Sailing I Saronic Islands in Greece (Poros, Methana, Agistri, Idra, Ermioni)
Can you imagine a holiday where you choose your own itinerary, from where to spend the nights, to when to eat or swim during the day? Oh! And not to forget having the freedom to find remote places to repose, carrying your own house and kitchen along and not having to pack all the time.
All of this is possible when you sail!
But how can you plan this adventure?
There are many sailing school and agencies to help you on this matter. You can book directly with the schools, do some research and request budgets from local companies or if you prefer try with agencies your trust in your country.
There is a cheaper way to do it though. You can book directly with Skippers who organise the trip and good deals in exchange for help, discuss your training and payments. We chose HandGegenKoje.de, this is a German platform for all kinds of sailing, stands among sailors for inexpensive sailing in return for active support in all work on board. I have seen volunteer working positions for sailing in the Workaway platform.
This was our sailing itinerary
218 km stopping in Poros — Methanon — Epidaurus — Agistri — Hydra — Ermioni — and back to Poros.
In every port you stop you should make sure you fill your petrol, water deposit, connect to electricity, buy groceries and pay the cost of your overnight to the Port Authorities, they usually approach you as soon as you arrive. Every country has different average prices for these services, and then the total price varies depending on the number of people, length and type of boat. In the Saronic Gulf we paid an average of 20 euros per night. The infrastructure and facilities can be very different in every Port, toilet and showers can be included in modern facilities, or can be provided by neighbouring restaurants, it can happen to that you have to shower in your boat like you usually do when you stop in bays.
About Greece:
- Also Hellas or Hellenic Republic
- Currency: Euro €
- Capital: Athens
- Population: more than 10 Million
- Southeast Europe
- Mediterranean weather, lots of sunshine
- Considered the cradle of Western Civilization
- Greece is a unitary parliamentary republic, member of EU
Flying to Athens
Friday: Visit and overnight in Athens Hotel Byron 2* in Plaka. This budget hotel has a great location and a pub in the Penthouse with views to the Acropolis, where they serve breakfast too. The staff is very friendly, and the manager helped us to arrange the ferry schedules and tickets.
This was not my first time in Athens, but nonetheless very special. Athens has lots of charm, it is a great way to start a holiday, you can walk around Plaka after checking in at the hotel, then marvel at the Acropolis, seat at a restaurant to enjoy the delicious Greek cuisine: moussaka, tzatziki, baklava…
Ferry to Poros
It is Saturday: During the morning we take a Ferryboat from Piraeus to Poros 14,00€, 3-hour duration, with a company called Saronic Ferries (there is a shorter fast ferry available too) You can buy online at saronicferries.gr
Sofas are comfortable, views great and everybody is drinking a cold cappuccino.
When we arrived at Poros we met the other sailing students and the skipper. The first thing we wanted to do was to get our first swim in the Saronic sea, and we did not want to get out until sunset, then we met everybody again for dinner time, get to know each other and discuss the plans for the sailing week. Everybody in the group was speaking German as their mother tongue apart from me, all of them with different origins and therefore accents, that I would get used to during the coming week. I was going to have to learn the basics of ocean sailing in German. And adventure within an adventure!
During the sailboat briefing with the Skipper, we learn the boat’s safety and functional specifications and system. Our boat is called Carmen, a 35-year-old Sun Odyssey 1985 model with three cabins and one manual toilet with a shower combo.
The other students had far more experience and knowledge than me, some of them being on the very last stage of their sailing studies and accumulating the miles the official sailing certificate requires after passing the theoretical tests. The other case was a more experienced student wanting to practise navigation and manoeuvres before being in charge of his own sailboat during the next holidays with his family. To me, it was my first time sailing in the ocean, after several short classes in Thun and Zurich lakes in Switzerland.
This is how navigation books and devices look like:
Vathy (Methanon)
Sunday: we sailed from Poros to Methanon, checking different tiny islands, sailing next to dolphins and arriving at Vathy port during the evening.
We saw many quiet shores with plenty of fish, octopus and various vegetation to explore under the water. Some islands are worth visiting above water too, you can find little old churches, abandoned settlements or even donkey and goat pasture areas.
I took the morning to visit Vathy by myself while the other students had classes of advanced manoeuvres. Quiet and warm low waters, with pebble beach and low vegetation. There is a single line of holiday homes next to the beach, where I met many Greek families who come here for their holidays.
There is a volcano you can visit 4 km away.
Epidaurus
Monday: we sailed from Methanon to Epidaurus, stopping in Akrapukta Bay, a turquoise bay full of fishes and again octopus, where we snorkel.
We reached Epidaurus during the evening. Epidaurus is an ancient village, bigger than Vathy. Here you can visit the Amphitheatre and walk along the beach promenade. Epidaurus is in the Argolid Peninsula, in the Peloponnesus. This area has lots of Archaelogical Sites worth visiting.
Agistri
Tuesday: we sailed from Epidaurus to Agistri
Agistri is a small island, but with more things going on, there is a big offer of hotels and restaurants, and there is a Party Area, with lounge terraces and dancing pubs, lots of souvenir shops and a cool atmosphere. Walking around town I found a “grab a book leave another¨ public space, a beautiful church with amazing views to the ocean and found quieter beaches surrounded by pine trees. Very peaceful!
They had good supermarkets and bakeries too. It is important to buy the right amount of groceries during a sailing trip, taking into account the limited space, number of people and meals you want to organise.
Hydra
Wednesday: we sailed from, Agistri to Hydra, most of the time sailing next to Egina island, the whole island looks like a big sleeping volcano, it is wonderful. Then, Egina disappears from the sight after Passing the Cape Skyli, and here we sail next to the southeast Peloponnesus.
That day the sea was a bit rough and most of us experienced seasickness. You feel that the hours get longer, the sea is more infinitive and the bodies nauseous and fatigued. The only solution is to this, apart from medication that was not available, is to arrive at a port and let time erase the symptoms. Taking the wheel and focusing on the horizon helps a lot too. Seasickness is caused by a vessel’s erratic motion on the water that leads to a conflict in the inner ear, where the human balance mechanism resides, some people can even experience vertigo or vomiting, apart from usual nausea.
By the time we got to Hydra, all I wanted was to leave the boat and drink lots of water. As soon as I felt better, we could go for a sunset walk around town to discover its history, explore every single detail. There are lots of cats everywhere and they very gentile. There are many donkeys too, for both transportation and agriculture, since on the island there are no cars at all. Compared to other islands, Hydra has not a lot of vegetation, people say it is because of its past as a boat building port.
Regarding its name, Hydra means water serpent and is the name to a multithreaded serpent in their mythology and a big constellation.
Hydra, or Ydra or Idra possesses fine architecture and a port that has been very important throughout history as a maritime base for Greeks, Albanians, Venetians and Ottomans. With an economy that went through many realities, once very rich due to its merchant nature during the 18th century, then abandoned and poor when times changed and even fishing was forbidden in the 1930s to 40s.
The new Hydra times started in the 1950s when national and foreign artists became its residents and shared its beauty with the world. Today it is a famous cosmopolitan island, a town with lovely terraces, narrow streets, and white houses decorated with lots of plants and flowers all around. You can quickly see how much love and care they put into everything just to make you feel welcome. Funny, that while we were having dinner after exploring the island, a local lady, approached us with a smile and said Bon Apetit.
Ermioni
Thursday: we were sailing from Hydra to Ermioni. Luckily no one from the group got seasick again, since we had a calm sea ahead of us. This was the day we sailed next to turtles. It was incredible. The skipper knows the region very well and said that it is usual to see them around during this time of the year. The advantage of sailing instead of moving with the engine is that you do not scare animals away from the boat, the curious dolphins rather follow you.
After so much excitement we had a lunch break at Octopus Bay, well this is what we called it, can you imagine why?
Passing the Dokos Island that stands between Hydra and Ermioni shores in south Peloponnesus we began to see our destination, where we would spend our last night before going back to Poros. Ermioni is a small town with a peaceful wide port, located in the Argolid peninsula in Peloponnesus, so it is not an island like the previous stops. Surrounded by unspoilt woods and with authentic Greek style architecture and vibes, from here you can explore the rest of Peloponnesus peninsula and its rich history if you have time. It is connected to central Greece by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which separates the Gulf of Corinth from the Saronic Gulf. For instance, you could drive back to Athens by car from here.
Back to Poros
Friday: we sail from Ermioni all the way back to Poros. A day filled with sailing and beautiful seascapes, the best way to enjoy the last moments of this sailing course. At night, we said goodbye to the rest of the group drinking ouzo and eating fava and fresh fish like a local.
Saturday: During the afternoon we took a ferryboat from Poros to Athens and the train to the airport to fly back home…
Our sailing journey around the Saronic islands from Poros to Ermioni was one of a kind, no problems nor big storms juts shades of blue and lots of sunshine, every new challenge was met with enthusiasm, as I discovered I am a very talented onboard chef. Negative facts about this holiday would be, that it is more expensive than backpacking, plus you have to work onboard, and that the itinerary is fixed, meaning you get limited time to explore the islands. But since I do not mind working, only mild seasickness bothered me, during the hours before reaching Hydra, the quintessential Greek island, a place I would love to go back to.
¨A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind. Live passionately, even if it kills you because something is going to kill you anyway.¨
- Webb Chiles completed four circumnavigations, set two world records (November 11, 1941 age 79 years), United States
The next story is about a bus tour around Greece with Europamundo Vacaciones: Athens, Meteora, Metsovo, Corfu, Parga, Levkada, Olimpia, Delfos, Sparta and Corinth
Sailing in Croatia:
