Saronic Yacht Charter

George's Insider Picks

The anchorages we'd put you in.

• Hydra (main harbour)

  Stern-to on the south quay. Holding 8-12 m, sand. The donkeys handle the luggage; the captain handles the bookings. No engines on the island past the harbour mouth. The harbour is overlooked by 18th-century cannon emplacements - the same guns that covered the fleet during the 1821 Revolution.

• Bisti Beach, Hydra

  South-coast Hydra anchorage, no road access. 6-8 m, sand and weed, well protected from northerlies. Accessible only by tender. Lunch on board, swim, total quiet.

• Dokos Island

  Between Hydra and the Peloponnese. The world's oldest known shipwreck lies on the seabed here - a Late Bronze Age vessel, approximately 4,500 years old, predating the Trojan War. The wreck is a protected archaeological site. Anchoring above it in 8-12 m is unrestricted. Few guests know they are sleeping above the oldest seafaring evidence in the Mediterranean.

• Inner channel, Poros

  Anchorage between Poros town and the Peloponnese mainland. 4-6 m, mud and sand, holds in any wind. The narrowest navigable passage in the Saronic.

• Old harbour, Spetses

  Use the Dapia harbour, not the new ferry quay. Stern-to in 3-5 m, sand. Walk to town in 4 minutes. Spetses contributed its entire merchant fleet to the 1821 Revolution. The island's heroine, Laskarina Bouboulina, financed and commanded her own warships at her own expense. Her house is now a museum.

• Epidavros (bay below the theatre)

  Half-day sail from Spetses. Late-lunch anchorage at the foot of the 4th-century-BC theatre - optional shore excursion: 25 minutes by car to the actual stage. Acoustics still beat any concert hall built since. Seats 14,000. Still in use.

Yachts this house places for a Saronic week

Named from the fleet we represent. The rate card is on each yacht's page.

• P/CAT Explorion

  Aquila 54, four cabins for eight, captain, chef and deckhand: the power catamaran for the five-night week from Alimos to Hydra.

• M/Y LADY L

  Altamar 64, eight guests, captain, stewardess and deckhand, 20 knots: the fast, quiet week between Aegina, Poros and Hydra.

• M/Y SEA U

  Riva 72, the elegant cabriolet for six: Hydra harbour stern-to, Dokos at anchor, back to Athens in an afternoon.

• M/Y SEA YA

  Azimut 66, three cabins for six, three crew: the fast week for a couple with friends in the sheltered gulf.

• S/CAT BABALU

  Lagoon 51 launched 2024, four cabins for eight, three crew: a first taste of Greek sailing on water sheltered from the Meltemi.

• S/CAT EFFIE STAR

  Lagoon 51 launched 2025, five cabins for ten, two crew: the Saronic from Athens on a sailing catamaran.

Questions we are asked about the Saronic

• How far are the Saronic islands from Athens by yacht?

  Aegina is 18 nautical miles from Alimos marina, Poros 25, Hydra 35 and Spetses 50. Between the islands the legs are shorter still: Aegina to Poros 18, Poros to Hydra 12, Hydra to Spetses 25. No day of the week needs more than three or four hours under way, which is why the Saronic is the week we propose to first-time charterers, to families with small children and to anyone who wants the yacht to feel like a villa that moves.

• What does a seven-day Saronic yacht charter itinerary look like?

  Alimos to Aegina on the first afternoon, Poros and its inner channel on the second, Hydra on the third and fourth because nobody leaves Hydra after one night, Spetses on the fifth, the bay below the theatre at Epidavros or Ermioni on the sixth, and a short run home on the seventh. Around 130 nautical miles in all. Dokos, Bisti and the Peloponnese coast fill the afternoons with anchorages that have no road to them.

• Is the Saronic Gulf affected by the meltemi?

  Far less than the Cyclades. The gulf sits in the lee of the Peloponnese and Attica, so the July and August northerly arrives softened and the anchorages on Hydra's south coast, in the Poros channel and off Spetses hold in comfort. It is the region where a large motor yacht spends its calmest weeks and where a sailing yacht still finds an afternoon breeze without a forecast review every morning.

• Can we do a Saronic charter in fewer than seven nights?

  Yes: the Saronic is the one Greek region where a shorter crewed week works properly, because Hydra is a lunch away from Athens. The five-night week from Alimos reaches Aegina, Poros, Hydra and Spetses without a single long passage, and it is the shortest programme this house writes. Every charter is still priced per yacht and per week, so ask for the five-night terms of the specific yacht rather than assuming a daily rate.

• Which yacht suits the Saronic best?

  The one whose crew you will want to spend a week with, because in the Saronic the sailing is easy and the service is the difference. Motor yachts of 24 metres and more do a large share of their season here, catamarans give families the swim platform and the shallow bays, and a classic sailing yacht suits Hydra's harbour better than anything else afloat. Tell us who is coming and we will name three.

• When is the best time for a Saronic yacht charter?

  May to mid-October, with June and September the sweetest weeks. The Saronic opens earlier and closes later than the open Aegean because its water warms sooner and its winds are kinder, so an April or late-October week on a motor yacht is realistic here when it is not in the Cyclades. Hydra in September, after the Athenians have gone home, is the finest evening in Greek waters.