Hi Lesley
Where are you staying?
I've just come back from 2 weeks in Agia Marina, staying at the Mirabello apartments & I can't praise them highly enough.
I'll do a review when I get time.

One thing that we found strange was that there didn't seem to be any local tour agencies around in Agia Marina so it was either D-I-Y or book with the tour operator.

Here's a sample from Olympic:
Taste of Crete €35
Gramvousa & Blue Lagoon €59
Elafonisi €42.50
Jeep Safari €76
Samaria Gorge €42 This is a walk through the Grorge, maybe 18 kms and you need decent footwear.
Cretan Villages €37
Santorini €135

There's a very good local bus service, it takes 20-25 mins into Chania (costs €1.60 single), it's worth a visit to walk through the little alleyways and see the Venetian harbour.
The buses run quite late (last one back was midnight) so you can go into Chania to eat in the evening, it's a really nice atmosphere but choose tavernas off the harbour-front.

There's a number of glass-bottomed boats in Chania harbour that do trips:
1 hour €10 or 2 hour €15. That one goes round Lazaretta & Thodorou Islands that you can see from Agia Marina & Platanias.

You can also get to a number of other places by local bus, there was just one bus per day to Elafonisi but it might be more frequent in high season.
Pick up a timetable from the bus station in Chania as you get off.

There's also a 'little fun train' that does various trips throughout the day lasting between 2 and 3.5 hours and costs €16.
We did the Therisso Gorge trip and, to be honest, it wasn't really our 'cup of tea'.

Another thing we found strange was that there are no change places in Agia Marina.
Apparently, 90% of the visitors are Scandinavians so there's not much call for them.
We changed our money at a travel agency in Chania.

Hope this helps.

Hi

Thanks for your great reply it will be really helpful all the information you have given. We are with Olympic staying at Olga Appartments. The trips are quite pricey! My daughter fancied a jeep safari!!! Again knowing you cannot change your money there is very helpful, but I had intended taking most in euros anyway. Thanks again Lesley

Lesley - you're welcome.
I thought the trips were a bit pricey too.

Olga apartments are right on the beach, more in the middle of Agia Marina than Mirabello is.

Here's my review of Agia Marina - for some reason I've posted it under Chania although I don't seem to be the only one.

I mention 3 restaurants that we found to be really good, they are all in the old village.
From where you are (I think), there's a Silk Oil garage and you go up the road there to the old village.

Are you flying Tor Air?

Here's my experience of them (last post on the thread):
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=151874

Have a great time.

Hi,

Thanks again - have read your posts :-)

Yes we are flying Tor Air from Manchester!!!!

Do you know how often the busses to Chania are? Do you keep on the bus till it comes to the end of the route or can you suggest somewhere to get off?

Thanks again

Lesley

When we were there (last week May, 1st week June), they were running every 30 minutes - that's according to the timetable between Chania & Kolymbari.

I think it might even get more frequent during high season (that's my experience of most Greek bus timetables) AND there also seemed to be additional bendy buses on the route that don't go all the way to Kolymbari (no idea where they come from but they do go between Agia Marina & Chania).
The longest we had to wait was about 20 minutes.

They do get quite full though.

Stay on unti the end - that's the bus station.
Don't forget to go to the bus station office before you go into town- outside, they usually have a box on the wall with photocopy timetables.

You can pick free town maps up from some of the local travel agents.

When catching the bus back, you need to be watchful as sometimes it's the normal coach-style bus and sometimes it's the bendy bus.
We didn't realise that on our first visit as we'd come in on the bendy bus and it only clicked at the last minutes that the coach loading up was ours!


ETA
we were paying a maximimum of €30 for bread, 2 x main courses & 1 litre house wine, maybe less if we had something like Moussaka (usually around €6.50).
House wine usually between €3.50 & €4 for 1/2 litre.
Greek salads €4.50 - €5.50.
Tzatziki or Skordalia starter - €2.50 - €3.50, more than big enough to share.

Thanks again for your useful information and help

Dear Lesley,
You'll find plenty to see and do in the Agia Marina area. Take the boat trip from Kastelli to Gramvousa Peninsula and the lovely beach experience of Balos Lagoon. Falasarna is an amazing beach and Elafonissi is unique with its pink sand. I never fail to enjoy the Samaria gorge which also finishes in a boat trip in the Libyan sea!
It really is a shame that in recent years it's become increasingly difficult for we British to get to the West of Crete, which really is the jewel of the island. I've spoken to many local hotel and villa owners who bemoan the loss of British trade, especially in the bar! The area is now dominated by Scandinavians who are prepared to spend much more than us on the holiday booking in order to guarantee quality accommodation but spend little once they arrive. We have the mentality, borne out of el cheapo packages to Spain, that everything in the mediterranean should be cheaper than at home. This is no longer true for most destinations in Euroland. So we skimp on the booking side and even complain if the accommodation isn't wonderful but we expect to pay just a few hundred pounds for it. Hence the accommodation owners in western Crete grabbed at the offers from high spending Scandinavian tour operators and rejected the Brits - helps explain the demise of companies like Kosmar (who used to handle Olga) and once dominated the wonderful area West of Chania. The only upside of this evolution is that you no longer see the drunken brawls that used to take place in the West when the British hordes were there. There aren't even Germans anymore!
The reality is that quality costs and with the economic situation crisis I expect to see even fewer Brits this year.
You'll enjoy it however and say hi to Mr Mastorakis who owns Olga plus nearby Mastorakis Village. You'll find him in the Ane care hire shop in front of Olga.
Have a great time.
Richard

Hi All,
We are off on 19th july to mirabello apts in Agia Marina. Just a couple of questions, do most tavernas accept visa/mastercard? Didn't want to take too many euros if possible. Also are there any tarvernas or pubs that do evening entertainment, we have two daughters aged 14 and 11 so don't want clubs just a nice place to chill in the evening. Thanks for the info

Hi, just got back last night and had a brill week.
Thanks prettypollycat for all your help. Got to Synaxis taverna which you recommend and it was fantastic. In the end we did practically nothing except going into Chania. The bus service is excellent you can go all over on it and is very cheap. I paid for everything with euros so not sure about paying on cards. The only thing that I was a bit disappointed that we did not find any bars, there are plenty of what I would call cocktail bars. Did not really see any entertainment advertised there was greek dancers on in some tavernas which you could also drink in - I did not really drink other than with meals in these cause I would have felt guilty taking a table that someone might eat at!!! I know some people did though. When I walked into Planitas (wrong spelling) about 15/20 mins from where I was stopping it looked to have more bars and things for young people. All in all I would not hesitate going back and had probably the best room at the Olga apartments and could sea over the sea for miles. The only downside is Tor Air with Olympic holidays. The planes are comfy enough but there are a lot and I mean a lot of broken seats that come back and nearly in your face. The stewardesses just saying they have been reported!!!! A lot of people were complaining about them. We got moved but ended up behind a drunk and his partner and had a flight from hell luckly Tor Air would not fly him home yesterday. We ended up having a 4 hour delay!!! Wish I was still there

Glad you enjoyed your holiday Lesley. Can I just say that if you eat in a taverna it is quite ok to keep your table all night if you want to. When the Greeks go out they stay at their table all night so it is the norm (which is why they don't pester you to pay the bill!)

Hi Lesley,
How is Mr Mastorakis, the owner of Olga?