There are few better places on earth to charter or sail a catamaran to than Greece. This Mediterranean country is blessed with wonderful weather for most of the year, coupled with wind levels that make for ideal sailing conditions.
It is also home to many ancient historical and cultural attractions that anyone visiting Greece cannot afford to miss out on. From the main country with its spectacular coastline and beaches to the hundreds of islands dotted off the coast, Greece is a sailor’s paradise waiting to be explored on your boat.
Here is a guide to planning a fantastic Greek sailing holiday and why a catamaran is the vessel to choose for it.
The best times to take a sailing trip in Greece
The season for yacht chartering in Greece is longer than in virtually any other part of the world, running as it does from the end of March until November. However, the period between June and September is considered to be its high season and that is the time when popular areas for sailing like the Saronic Gulf, Lefkas and Corfu will be thick with chartered catamarans and other vessels.
Many of the Greek islands – notably Rhodes, Santorini, Ios and Mykonos – will also be filled with tourists during those high season months. The combination of noise, crowds and difficulties in both chartering and mooring your boat during the high season period could definitely affect the quality of your experience if you choose to sail at that time.
On the other hand, if you pick either the early season (prior to June) or the later part of it (in October and November) tourism and crowded waters will be much less of an issue for you. A spring sailing trip will be particularly appealing because the rains in February and March generally leave the islands blooming with beautiful flowers and lush grass, before the high season brings a dryer, more barren feel.
Booking needs to be done months in advance to be sure of getting a catamaran and you can either book via a Greek firm or look closer to home at a charter company like Borrow A Boat, which offers very reasonable pricing.
The benefits of chartering a catamaran
Boat hire companies such as this will have a wide range of different vessels available for charter, so why should you pick a catamaran? Well this type of boat offers a number of important benefits.
- Safety
A catamaran is classified as a multi-hull boat and is larger in size than a yacht. That greater size gives it more stability on the water and the ability to withstand wave pressure, making it one of the safest types of vessel to charter.
- Luxury
Catamarans are also among the most luxurious types of boat available for charter. They offer more space for sunbathing than yachts and usually come with recreation facilities like trampolines and relaxation areas.
- Privacy
The sheer size of a typical catamaran means that you have more privacy than you would on a yacht. There will be separate rooms for each family member, decently spaced apart, and the main deck is big enough to ensure that you do not feel crowded by any professional crew members you may have hired.
Where to go on your Greek sailing holiday
So a catamaran it is, but where should you actually sail the vessel to if you want to get the most out of your Greek trip? Well you could do a lot worse than by starting off at the Peloponnese villages on the coast of Greece.
Among these are the medieval town of Monemvasia, which is the ideal place to anchor your boat, as it is viewed as being one of the country’s top romantic getaways. When you are ready to move on, try Sounion, where you can visit the Temple of Poseidon before cruising on to Epidaurus with its ancient architecture.
Of course no sailing trip in Greece can afford to miss the many islands and Crete is the ideal starting point of exploration. Despite being the biggest island it actually attracts less charter boats than Sporades and Cyclades, but there is a lot to enjoy in Crete.
It has some of the country’s finest beaches, making it a perfect spot for sunbathers, while the ruins left over from the ancient Minoa civilization will be a delight if you are interested in history and culture.
You will not want to spend the entire holiday lying on the beaches of Crete though as the other islands are also full of delights. Take your boat on to Thassos and you and the family may well be able to sight dolphins in what is a protected ecosystem for marine animals.
Thassos also offers marvelous places to eat, for example a little tavern called Archodissa. Here you can try out local delicacies such as lamb that has been prepared over wood fire grills and is served with stuffed vegetables native to the area and known as gemista.
Archodissa is very popular with residents of Thassos, so it will give you a great chance to meet them during your Greek boating trip.
A Greek sailing holiday will be an experience that you will remember fondly for the rest of your life, especially if you choose the luxury of a chartered catamaran.
