Iraklia and Schinoussa are next-door neighbours in the Small Cyclades, the cluster of low, quiet islands between Naxos and Amorgos. Iraklia is the hillier and wilder of the two, a place for long walks over empty slopes; Schinoussa is gentler, with a hilltop village and a spread of sandy coves you can reach on foot. Many island hoppers visit both, and the boat between them is barely long enough to finish a coffee.
The crossing we can confirm is the local one. On our sample day, 12 August 2026, the Express Skopelitis of Small Cyclades Lines left Iraklia at 16:10 and tied up at Schinoussa ten minutes later, for a fare from €4.50. This small ferry is the everyday link between the islands of this group, calling at each of them in turn on its way between Naxos and the islands further east.
Our older route data also lists Blue Star Ferries and Seajets on this pair, with fares from €20 and a journey of about 2 hours. Neither appeared in our dated sample, and a 2-hour figure does not fit a 10-minute hop between neighbouring islands, so we treat that listing as unconfirmed. If a larger ship does call on your date, the booking page will show it.
The practical message is simple: this is a cheap, very short crossing, but it depends on a small boat working a chain of islands, so the day and time matter more than anything else. Search your exact date, book your onward boat from Schinoussa at the same time, and allow a little slack for the ferry running late on a windy afternoon.
