Greek Yacht Charter vs Caribbean: Mediterranean vs Tropical

Greek peak is June to September; Caribbean peak is December to March.

The same family cannot be in both at once, so the question is usually which half of the year the yacht week belongs to.

A summer charter joins the European school holidays and the long light; a winter charter is the escape from them.

Families who charter twice a year often take Greece in summer and the Caribbean in winter.

We do not hold data on how many do, and we will not invent a share.

We can say that this house's own season is May to October and that on the Greek Charter Index the July and August weeks book six to twelve months ahead.

The British Virgin Islands are the most concentrated sailing charter ground in the world: a steady trade wind, islands a few miles apart, sheltered anchorages and the deepest bareboat infrastructure anywhere.

For a week where the sailing itself is the point, the BVI are structurally superior and we say so.

Greek sailing is a different pleasure: the Meltemi in the Cyclades for those who want wind, the Ionian for those who want it gentle, and in both cases an island worth arriving at.

This house's list has 30 crewed sailing catamarans and six crewed sailing yachts of 24 to 31 metres, every one with a captain who does the sailing, and no bareboat.

St.

Barths is the Caribbean's social capital, with a harbour that fills with large yachts through December and a calendar around the New Year that has no Greek counterpart, because the Greek charter season is over by then.

The nearest Greek equivalent is Mykonos in August, broader and busier, and the Greek answer to either is the anchorage a few miles away where the only lights are your own.

A Greek week has history within a tender's ride of every anchorage: Delos across the channel from Mykonos, the captains' houses of Hydra, the Venetian old town of Corfu, the museums of Athens on the day you board.

It is part of the itinerary whether or not you plan it.

A Caribbean week is sea and beach, and is not trying to be anything else.

For a family that wants the shore to mean something, Greece.

For a family that wants the water to be everything, the Caribbean is honest about what it offers.

For a European family, Greece is three to four hours from London or Paris, and Athens airport to Alimos marina is about 25 minutes by car: the week begins the afternoon you land.

The Caribbean costs a long-haul flight and a connection each way.

For an American family the geometry reverses: the Caribbean is a few hours from the east coast, Greece an overnight flight from New York.

Most of this house's guests are American and take that flight for a week or two; for a shorter charter the Caribbean is the practical choice, and we say so.

Choose Greece

if you are…

• +European families, for whom a Greek week loses no days to travel
• +Charterers who want the shore to mean something
• +Groups who want three grounds from one country
• +Summer charterers, June to September, or the shoulder weeks at 15 to 25 per cent below peak
• +Guests who want the chef's Mediterranean provisioning
• +Anyone who wants a modern crewed motor yacht or catamaran with rates published by band

Choose Caribbean (BVI & St. Barths)

if you are…

• +Winter charterers who want warm tropical water
• +Sailors, for whom the trade winds are the point
• +Guests who want the St. Barths season around the New Year
• +American east-coast families on a shorter trip
• +Bareboat sailors; the BVI have the fleet