Sea Adventure — Local services in Municipality of Chania

DO NOT book with this company. We lost 900EUR and risked our lives. They have very unsafe practices.

We paid 900 EUR for a day trip to Balos and 5 other stops. Myself, husband, and our 5 and 8 year olds were on board with the captain, driving on the Viper Magnum, which has a 250hp outboard and a small trolling outboard.

We were told the weather conditions would be "okay, but waves picking up on the ride home". Ride to Balos and Gramvousa were 1+ meters, but manageable given the ~30ft boat. After Balos we headed for our next stop and very quickly we experienced 2-3+ meter waves.

The kids were hiding under a blanket, scared they were going to go overboard. I was drenched from water coming in and shivering from the cold. Captain said it would be 30-40 min in these conditions. He would have continued if we didn't ask him to go to the nearest port immediately, which was Kissamos. He didn't hesitate and took us there. We got off, literally thankful to be alive.

We are experienced boaters and couldn't believe we were out in those conditions on what was supposed to be a fun adventure. Had we known the conditions and what to expect we wouldn't have gone. This was never communicated to us. Yes, weather can change, but then the boat plan needs to change. The boat only had a single engine (if it failed we likely would have crashed into the cliffs). It was not safe boating in those conditions and we were the only boat of that size that went to Balos from Chania that day (captain even said so).

Once we got off, we had to pay for a cab ride back to Chania, which cost 75 EUR.

We didn't make 4 of the stops that were included in the price of our trip. We asked for a partial refund and the owner offered us 50 EUR (out of 900) or a "sunset boat ride". They told us their cost for trip (gas, captain, etc.) was 680 EUR. We then asked for the 220 difference back, but no response. I guess breaking even wasn't good enough for them.

This company has dangerous practices. They put profit before safety. We didn't get any money back. Zero.

DO NOT...

Fantastic trip, we originally booked a no license boat. I’d never driven a motor boat before, so I was shown how to use the boat by one of the members of staff. Due to the sea conditions combined with my lack of experience, after the training I was advised by their staff that it would not be a good idea to take the boat out.

I appreciated the staff looking out for us and caring about our health and safety and I also agreed it would not be wise to take the boat out on my own in the choppy sea.

Instead of cancelling, Sea Adventure resolved the issue by providing a solution of going out with a skipper for a discounted price. The No license boat was in our budget whereas the original skipper price with a different boat was not, so I appreciated them offering this as this was a big part of our holiday.

We were then given Nikolas as our skipper. A reason I wanted to take the no license boat was due to the privacy, however Nikolas was great company and did not ruin the experience whatsoever, in fact improved it. He was of a similar age, spoke perfect English and was a joy to have around. He provided suggestions of where to go, was happy to take us wherever we wanted, allowed us to connect our music to the Bluetooth speaker and was a laugh. He even showed us some magic card tricks which was fantastic. Without Nikolas I think our experience would have been a lot worse. He took us to a great spot in the sea to watch the sun go down which was beautiful and a memory I’ll hold on to with my girlfriend forever.

Overall, a worthwhile experience that will be a highlight of your holiday and fantastic customer service from the Sea...

Friendly staff, nice boats but very pricy when it comes to fuel and they don’t tell you upfront. Paid 2.3 euros per mile, for 40 miles they have charged me 90 euros. I’ve rented boats in the past and never had to pay more than 25-30 euros for the fuel.

(Edit to your reply)

I wasn’t made aware of the fuel charge per mile when renting the boat.

Anyway,

Assuming the following:

• The boat cruises at a speed of 20 miles per hour (this is a common cruising speed for small boats). • The average fuel consumption at cruising speed for a 30hp engine is around 2.5 gallons per hour (approximately 9.5 liters per hour).

Here are the steps to calculate the fuel consumption for a 40-mile trip:

Determine the duration of the trip:

Time = Distance : Speed = 40 : 20 = 2 hours

Calculate the total fuel consumption:

Fuel Consumption = Time * Fuel Consumption Rate = 2 * 9.5 (liters per hour average) = 19 liters

Therefore, a 40-mile trip with a 5.6-meter boat powered by a 30hp engine cruising at around 20 mph would consume approximately 19 liters of fuel. 19 * 2.3 = 43.7 euros. Not 91.7 euros that i was charged. Thank you for your reply but i think you...