Visiting Melissani Cave, explained

Melissani is a lake in a cave whose roof has fallen in, at Karavomylos, 2 km north-west of Sami on the east coast of Kefalonia. The visit is a shared rowing boat, ten to fifteen minutes on brackish water lit from above, and the ticket, about ten euros, includes the boat and is in the price of two of the day tours. What every tour sells is the day around the lake: the 30 km from Argostoli, a guide who stands in the queue, and Drogarati Cave in the same half day. Here is how the visit goes, in order, and where a tour earns its fare.

Arriving

The entrance is a car park, a café, toilets and a kiosk at Karavomylos. Parking is free and fills at midday in summer. Tickets are sold at the top: about ten euros for adults, about half for children from six to eighteen, students and over-65s, under-sixes free, and a combined ticket with Drogarati for a little more. Cards are reported to work; carry cash to be safe. On the four-hour tour from Argostoli the guide has both tickets already. The tariff, and what each tour includes.

The tunnel

From the entrance a sloping artificial tunnel, cut in 1963 when the cave was opened to the public, runs about 70 m down to the water. Reviewers count over a hundred steps; there is no official figure, so call it roughly a hundred, with handrails, and the same back up. The steps are wet in places and so is the boat, which is the whole of the dress code: shoes that grip. The tunnel is not passable with a wheelchair; the alternative is a viewing balcony above the open chamber.

The boat

Boats hold about twelve, with a boatman who rows. He crosses the open chamber, then ships the oars and pulls the boat along by a rope fixed to the wall through the narrow passage into the second chamber, which has kept its roof and its stalactites, and back the same way. Boatmen explain the cave, often sing, and take photos with your phone. Ten to fifteen minutes and you are at the pier again; a coin on the plate is usual, not required. The lake is about 60 by 40 m and the whole accessible cave about 160 m long: a short crossing of something you cannot see anywhere else, which is why most people pair it with Drogarati or a beach in the same morning. What happens on the water, in detail.

The light

The water is sea water that sank into the Katavothres sinkholes at Argostoli, crossed under the island and surfaced here, mixed with fresh water from inland; dye tipped into the sinkholes in 1963 took roughly two weeks to appear. Because the roof is open, the sun reaches the surface directly when it stands high, roughly 11:00–14:00, and that is when the water shows the turquoise in every photograph. Earlier and later the lake is still blue, lit from the side rather than from below.

The queue, and the two ways round it

The coaches and the cruise groups arrive from about 10:00, which is the same window as the light. In May and July reviewers report thirty minutes as typical; in July 2026, up to two hours between 12:00 and 14:00; on days when a cruise ship is berthed at Argostoli, an hour and a half or more. There are two ways round it. Be there for opening at 09:00, or come after 15:30 when the coaches have gone, trading some of the vertical light for no wait. Or book a tour whose guide holds the group’s place in the line while everyone waits in the shade, or the small van from the cruise terminal that its reviewers say reaches the lake before the big coaches. The trade, month by month.

Drogarati, the pairing

Drogarati Cave is five minutes’ drive away on the Sami–Argostoli road: about 150 steep steps down to a single chamber 65 by 45 m and 20 m high, self-guided, fifteen to twenty minutes inside, a constant 18 °C. The adult ticket is a few euros, or a combined ticket with Melissani. Five of the six tours include it. The order for a driver is Drogarati first and early, then Melissani for the midday light, or Melissani at opening and Drogarati after. One reviewer of the small-group tour found Drogarati the weaker cave. The two caves compared.

The tours, and what each one adds

Six GetYourGuide listings put Melissani in their itinerary, and they differ on one line above all: whether the cave ticket is in the price. The four-hour coach tour from Argostoli, sixty-odd euros, includes both cave fees and is the one whose reviewers describe the guide queueing for the group. The nine-hour island day, around forty euros, adds the monastery, a Robola winery, Fiscardo and the Myrtos viewpoint, with the cave fees paid on arrival; the gap between the two on the listings is modest, and it buys the queue management and a half day instead of a whole one. Cruise passengers have a five-hour coach excursion with a wine tasting and a semi-private van, both from the terminal, both with the fees paid on arrival. The lake-and-a-swim day, around sixty euros, skips Drogarati, includes the Melissani ticket and gives about an hour and a half at Makris Gialos with umbrellas. The private car, over a hundred euros per person, starts when you say and re-orders the stops around the queue. All six, sorted by situation, and what leaves from Argostoli, with pickup zones.

In one sentence

The ticket is about ten euros and includes the boat; the tours are the day around it, and every one cancels free up to 24 hours before. The widget above has the half day with both tickets included.

Ready to book?

The half-day coach tour from Argostoli is the one listing that includes both cave tickets, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before. See tickets and prices for what each tour includes.

Frequently asked questions