Charter Options

For Shantal — Athens / Saronic — July 2026

9 guests 7 days 3 options

Weather & the plan

Generally settled in summer — some meltemi in the mornings and a northwest sea-breeze that picks up after midday. We'll plan legs to arrive early and leave the afternoons for swimming.

Where you might cruise

The Saronic Gulf — Hydra, Spetses & the Islands

From Alimos Marina in Athens, the Saronic opens up a week of real contrasts: ancient temples above pistachio groves, car-free islands built from dressed stone, pine forests running to the water's edge, and some of the clearest swimming in the Aegean. The classic loop runs south to Aegina first — an easy shakedown leg — then across to Poros, Hydra and Spetses, with Dokos providing the best wild anchorage on the route. Distances are short (most legs are 2–3 hours under sail), which leaves time to actually be somewhere rather than just transit through it.

Towns & harbours

Hydra📷 Mauricio Muñoz

Hydra

Flagship island

The jewel of the Saronic — and unlike anywhere else in Greece. No cars, no motorbikes, nothing motorised except the garbage truck. Supplies move by donkey; guests move on foot along stone-paved lanes between 18th-century merchant mansions. The horseshoe harbour is one of the most beautiful in the Med, the waterfront tavernas are reliably good, and empty coves are a twenty-minute walk from the quay. One of the genuinely unmissable stops.

Spetses📷 Nick Moshoviths

Spetses

Pine-forest island

Almost as car-free as Hydra but with a very different character — wider streets, horse-drawn carriages, pine forests coming right to the beach. The old harbour (Palio Limani) is the most charming berth; ferries use the new port. Good beach clubs on the south and west coasts, and the Peloponnese coast sits just four miles across the water, close enough to dinghy to for lunch.

Poros📷 Mariam Gogiashvili

Poros

Lively harbour town

More of a bustling town than the quieter islands to the south — the channel between Poros and the Peloponnese is barely 200 metres wide, giving it a river-harbour feel with ferries, yachts and fishing boats all jostling past. The clock tower on the pine ridge above is the postcard shot. Good provisioning and reliable facilities make it a sensible mid-week stop before pushing on to Hydra.

Aegina📷 Marco Pregnolato

Aegina

First-night stop

The closest Saronic island to Athens — typically a half-day sail, perfect to settle in and find your sea legs before pushing south. The neoclassical port town is genuinely pretty, the pistachio groves are famous (buy a kilo before leaving), and the Temple of Aphaia — one of the best-preserved in Greece, on a pine-covered ridge above the sea — is worth the taxi ride up.

Bays & anchorages

Dokos📷 George Hiles

Dokos

Uninhabited island anchorage

A small uninhabited island between Hydra and the Peloponnese — the most rewarding wild stop on the route. The main anchorage on the north shore (Sklavos Bay) is well-sheltered and almost always quiet. Just goats on the rocks above and gin-clear water below. The seabed around the island holds one of the oldest known shipwrecks in the world: a late-Bronze Age trading vessel, visible to divers in about 18 metres.

Zogeria Bay, Spetses📷 Theo Maroulis

Zogeria Bay, Spetses

Pine-backed bay

On the sheltered northwest coast of Spetses — a curved inlet framed by pine trees running almost to the water's edge. Small beach, a simple taverna open in summer, good holding in sand. One of those anchorages that feels impossibly peaceful given that you left Athens this morning.

Agii Anargiri, Spetses📷 Ramon Kagie

Agii Anargiri, Spetses

Beach anchorage

A long sandy beach on the southwest side of Spetses, consistently rated one of the best in the Saronic. Shallow, clear water and reasonable shelter in most conditions. Anchor off and swim ashore; there's a beach bar if you want company. The walk over the headland to the old harbour takes about 40 minutes through the pines.

Bisti Bay, Hydra📷 Aris Rovas

Bisti Bay, Hydra

Secluded western cove

At the western tip of Hydra — a short motor from the port but feeling a world away from the harbour bustle. Rocky, private, and very clear water over white sand. Best for a midday swim rather than an overnight: it can be rolly if a westerly fills in. Arrive before noon or after the day-boats leave and you may have it to yourself.

The cruising area

Alimos MarinaAthens · departureAeginaAngistriPorosHydraSpetsesDokoswild anchorageZogeria BaySpetsesAgii AnargiriSpetsesBisti BayHydraTown / harbourBay / anchorage© OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO

Photos via Unsplash — final itinerary depends on weather and what the crew feels like that day.