An Introduction to Greece

This page describes Greece, the more general aspects of cruising there, and briefly compares the many cruising regions around the Greek mainland and islands. The left menu leads to member only pages describing these regions in far more detail. 

Introduction. Greece has long periods of warm settled weather, magnificent scenery, historic sites going back four millennia, villages with character, welcoming people, and there’s a strong sense of security. This is the stuff of big tourism – the country’s major industry. Timely buses, awful traffic discipline and crowded airports handle the resulting visitors, but this does create drawbacks. Places with good beaches near airfields have changed their character markedly. Some have gained an overlay of tourist tat; noisy bars, restaurant touts and serried ranks of beach umbrellas. Others have developed into very smart and tasteful international resorts. There is very little high rise development, though a lot of town development is square and ugly concrete. Luckily, old villages beyond the reach of mass tourism, but often easily accessible to yachts, have managed to maintain a great charm - as well as a script unintelligible to most northern Europeans.The cost of living is a little lower than in the moneyed civilisations of northern Europe, the Adriatic and much of the west Mediterrenean. It shows. The infrastructure is less developed ("Er, where did you say you put the used toilet paper?"); housing is more cramped; an older, more family oriented way of life is obvious. The pace of work is slower (geared more to growing crops), and visitors feel more welcomed than fleeced.

The Sailing

Overall. With thousands of miles of deeply indented coastlines and over sixty islands (ranging from the primitive to the height of sophistication) Greek cruising offers enormous variety. Sailing is easy, though some areas have challenging winds. No passages need to be longer than 60nm, the water is warm, there are no tides and fog is unlikely to affect more than half a day through the whole summer. The many cruising areas are defined by geography, each with a different set of attractions and challenges. All together, they comprise one of the world’s great cruising areas, one which would take years to explore thoroughly. Add a host of isolated anchorages, almost universal understanding of English among the younger generations, and it’s easy to see why some areas have become very popular, crowded with yacht traffic in peak season. Luckily, these crowded areas are not yet as hectic as parts of the western Mediterranean, and away from them there are still relatively few yachts. References needed when cruising these waters are listed at the bottom of this page.

Moving around the Regions. It's possible to identify some 12 cruising regions, each with distinctly  different characteristics. Region pages, only visible to members, can be reached from the left hand menu. Broadly, the Ionian, north of Zakinthos, is deservedly popular, and has relatively light winds. The Gulf of Patras and the southern Ionian are coasts of passage, with persistent moderate westerlies or north westerlies; those with time in hand prefer the longer summer seaason of the attractive S Peloponese coast to the more populated gulf. The Eastern Peloponese has convenient southerly winds, blowing towards the popular and busy Saronic Gulf and Athens area. Further east moves into regular northerlies.  Sailors comfortable with brisk Caribbean trade winds will feel at home in the Cyclades, a magnificent archipelago of great variety. Smaller boats may prefer to coast hop inside Evia, through the popular N Sporades, and along the N Greece coast.

Weather

The weather is typical Mediterranean. For a couple of short periods each year temperatures may exceed 38ºC, uncomfortably hot. A summer overlay of northerly winds cools things down a bit, especially at sea. For wind forecasting, it’s convenient to think of only two sorts of weather: settled, and unsettled. Downwind of high ground, very strong gusts may occcur.  There is a very convenient SMS weather forecast service - provided by Poseidon, in addition to its web forecast service, also have a look at http://cirrus.meteo.noa.gr/forecast/bolam/index.htm. The National Observatory of Athens has a very good site with good resolution.

Settled weather. Settled weather is nice, the sky is blue, the winds do what the pilot book says (quite a lot in some areas!), and all the regular anchorages are fine. From mid May to late September settled weather dominates, with only rare sessions of unsettled weather. South of latitude 38°N (Gulfs of Patras and Corinth) the season is noticeably longer by 2 to 4 weeks.

Unsettled Weather. Unsettled Weather is when there are significant clouds around (ignoring the usual mainland thunderstorms) which may last two to four days. Then anything may happen, including occasional very vicious and unpredictable winds from unusual directions. From October to April unsettled weather is quite common; two or three sessions a month, a bit like English summer. May and September are transitional months, when there's a 50% chance you'll find a session of unsettled weather in a two week period.

The Northerlies. Summer is dominated by northerly winds ("maistro" in the Ionian, “meltemi” in the Aegean), which blow quite strongly for two to four days at a time, sometimes longer. These set in by the end of June and continue until early September. The strength varies widely between areas, lightest in the Ionian, Saronic and N Greece, strongest in the mid Aegean, perhaps best called "meltemi alley". It's illustrated here with a picture from www.poseidon.ncmr.gr. The orange is F7, a fairly common occurrence. To cross to the delightful Dodecanese, it's best to wait for a lighter wind period, or do it with the wind on the beam. Then enjoy the flatter water and brisk breezes of the Dodecanese and the Eastern Sporades to the north.  

Local Weather Effects. At these latitudes, amateur analysis of synoptic charts doesn’t work well. Small pressure gradients cause big winds, while diurnal heating and physical geography have strong local effects. A forecast F5 will blow at F7 when backing around a small island, and F3 veering around the other side. Downwind of a ridge will amplify a F5 into a local F7 (Vassiliki in Levkada, Mani in the S Peloponese) with lots of gusts to add interest. Deep bays may have consistent daily thermal winds blowing against the general northerly trend; afternoons with southerly F4 or F5 are common in the bay of Kalamata and the Argolic gulf. 

When to Go

The main sailing season is between 15 April and 15 October. Outside this period there is plenty of settled weather (with light winds) but the likelihood of meeting unsettled weather with its really vicious winds during a two week cruise is high, so look for weather windows and keep within range of good shelter. Tourist activity is thin before 15 May, then moderate, jumping to a maximum in peak season (15 July to 25 August), then remaining busy until 15 October. Everything works during that period. After then, away from towns, things are very quiet indeed, especially during the olive harvest.

Yacht Services

Specialist yacht services are only well developed around Athens and Levkas. Simple fishermen’s chandlery is cheap and available everywhere; more sophisticated chandlery is only available where there are specialist yacht services. There are many small ports, often recently dredged with new quays (yet to be noted in the pilot books), and relatively few marinas. Recently developed ports often have quays, but no management or services yet in place — very cheap harbours. Water supplies aren’t always easy to find, and electronic services very limited indeed. Away from the few full service marinas, fuel is usualy delivered by tanker. Self sufficiency is useful outside the busy areas.

Bureaucracy

Yacht bureaucracy is poorly explained, especially to non-EU craft, and the law sets impossible requirements to report in and out of harbours. Concessions have been implemented for leisure craft, but from time to time an official will insist on the full procedure of booking in and out being followed, or ask where the yacht has been over the last few weeks, or whether you have some certificate or another. This is very rarely a threat; more likely an attempt at education. If it seems rudely put, put it down to the language barrier.

The Way of Life

People and Politics. War, followed by civil war, caused large numbers of young Greeks to emigrate from 1940 onwards. Life for the remainder was harsh. After a period of variable democracy, a military junta ruled, embedding a ‘do as you’re told’ culture among public servants, and a strong independent self reliance among the people. In 1974 the army rebelled against the junta, and democracy was restored. As the country stabilised, expatriates returned, bringing their well-educated Australian, American, Canadian and other nationality offspring with them. This younger generation is re-orienting Greece’s culture to a far worldlier outlook. But the older generation still has influence; politics echo the civil war divisions – right against left – with great passion; bureaucrats still do as they’re told; laws are created without too much consultation with those affected – and then ignored. Self-reliance, a strong entrepreneurial culture, strong family links, and a certain disrespect for ‘stupid laws’ remains.

Village Life. Although easily reached by boat, many islands and villages are still too remote for the package tourist, so they’ve kept their local character. Yachts have the unique ability to anchor off or tie to a quay at little or no cost in these places and become part of village life. In quieter spots the older generation still dresses traditionally and greets you with friendly ‘herete’ or ‘kalimera’. They’ll also expect you to greet them when you enter a shop or taverna, and may ignore you if you don’t! Busy places lose this charm to more commercial interests, but a short walk inland to a nearby hilltop village will escape that effect.

‘Avrio . . . ‘  means ‘tomorrow’. Add ‘maybe’ and perhaps you’ve got the translation right. Time management is not a strong point, and arranging things to happen can be very frustrating. Delays and cancellations make the half completed project boringly normal. If you’re not supervising, boat work often stops.

Opening Hours. Opening hours for shops are flexible, but it’s common for them to shut from 14:00 to 17:30. In tourist areas Sunday opening is common. Bureaucrats, banks and many public services shut down at 13:00 or 14:00, and definitely don’t do Sundays. And while we’re doing time, local summer time is UTC +3.

The Script. I doesn't help that the alphabet is different from our latin script; ‘ΜΠΑΡ’ = ‘Bar’; sometimes also spelt as 'Mπάρ'. This gives shopping a sense of adventure. Luckily, road signs are repeated in Latin script. Transliterations from Greek (a highly phonetic language) to English (anything but!) leave a lot of room for entertainment as well as puzzlement. If you need help finding places or things, most younger people speak enough English, and will enjoy helping you out.

Food. Greece is beginning to do Gourmet, but, while spreading, it’s not yet common. The norm is simplicity; bright neon lights, kitsch decorations, a TV in the corner, paper table cloths, plastic wind breaks, good value for money, tourists feeding cats (un-aware of the rats which follow later) and three categories of simple food. Three categories? Grills, oven cooked food, and fish. Carafe wine is mostly excellent value, good quality, and improving year by year. Bottled wine is a risk - hot storage and low turnover kill many a fine wine.

Café Culture. Many small towns have cafés around squares or along favoured streets where the local population come out for an evening stroll. This 'volta' in the evening is a delightful institution whereby, before the days of the mobile telephone, families and friends kept in touch. Great people watching. It is, of course, very important to be seen in one of the more expensive and luxurious cafés, leaving the older male generation to fill the austere, neon lit places between.

What to See

Greece has three categories of ‘must sees’; the millennia old ruins of early civilisations; those few beautiful town and village centres which have survived earthquakes and developers; and spectacular natural sites. Whilst many of these are easily reached from a harbour or boat, others require a journey inland. A travel book such as ‘The Rough Guide to Greece’ is a definitive source of information. The following attractions are really worth a trek:

• The Minoan Palace at Knossos (near Iraklion,Crete) offers insights which make all other sites easier to understand
• Olympia, crowded, but easily reached by a neat little train from Katakolon on the W Peloponese, is well labeled in English 
• Mistras, reached from the S Peloponese, is a less crowded site, better preserved, but poorly labelled
• The 'hora'. On any smaller island, seek out the hora, the old village, a piece of the past, set high on the island for protection against pirates
• Dramatically sited monasteries teetering from soaring rack pinnacles are one of the most extraordinary features of Greece (Europe, for that matter). Metéora, reached from the NW Aegean is one example; others (more accessible by sea) line the peninsula of Athos, in N Aegean.
• The Samaria gorge, accessible from Chania, Crete, offers a 10 mile walk through massive clefts in the mountains.
• Rhodes’ Crusader Castle, though full of tourists, is massively impressive 
• The mediaeval village of Monemvassia is a warren of arches and alleyways and well restored houses
• The views from Thyra (Santorini) have made this a honeymoon capital of Europe.
• Contrast hedonistic (and smart) Mykonos with the nearby ruins of Delos – ancient and modern, you might say.

Avoid

• Major ferry ports, unless you have to catch a ferry.
• Square, concrete, graffiti covered development around towns.
• Driving! But if you have to, drive defensively, ready for the overtaking vessel coming around the blind corner in front of you.
• Laganas (Zakinthos) and Kardamena (Kos) - unless booze and all night noise are your thing.

Never rely on:

• Sound signals made by vessels around small ports. Any sound may mean 'hullo', 'goodbye', 'get out  of my way!', 'I'm going to turn', 'I'm not going to turn' or 'hey guys, do you like my new horn?'
• Car Hazard Lights or Turn Indicators. They may mean any of the above, (especially if accompanied by a sound signal). Or, 'I'm double parked'.

Further Information

• CA 'Pilot Book Corrections' refer to Rod Heikell's 'Greek Waters Pilot', a long established pilot book covering all Greek Cruising areas. Buy your copy through CA Discount Shop 
• The Greece, Sea Guide, Nikolaos Ilias, 4 volumes in Greek and English is expensive, but gives more anchorages and detail than Heikell, and includes charts. it is obtainable from chandlers in Greek leisure yachting centres.
• The 2008 CA Cruising Guide booklet is an abbreviated version of this Web Cruising Guide.  It can be downloaded by members as a .pdf fle from this link, which also lists corrections to bring the file up to date.
• Pilot Book Updates for Greece (a pdf file) lists updates to Heikell's Greek Waters Pilot.