of the offer. The travel page says passengers can bring their own, and that food and drinks are available onboard.
The weather can change the trip. One listing calls the duration and itinerary weather-dependent, and says wildlife is never guaranteed. It also lists rescheduling or a refund after a weather cancellation.
Another operator reserves the right to cancel or reschedule for weather or operational conditions. The travel page says special buoyancy systems give a smooth and stable ride, even in choppy waters.