Dokos Yacht Anchorages: The Complete Guide

Dokos sits in the Saronic.

The Saronic and Argolic gulfs are markedly calmer than the Cyclades, with light northeasterly to easterly summer winds (mostly Force 4 to 6).

Short distances make it forgiving family cruising close to Athens.

This guide covers the island's main anchorages with the practical detail charterers and captains actually use: depth where a published cruising source documents it, holding, and shelter direction.

Where a figure was not documented we say so rather than guess.

Dokos is a useful sheltered stop halfway between Hydra and the mainland, but it has no services, fuel or shops, so come self-sufficient.

Ashore: The site of the Dokos shipwreck (around 2200 BC), the oldest known underwater shipwreck, plus the remains of a Byzantine-Venetian castle and an old stone lighthouse on an almost uninhabited island.

Dokos is the last night of the Saronic week we write most often, and the one guests talk about.

It lies five nautical miles west of Hydra, 35 from Alimos on our distance table, and it is uninhabited: one small chapel, no taverna, no other lights.

Skindos bay on the north coast is the island's only natural harbour, five to ten metres over sand and weed with the sand patches the target, well protected from the Meltemi and from most strong winds and open only to the south and south-east; the east cove at the entrance is deeper, fifteen to twenty metres.

The Hydra guide lists Plakes on the same coast at six to twelve metres over sand with shelter from every direction.

The five-night Saronic week from Athens, the shortest programme this house writes, runs Aegina, Poros, Hydra, Spetses and Dokos, and every Athens-based motor yacht we represent fits the bay: MARY, SEA YA and M FIVE from EUR 17,500 to 47,500 a week from their own rate cards, the 26 to 31 metre class from EUR 35,900 to 75,000 on the Greek Charter Index 2026, per yacht before VAT and APA.

Where can a yacht anchor at Dokos?

Dokos has 1 anchorages in this guide: Skindos / Skintos bay (N/NE coast). Each entry below gives depth, holding, shelter direction and what is ashore.

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

Skindos / Skintos bay (N/NE coast): The island's only natural harbour, well protected from the Meltemi and most strong winds; exposed to S-SE.

How deep are the anchorages at Dokos?

Skindos / Skintos bay (N/NE coast) 5-10m. Depths are typical sand-bottom anchoring depths; the captain drops on current chart data.

What is the holding like at Dokos?

Skindos / Skintos bay (N/NE coast): Sand and weed, target the sand patches.

When is the best time to anchor at Dokos?

Dokos is the anchorage the Saronic crowds do not reach, even in July and August, because there is nothing ashore; the yachts that come are the ones that want exactly that. The Meltemi arrives softened here, in the lee of the Peloponnese, and Skindos and Plakes are both protected from it; what closes the bay is a southerly, which is rare in summer and more likely in spring and autumn. May, June and September are the months the island is entirely yours, and on the Greek Charter Index the shoulder months price 15 to 25% below peak on the same rate card with three to four months of lead time rather than a year. Late September and October in the Saronic are the value weeks of the Greek year.

What does the captain plan around at Dokos?

Come self-sufficient: there is no fuel, water or shop, so the yacht provisions at Hydra or Spetses the day before. Anchor in Skindos on a sand patch through the weed, five to ten metres, or in the deeper east cove at fifteen to twenty if the bay is busy, and use Plakes when the forecast is northerly. In a southerly the captain moves to Hydra Town, five miles east, or Ermioni on the mainland. The morning after is the run home to Alimos, about 35 miles, with a swim off Aegina's Aponisos islets on the way. Depths and holding here follow published cruising sources; the captain confirms the anchor drop against current charts on arrival.

Cyclades

Saronic

Ionian

Sporades

Dodecanese

Crete