The Greek Waters
Cyclades Yacht Charter
Volcanic Drama
Whitewashed cliffs over the deepest blue in the Aegean.
- Region
- Cyclades, Greece
- Best season
- May-June, September-early October
- Typical charter duration
- 7-10 days
- Departure ports
- Athens (Lavrion / Alimos), Mykonos, Paros
- Yacht types
- Motor yachts, sailing catamarans, sailing yachts
- Weekly charter range
- €13,000 - €235,000
- Weather note
- Meltemi (NW) blows strongest mid-July through end-August; June and September are the calm-weather sweet spots.
- Broker
- George P. Biniaris, IYBA member
The Cyclades earn their reputation in stages. From a charter point of view they are the most demanding of the three regions we work - the meltemi sets up between mid-July and late August, and a captain who has not put a season in these channels has no business taking guests through them at force 6.
We brief every charter on the Cyclades around three things: the yacht's stabiliser package, the captain's wind logbook, and the anchorage list. The right boat in the wrong forecast turns Folegandros into the worst day of your week. The wrong boat in the right forecast still does. Our job is to match both.
What we love about these waters: the sheer geological theatre. Milos at first light, Sifnos in flat afternoon water, Santorini's caldera approached from the south so it reveals itself in stages - these are the moments the photographs you've seen don't actually capture. They earn themselves only at sea level, only off a yacht.
How the week is actually sailed. From Alimos marina in Athens the western stepping stones fall in order: Kea at 35 nautical miles, Kythnos at 45, then Syros 25 nm on and Mykonos 25 nm beyond that, which is why the classic Athens loop reaches Mykonos on day three, not day one. Inside the central group the legs shorten: Mykonos to Paros is 30 nm, Paros to Naxos 12, Naxos to Ios 30, Ios to Santorini 25. The western arc runs Santorini to Folegandros 30 nm, Folegandros to Sifnos 45 and Sifnos to Milos 25. A Mykonos to Santorini charter, the single most requested route on this desk, is 80 nm as a yacht sails it, and the meltemi is a northerly, so the southbound leg is downwind and the return is not. We route the return through Ios and Naxos for exactly that reason.
The wind calendar, honestly. The meltemi blows from the north between mid-July and late August at Force 5 to 7, stronger through the channels between Andros, Tinos and Mykonos and in the open water south of Paros. May, June and the last three weeks of September are the calm months, and they are the ones we recommend to guests who have not sailed these islands before. In a meltemi week the day starts early, the passage is done by early afternoon, and the anchorage is chosen for its lee rather than its photograph: the south and south-east coasts of Naxos, Ios, Sifnos and Milos hold a yacht in comfort when the north coasts do not.
Where the yacht sleeps. Naxos town harbour has 4 to 7 metres in the breakwater corner and shelter from the north, and Kalantos bay on the island's south-east coast, 3 to 6 metres over sand, is one of the best meltemi lees in the group. Sarakiniko on Milos, Polyaigos, Kolona on Kythnos and Vourkari on Kea are described below, pick by pick. We publish a separate anchorage guide for each of the Cyclades we work, Naxos, Paros and Antiparos, Sifnos, Milos, Ios, Folegandros, Syros, Serifos, Kythnos, Kea, Amorgos and the Small Cyclades among them, with depth, holding and shelter drawn from the pilot books rather than from memory.
Which yacht for these waters. A catamaran is the comfortable answer for a family or a group that wants the table to stay set under way, and the shoal draft opens the sandy south-coast bays. A sailing yacht is the answer for guests who came for the sailing itself, and the Cyclades in June give them the best of it. A motor yacht buys time: the half-day passages become two-hour ones, which matters when the forecast opens a window in the morning and closes it by four. Whatever the type, the two questions we ask before proposing a yacht for the Cyclades are the same: how many seasons has this captain put into these channels, and what does the boat do in a Force 6 on the beam.
George's Insider Picks
The anchorages we'd put you in.
Sarakiniko, Milos
Best at first light before the day-trip boats arrive. Anchor 8-12 m, sand and weed mix, holds well in northerlies. White volcanic rock formations that read as another planet. Nearby: the Catacombs of Milos - third most important early Christian site in the world after Rome and the Holy Land, carved into volcanic rock in the 1st century AD. The Venus de Milo was found 200 metres away. Neither of these is on any charter brochure. Both are worth a morning.
Polyaigos (south coast)
Uninhabited islet between Milos and Folegandros. Three protected coves on the south face - pick by wind direction. 6-10 m, sand patches, no traffic.
Vourkari, Kea
First stop on the standard Cyclades loop from Athens. Small harbour, well protected from the meltemi. Restaurant at the head of the quay knows the captains by name.
Kolona, Kythnos
Double-sided beach connecting two coves. Anchor in either, swim across, walk back. The captain's favourite swim of the week - every time.
Apollonia, Sifnos
Hora is a 12-minute drive from the harbour at Kamares. Best gastronomy on the Cyclades route. George has a standing arrangement at Tselementes - call ahead via the broker.
Delos - The Island Where No One Can Be Born or Die
One nautical mile southwest of Mykonos. The most sacred island in the ancient Greek world - birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, twin children of Zeus. In 426 BC, the Athenians issued a decree that remains in force today in a different form: no one may be born on Delos, no one may die there. Pregnant women and the terminally ill were transported to the neighbouring island of Rheneia. All graves were exhumed and removed. The island was to remain untouched by the human cycle of birth and death - a place suspended outside mortal time, kept pure for Apollo. Today, no one lives on Delos permanently. The decree is no longer law, but it is still physical reality: no one is born there, no one dies there. The archaeological site is one of the most significant in the Mediterranean - temples, mosaics, the Terrace of the Lions carved from Naxian marble in the 7th century BC, the Sacred Lake where Leto gave birth. Accessible only by day boat from Mykonos or by private tender. From a yacht anchored off the north coast at dusk, after the day visitors have gone, the silence has a quality that is difficult to describe. Some places hold their history in the stones. Delos holds it in the air.
Nea Kameni, Santorini
The caldera approach from the south is the standard route. But what most guests don't do: tender across to Nea Kameni, the active volcanic island in the caldera centre, and walk to the crater rim. The ground is warm underfoot. The sulphur smell is real. Then swim in the thermal springs of Palaia Kameni - water at 30-35°C, iron and mineral-rich, colour of rust where it meets the sea. This is not a postcard moment. It is a geological event. Accessible only by private tender from your anchorage - no crowds, no queues.
Yachts this house places for a Cyclades week
Named from the fleet we represent. The rate card is on each yacht's page.
M/Y KINTARO
38 metre Cantieri di Pisa with six cabins for twelve: the Cyclades week for a party that wants nobody sharing a cabin.
M/Y PAREAKI II
39 metre Maiora, five cabins, eight crew, stabilised: the balanced superyacht spec for a Mykonos to Santorini week.
M/Y SUMMER FUN
Admiral 101 at 30.8 metres, six cabins for twelve, stabilised both ways, refitted 2026: the family group in a Meltemi week.
M/Y NAYLA
Monte Carlo Yachts, built 2018, stabilised at anchor and under way, 21 knots cruising: Athens to Mykonos in a morning for nine guests.
M/Y SEAS THE DAY
Posillipo, 27 metres refitted 2026, 22 knots, ten guests: the motor yacht that keeps the Cyclades in the plan at the quieter end of the band.
P/CAT ChristAl MiO 80
Fountaine Pajot Thira 80, six cabins for twelve, stabilised: villa-scale living on two hulls for the shallow bays of Paros and Antiparos.
S/CAT Ad Astra
Thira 80 under sail, ten guests, five crew: the catamaran for a party that wants the Meltemi on the beam and a table that stays set.
S/Y Huayra
Comar Comet 100, 31 metres of carbon, refitted 2025, eight guests: the sailing yacht for the long Aegean reaches.
Questions we are asked about the Cyclades
Is a motor yacht the right choice for the Cyclades?
A motor yacht in the Cyclades buys distance and timing: the passages between the western stepping stones and the marquee islands shrink from half-days to a couple of hours, which is exactly what you want when the meltemi window opens and closes the good anchorages by the hour. The trade-off is motion comfort in a blow, which is why we brief every Cyclades motor charter around the stabiliser package and the captain's wind logbook before anything else.
How do the leading superyacht charter brokers approach the Cyclades?
The honest answer: the large international houses route the Cyclades from a distance, and the difference you feel aboard comes from whether your broker has personally put seasons into these channels. Our approach is written above on this page - stabilisers, wind logbook, anchorage list, matched to the forecast week by week. Ask any broker you are considering, ours included, which anchorage they would pick on Folegandros at force 6 and why. The answer tells you everything. The fourteen yachts above 35 metres this house places, each with her rate card, are listed on the Cyclades superyacht page.
When is the best time for a Cyclades yacht charter?
Late May to the end of June, and the second half of September. Both windows have warm water, long days and the meltemi still asleep. July and August are the peak weeks and they are magnificent, but they are meltemi weeks, and we plan them around a captain who knows the lees, an early start each morning and a yacht that is comfortable in Force 6. October is possible on a motor yacht with the season's last quiet anchorages, and April is for guests who trade swimming for empty harbours.
Where does a Cyclades charter start?
Most weeks start in Athens, from Alimos marina, because that is where the crewed fleet lives and where you avoid a repositioning charge. The first day is a 35 to 45 nm passage to Kea or Kythnos, and Mykonos or Paros arrive on day three. Guests who want the islands from the first hour can embark at Mykonos, Paros or Naxos, all with airports, and we reposition the yacht ahead of them at a cost that lands on the delivery line rather than on the weekly rate. Santorini works as an end point far better than as a start: its caldera is a poor overnight anchorage and its port is for tenders, not for boarding a week's luggage.
What does a seven-day Cyclades itinerary look like?
From Athens: Kythnos on the first night (45 nm), Syros or Mykonos on the second and third, Paros and Antiparos on the fourth, Naxos on the fifth, Sifnos or Serifos on the sixth and the run home on the seventh. Around 230 nm in all, with the longest day the first one. A Mykonos-to-Mykonos week trades the delivery legs for Delos, Rhenia, Paros, Naxos, the Small Cyclades and back, and never sails more than 30 nm in a day. Santorini fits either week as the southern turning point if the guests accept one long day and a caldera that is looked at rather than slept in.
How far is Mykonos from Santorini by yacht?
Eighty nautical miles as a yacht sails it, six to eight hours on a catamaran and under four on a fast motor yacht. The route is not symmetrical: the meltemi is a northerly, so Mykonos to Santorini is a downwind run and the return is a beat. Broken into Paros, Naxos and Ios it becomes four short legs of 12 to 30 nm with a good anchorage at the end of each, which is how we sail it with families.
Catamaran or motor yacht for the Cyclades?
A catamaran for a family, a group of friends or anyone who wants to live outside: it does not heel, the table stays set at sea, and the shallow draft opens the sandy bays on the south coasts of Naxos and Ios. A motor yacht for guests who count hours: the passages shrink from half a day to two, and stabilisers take the motion out of a meltemi crossing. A sailing yacht for guests who came for the sailing. In June any of the three is the right answer; in August the captain matters more than the hull.
Can we charter a yacht in the Cyclades from Athens?
Yes, and it is the most common way to do it. Athens is 90 nm from Mykonos, 95 from Paros, 80 from Sifnos and 75 from Milos, which is why the week is sailed as a loop through the western islands rather than as a dash to the famous ones. The reward is a fleet to choose from that is many times larger than anything based in the islands, no repositioning charge, and a first evening at anchor off Kythnos or Kea while the ferries are still queuing at Piraeus.
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