Corfu Yacht Anchorages: The Complete Guide

Corfu sits at the head of the Ionian and offers a fundamentally different anchorage experience than the Cyclades.

The water is calmer (no Meltemi), the landscape is green and tree-covered, the anchorages are sheltered, and the cruising is gentler.

Corfu suits charterers who want the relaxed-pace Greek experience without the wind and crowds.

This guide covers Corfu's main anchorages plus the nearby Diapontia islands (Erikoussa, Othoni, Mathraki) that form the natural day-cruise extension.

Corfu is the start of the family week we write most often.

On our distance table Paxos is 35 nautical miles south, Lefkada 80 and Ithaca 95, so a Corfu loop stays in the north: Agni and Kassiopi on the north-east coast, Lakka and Gaios on Paxos, Voutoumi and Vrika on Antipaxos, Mongonisi, then back north and, in settled weather, Erikoussa, twelve miles to the north-west.

The longest leg is the 35 miles to Paxos, done in the morning, and every other passage is under twenty.

The anchorages are sand in three to twelve metres with a village taverna ashore, which is why we route children under ten here rather than into the Cyclades.

The Meltemi does not reach the Ionian; what the captain watches at Corfu is the occasional southerly, which turns the west-coast coves into the wrong side of the island for a night.

The hull for it is a catamaran: it barely rolls at anchor, draws little, and noses into Lakka's three to four metres where a monohull anchors outside.

ARIVA, a Fountaine Pajot Power 67 with five cabins for ten guests and four crew, is based in Corfu on her own listing, at EUR 34,000 to 48,000 a week per yacht before VAT and APA; on the Greek Charter Index 2026 the crewed catamaran bands run from EUR 17,000 a week at 15 metres to EUR 90,000 at 24, and a 16 to 19 metre sailing catamaran for a family of eight runs EUR 18,900 to 48,000.

One in six enquiries on this desk in the 2026 season came from a family.

Where can a yacht anchor at Corfu?

Corfu has 6 anchorages in this guide: Kassiopi, Sidari & Canal d'Amour, Paleokastritsa, Agni Bay, Erikoussa (Diapontia island), Lakka (Paxos). Each entry below gives depth, holding, shelter direction and what is ashore.

Which Corfu anchorages are sheltered from the meltemi, the summer north wind?

Paleokastritsa: Excellent from north, open south (rare issue).

How deep are the anchorages at Corfu?

Kassiopi 6-12m; Sidari & Canal d'Amour 5-10m; Paleokastritsa 8-18m; Agni Bay 5-10m; Erikoussa (Diapontia island) 6-12m; Lakka (Paxos) 4-10m. Depths are typical sand-bottom anchoring depths; the captain drops on current chart data.

What is the holding like at Corfu?

Kassiopi: Good (sand). Sidari & Canal d'Amour: Good (sand). Paleokastritsa: Good (sand with rock patches). Agni Bay: Good (sand). Erikoussa (Diapontia island): Good (sand). Lakka (Paxos): Good (sand).

Which Corfu anchorage is best for a family charter?

Kassiopi (Atmospheric village dinner, scenic harbour, family-friendly); Erikoussa (Diapontia island) (Day cruise away from Corfu congestion, family swim day).

When is the best time to anchor at Corfu?

Corfu's anchorage capacity is generous; even peak July and August rarely create anchorage queues, because Kassiopi, Agni, Lakka and Gaios each take a fleet and the Diapontia islands take the overflow. The shoulder months, May, June and September, are nearly empty of charter traffic, and on the Greek Charter Index they price 15 to 25% below peak on the same rate card with three to four months of lead time rather than a year. October is the Ionian's quiet jewel: the sea still warm, the tavernas open, the bays yours. The Meltemi never arrives; what changes with the season is the afternoon sea breeze and, in spring and autumn, the occasional southerly that decides which coast the yacht sleeps on.

What does the captain plan around at Corfu?

Corfu does not have a Meltemi problem, so routing is driven by the day's plan rather than by wind, and the captain's flexibility is the highest in Greece: a change of island is a sentence at breakfast, not a risk. What the captain does watch is the southerly. Kassiopi and Agni are protected from every direction and Lakka from everything but northerlies, so in a southerly blow the yacht sleeps on the north-east coast or in Gaios behind St Nicholas island, six to eight metres in the channel, and leaves Voutoumi and Vrika on Antipaxos, which are adequate from the north-west but exposed from the south, for the calm days. The 35 miles to Paxos are done in the morning; Erikoussa, twelve miles north-west, is a settled-weather day and nothing else.

Cyclades

Saronic

Ionian

Sporades

Dodecanese

Crete