Koufonisia is the liveliest of the Small Cyclades in summer, with its clear water and busy little Chora, while Iraklia, at the western end of the chain near Naxos, is the quietest and least visited. Going from Koufonisia to Iraklia is the classic move for travellers who have had their fill of crowds and want a few days of real calm, and since both lie on the same local line, it is a short and simple hop.
The boat is the Express Skopelitis of Small Cyclades Lines, a small ship that shuttles between Naxos and the Small Cyclades, calling at Iraklia, Schinoussa and Koufonisia. We have no Ferryhopper route page for this exact pair, and no sampled timetable for it, but the sampled timetables for nearby routes on 12 August 2026 help. That morning the Express Skopelitis left Koufonisia at 09:30 and was in Schinoussa at 10:00, the stop before Iraklia on its way to Naxos. We do not have its arrival time on Iraklia.
Ferryhopper's data for the Koufonisia to Naxos route, based on last year, shows this boat sailing 6 to 7 days a week in every month, calling at Schinoussa and Iraklia, so on most days there is a way across. Ferryhopper also names Iraklia among the islands you can reach from Koufonisia.
Older listings on our own site named other companies and a 2 hour crossing, which we could not match to any dated timetable, so we do not use them. Search your date on the booking page, book your room on Iraklia before you go, and do not expect much in the way of shops or transport when you land: that is the point of the island.
