Yacht vacation Greece
A yacht vacation in Greece offers the ideal combination of a beautiful sailing area with thousands of islands and a very agreeable climate, plus it allows you to discover the ancient Greek culture through the ubiquitous archaeological sites that can be found all over these islands.Moreover, the Ionian in the west and the Sporades in the north will provide a totally different yacht vacation than for instance the Dodecanese and the Cyclades. While the first areas are definitely more fertile, covered with profuse foliage, the later areas are more barren and impressively rough. Also, the distances for an average yacht vacation in the Cyclades are greater than in the Ionian.
The concept of yacht vacation Greece comes in five flavours:
- Bareboat on regular charter yachts: Jeanneau Sun Odyssey, Bavaria, GibSea, Dufour, Beneteau Oceanis and Ocean star yachts.
- Flotilla sailing yacht vacations on these yachts.
- Skippered charter or crewed charter on these very same regular yachts.
- Fully crewed yacht vacations on gulets (traditional motorsailers).
- Fully crewed yacht vacations on super yachts and mega yachts
1 - Bareboat yacht vacation
Bareboat charters (also known as self-sail vacations) are possible on the regular yacht types usually smaller than 56 feet in length. Other yachts will have to be chartered with captain or crew. For a bareboat yacht vacation Greece, a least one of your party needs to have adequate sailing experience.2 - Flotilla sailing
Future bareboaters can get a taste for a real bareboat while enjoying some supervision from the lead ship which has an admiral or flotilla leader on board. A small fleet of up to ten yachts will sail in company from one port to another. Downside: less freedom. Upside: socially ideal, especially for children who can then make friends with kids on the other yachts within the flotilla fleet.3 - Skippered charter & crewed charter
The same regular yachts can be rented with just a skipper or with a whole crew: skipper, cook and hostess. Perhaps the least expensive way to visit the archaeological sites and experience all the islands in Greece. Note, that ferries only cover the main commercial ports.4 - Gulet yacht vacation
The luxury gulet charters option is unfortunately limited to the Aegean and in particular to the Dodecanese in Greece and the adjoining Turquoise coast of Turkey. Gulets are luxurious wooden motor-sailer yachts, fully crewed and the most appropriate yacht for blue cruises and blue voyages.In fact, this type of yacht vacation is really a luxury cruise!
5 - Superyacht & Megayacht vacation
The modern equivalents of gulets are the megayachts and superyachts in Greece. Extreme luxury and powerful engines which will take these floating palaces anywhere you want.For all crewed yacht vacation greece options (3, 4 and 5) there are variations: either full charter / private charter or just a cabin charter. With the latter you will only rent a cabin or stateroom on a larger cruise ship. Note, that these ships - much like ferries and hydrofoils - have to focus on the commercial ports due to their size. Therefore, the best yacht vacation Greece options do not include larger ships (over 35 metres).
