One of my goals is to eventually rent a sail boat (ideally with friends) and travel between the islands. If it is a lot of fun in Greece, I might plan to do a similar adventure in the Caribbean. I just didn’t know how expensive it would be.
From some research, there are a couple of options with increasing cost for each level:
- Level 1 (Cheapest): Rent a Boat (No Crew) – aka Bareboat
- Level 2: Hire Boat and Skipper
- Level 3 (Most Expensive): Hire a full crew
There is also the option of joining a “Flotilla Sailing Holiday” where you join up with other bareboat boats each night. Under this scenario, the lead boat would have a skipper. If you have any difficulties, they would be able to provide guidance. This could be ideal if you were traveling with a smaller group.
The costs can vary quite significantly depending on the season with the summer being the most expensive time to rent a boat. The peak costs run from July 20th to August 24th with low season up to April 20th and after November 2nd.
One company that I came across was “Greek Sails.” I am sure there are a number of other operators out there. When I get closer to going on this adventure, I will update this post. I figure their prices are probably 20% within the likelihood of other operators.
Level 1: Bareboat
The bareboat rentals run from 1,150 Euro / Week (700 Euro in low season) for a boat that can hold 2 people (4 if other 2 are children) to 4,400 Euro / Week ($2,500 in low season) for a boat to travel from July 20th to August 24th for a group of 10 adults.
Companies will normally give a small discount 5 – 10% if you hire the boat for more than 1 week.
As a reference Gap Adventures, one of the cheapest tour operators out there offers a 1,500 per person trip from Mykonos to Santorini over 8 days. You can see that hiring your boat is a much cheaper option.
https://www.gadventures.com/trips/sailing-greece-mykonos-to-santorini/GVMS/2015/
Level 2: Hire a Boat with Skipper
The cost of a Skipper will add 140 Euro per day.
Level 3: Hire a Full Crew
You will need to add an additional charge of 120 Euro per person for a hostess/crew/on-board cook.
Cost of “Floating Sailing Holiday”
The cost is 280 Euro to 400 Euro. This also includes the cleaning charge, which is a 70/80 Euro value, and fuel. You also acquire a beach boat party.
This is the website for them:
Information from Mykonos to Santorini
It is feasible to do this on a 1 week charter. Mykonos is about 75 miles from Santorini with lots of great options to stop in between.
This one article mentioned that finding a spot to dock in Santorini might be hard, and it might be better idea to dock in Ios and take day boat to Santorini.
Article:
http://www.easysailing.gr/en/where-to-sail/greece/cyclades-islands/67-santorini-island-sailing-yacht-charter
