Lefkada Yacht Anchorages: The Complete Guide

Lefkada sits in the Ionian.

The Ionian is mild in summer, with a northwesterly afternoon sea breeze (the Maistro) that builds in the afternoon and eases overnight; katabatic gusts can fall into some bays at night.

It is the gentlest of the Greek cruising grounds.

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.

Lefkada is the reliable Ionian base with full services at Lefkada Town, Nidri and Vlicho; the trade-off is high-season congestion.

Ashore: Lefkada town and the Santa Maura fortress, the west-coast cliff beaches Porto Katsiki and Egremni, and the Nidri waterfalls.

Lefkada is the base of the southern Ionian week.

It has the services, Lefkada Town, Nidri and Vlicho, and it has the one anchorage every Ionian captain keeps in reserve: Vlicho Bay, five to seven metres over mud with excellent holding and protection from every direction, the classic all-weather hole.

From here on our distance table Ithaca is 20 nautical miles, Kefalonia 25, Paxos 50 and Corfu 80, and Meganisi lies across the channel from Nidri, so a week can sleep in a different bay every night with no passage longer than a morning.

The hull for these bays is a catamaran, which draws little and lies to a line ashore in Sivota or Rouda; a motor yacht under 30 metres fits the same water at speed.

On the Greek Charter Index 2026 a fully crewed sailing catamaran for eight runs EUR 18,900 to 48,000 a week at 16 to 19 metres and EUR 31,500 to 43,500 at 20 to 22, a motor yacht of 18 to 25 metres EUR 17,500 to 47,500, per yacht before VAT and APA.

One in six enquiries on this desk in the 2026 season came from a family, and this is where we send them.

Where can a yacht anchor at Lefkada?

Lefkada has 4 anchorages in this guide: Vlicho Bay (E coast, south of Nidri), Sivota (SE), Rouda Bay / Mikros Gialos, Nidri. Each entry below gives depth, holding, shelter direction and what is ashore.

How deep are the anchorages at Lefkada?

Vlicho Bay (E coast, south of Nidri) 5-7m; Sivota (SE) 5-10m; Rouda Bay / Mikros Gialos 5-10m. Depths are typical sand-bottom anchoring depths; the captain drops on current chart data.

What is the holding like at Lefkada?

Vlicho Bay (E coast, south of Nidri): Mud, excellent. Sivota (SE): Mud, good. Rouda Bay / Mikros Gialos: Sand and weed. Nidri: Mud and weed, good.

Which Lefkada anchorage is best for a family charter?

Vlicho Bay (E coast, south of Nidri) (All-weather shelter, families).

When is the best time to anchor at Lefkada?

Lefkada is the busiest base in the Ionian in July and August, and the trade-off for the services is the congestion at Nidri and Sivota in the evenings; the crew that wants a quay arrives early, and the yacht that wants quiet anchors in Vlicho or crosses to Meganisi. The summer wind is the north-westerly afternoon sea breeze, the Maistro, which builds after midday and eases overnight, and the enclosed bays on the south-east coast, Sivota and Rouda, take katabatic gusts at night; Nidri is affected only by easterlies and southerlies over Force 5. May, June and September are the quiet months, 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. The Meltemi never reaches here.

What does the captain plan around at Lefkada?

Vlicho Bay is the answer to any forecast: five to seven metres over mud, excellent holding, protection from every direction, the safest anchorage in the Ionian. Sivota, five to ten metres over mud in a well-sheltered inlet, is the taverna night, with the katabatic gusts after dark to be expected rather than feared; Rouda Bay, five to ten metres over sand and weed, is well protected from the north-west. Nidri is provisioning and the base, with full services ashore. The west-coast cliff beaches, Porto Katsiki and Egremni, are a fair-weather morning by tender or a car ride, not an overnight. Ithaca is 20 miles, Kefalonia 25, Meganisi across the channel, all morning passages, and the yacht is back in the lee before the Maistro builds. 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