Spending a week on a yacht on the Mediterranean sounds like a dream, right? Well, it is. It really is.
Why Yacht Getaways?
Greece had always been high on my bucket list, so back around Christmastime of 2019, we booked a week-long sailing trip around Greece for the upcoming summer with a company called Medsailors. They specialize in sailing trips all over the Mediterranean for 18-35 year olds, and we could not wait for our trip. Well, you can probably guess what happened next. The Covid-19 pandemic threw a major wrench into all our 2020 travel plans, so we rebooked our trip for May, 2021. Up until a few weeks before the trip, we were not a hundred percent sure Greece would even be open for American travelers, but sometimes the stars align, and we ended up having an incredible vacation in Greece with no crowds even in some of the country’s most popular destinations.
However, our Medsailors trip did not go exactly according to plan. Long story short, we were the only group booked for that particular week, and doing a whole yacht charter just for one couple didn’t make a lot of sense. So only a week before our trip, Medsailors contacted us with an alternative proposal.
Medsailors has a sister company called Yacht Getaways that does luxury catamaran sailing trips around Greece and other Mediterranean destinations. The product they offer is a step above Medsailors in terms of luxury, and we were offered a cabin on a Yacht Getaways trip around the Cyclades islands in place of the itinerary we had originally booked with Medsailors. Medsailors was really awesome about the whole thing, and even though we didn’t end up sailing with them, I have no qualms about recommending them as a company.
With that said, we got a pretty sweet bargain out of the deal! Our sailing trip with Yacht Getaways was beyond amazing, and ranks among our favorite trips we have ever taken. Here’s an overview of our experience.
Arrival
On the first day of our sailing trip, we caught a ferry from Athens to Paros, where we boarded the yacht. Our awesome skipper, Martin, came and met us at the ferry terminal and held our bags at the yacht for us while we got some lunch and explored Paros. When I imagined my dream Greece vacation, it was mainly comprised of quaint cobblestone streets twisting between white buildings with blue accents. Hello Paros. I immediately fell in love with this island, and was not sad at all when our departure got delayed a few hours, giving us more time to wander.
A huge part of this trip was just wandering around pretty places, so on most of the islands we visited, I don’t have specific suggestions for things to do other than just walk, and you’ll probably stumble upon something beautiful.
The Catamaran
In the late afternoon, it was finally time to board our yacht. The luxury catamarans chartered by Yacht Getaways sleep between 8 and 12 guests depending on the boat, but on our catamaran, there were only six of us, three couples, plus our skipper and host. This meant we had tons and tons of space. It was great.
Our cabin was near the back of the catamaran and was small by normal hotel standards, but very spacious by boat standards. There was a big comfortable bed, plenty of storage for our clothes, and outlets to charge our phones and cameras. Best of all, we had our own en-suite bathroom with a full shower! Talk about luxury.
There were several common areas to hang out around all sides of the boat. In the back (what do you call the back of a boat? I can’t remember, so I’m just going to keep saying back). Anyway, in the back, there was a covered table where we ate our meals and a comfy couch that was usually shaded. This couch was right outside our cabin, so I spend a lot of time there. But we spent most of our time at the front of the boat, where there was a ton of lounge space and big nets between the hulls of the catamaran for above-water relaxing. It was so fabulous, I never wanted to leave! There was another lounge area at the top of the boat, where all the controls and what-not were located, but we didn’t spend a lot of time up there. Finally, there was a large common area inside the yacht, where there was a kitchen and table, but who wants to sit inside when you have such beautiful outdoor spaces and perfect summer weather?
The catamaran was so so so much nicer than what I was anticipating. For the catamarans alone, I would choose to sail with Yacht Getaways again. But the amazing boat was just the beginning.
In addition to our fellow guests, we had a skipper and host on board to take care of us. And they definitely took care of us. Our skipper, Martin, was in charge of driving the boat, while our host, Tamara, cooked our breakfast and lunch and made sure we always had a glass of wine (thank you, Tamara!) I could gush about our skipper-host team forever, but besides taking care of us on the catamaran, they always had great suggestions for things to see and do (and eat) on the different islands we visited, and they made our trip that much better by being so friendly!
A typical day on board a Yacht Getaways trip involved a morning sail, sometimes with a stop at a swimming spot, before stopping at a port around lunchtime, after which we could explore the island on our own. Breakfast and lunch are included as part of the package, but you get your own dinner at whichever island you spend the night at. This was the perfect meal solution for me and Ben because we are really bad at choosing restaurants, but love getting to try local food. This gave us the best of both worlds! And, for the record, everything Tamara made for us was amazing! How she made such delicious and varied meals in that tiny little boat kitchen remains a mystery to me.
Our Cyclades Itinerary
Because we got off to kind of a late start on our first day, we arrived at our first destination, Anti Paros, just in time to watch the sun set and enjoy a fabulous seafood dinner on the beach. We got to know our fellow travelers a little bit, who were all very nice, and we got along well with them. Ben and I normally don’t do group trips, so we weren’t sure if we would like traveling with other people, and while we generally spent parts of the day with the other guests and parts of the day by ourselves, we did enjoy getting to meet like-minded travel lovers.
Sleeping on the yacht made me feel like a baby in a crib. I don’t think I’ve ever slept so well in my whole life!
The next morning, we sailed to Ios, and arrived early enough that we had the whole afternoon to explore the island. Normally, Ios is known as a party island, but traveling in May, 2021, it was pretty dead. Honestly though, we didn’t mind. Ben and I are not exactly party people, and there were lots of beautiful things to see on the island. We wandered the maze of the main town (like I said, we did a lot of wandering) and visited quite a few churches. Ios has 365 churches on an island of only 40 square miles. There’s one for every day of the year! We climbed up to a hill dotted with a couple of different chapels overlooking the town to watch the sunset, and it was magical. Our trip with Yacht Getaways was off to a good start.
The next day, we made a swim stop first thing in the morning, which was lovely. The water was chilly, but not freezing, and very salty. Yacht Getaways has snorkeling equipment and paddleboards onboard that are available to use at any time, so that’s fun.
We docked for the night at Schouinoussa, a very small island that is definitely off the beaten path. It was fun that our itinerary in the Cyclades took us to some of the more popular islands, like Paros, and some that I’d never even heard of before, like Schouinoussa. These smaller islands had a totally different vibe, and while I hate when travelers use the word “authentic” I did enjoy getting to see how varied these islands could be.
In the morning, we set sail again, making another swim stop, this time at a sunken plane from World War II (I think) to do a little snorkeling. Then, it was on to Koufonisia. This was another island I had never heard of, but it was actually one of my favorite stops. There was just something in the atmosphere here that I really loved. Ben and I walked pretty much the whole length of the island, cutting through the middle to the opposite side to view some sea caves (which we never really found), then walked back along the coast. It was stunningly beautiful, and I think this island would be the ultimate relaxation destination. Our dinner was excellent and very cheap, and we encountered some really nice locals while we were walking around. It was just a neat place.
The next day was forecasted to be a little windy, so we left bright and early to make it to our next port, Naxos, before the wind picked up. I loved Naxos. If I were to go back and spend more time on any of these islands, it would probably be Naxos. All we saw was the main town, and I know this island has a whole lot more to offer, but I loved what we saw! Also, we took a thousand pictures because everything everywhere was just so pretty!
We did a little shopping, which for me meant buying another book because I’d already finished the two I brought (yacht life is the best!) and then stopping for ice cream. Later, we watched the sun set over the ruins of a temple of Apollo at the edge of the city. Tamara and Martin joined us to watch the sunset and brought wine. (Again, thank you Tamara!) It was while watching this sunset that I realized just how lucky we were to be in Greece at that time. After a year in which we had to cancel four international trips, I was out of work for several months, and my mental health was not so great, I felt so grateful to be in such a beautiful place, enjoying a new country in such a special way.
On our final full day with Yacht Getaways, we sailed from Naxos to Naoussa, a town on Paros Island, but not the town we started at. Once again, the wind was looking a little tricky, so we made the plan (Or I should say Martin made the plan because I don’t know anything about sailing a boat in the wind) to head to Naoussa very early in the morning, spend a few hours there, then continue sailing back to Paros and spend the night there. This worked out well for me and Ben because we had to catch a ferry in Paros early the next morning.
Naoussa was nice, but I think you would enjoy it more if you were into shopping. There were a ton of stores that looked really cool, but we aren’t big shoppers when we travel, so we just walked around a bit, ate lunch, then changed into our swimsuits and headed to the beach. I guess I was more tired than I realized because I ended up taking a little nap in the sand. Then we headed back to the boat. We stopped at another swimming spot on our way back to Paros, and this was probably my favorite one. There wasn’t anything special about it. (I mean, besides being in Greece surrounded by picturesque islands in pristine blue water.) It was just a really nice stop, and I was starting to feel sad that the trip was almost over.
We decided as a group that it made more sense to eat lunch in Naoussa and dinner on the catamaran, which Martin and Tamara were happy to accommodate. The final dinner on board with the whole group was a lot of fun, and after eating, we drank ouzo and played card games. It was the perfect way to end the trip.
The next morning, Ben and I disembarked after breakfast to catch the ferry to our next destination. We technically missed out on one day of sailing, and the others stayed on the boat until after lunch, but travel planning during the pandemic meant we had to be flexible, so we said goodbye to everyone on our boat, and sadly made our way to the ferry terminal.
We have done a lot of traveling. We’ve been all over the world and done lots of different kinds of trips. Our week with Yacht Getaways is one of the best trips we have ever done. It was the perfect balance of relaxing and exploring. We got to see lots of different Greek islands in the most convenient way possible. Our skipper, host, and fellow travelers were all wonderful. It was just a great trip, and I would recommend it whole-heartedly to anyone visiting Greece!
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