The first week of September Tom and I embarked on a vacation we had been planning for nearly a year and talking about for probably close to ten -- a Greek cruise. Doing a cruise around the Greek islands has always been high on my vacation Wish List. Tom was in Athens years ago for a work trip but I had never been to Greece.
Over the years we researched and requested literature on different cruise options. We did start first with large cruise companies and then looked at the smaller "sail" boats that carry about 150-200 people. We then learned through one of Tom's former co-workers that it's possible to charter a sailboat in Greece and it's actually fairly reasonably priced. He pointed us in the direction of
Sea Trips of Greece.
All the credit for making this trip happen goes to Tom. He did all the coordination with Sea Trips, reserved our boat and crew, took care of the pre-trip payments, and pulled out all the Euro cash we needed to pay our crew and various fees.
Aside from knowing that we were going to the northwest side of Greece...not the side where you'll find the islands of Santorini and Mykono...I didn't know where exactly we were going. I had picked up a few Greece guide books in the library but they didn't include this particular region.
It was only once we were aboard our Bavaria 44-foot sailboat with our Captain, Spyros and our cook/deckhand, Despina that I learned we would be sailing around the Seven Islands of the Ionian Sea.
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| Our sailboat and Spyros and Despina in the background -- Night one in Sivota |
As the trip started to unfold and we visited islands such as Ithaca and Atokos, I remembered long-dormant school days when I studied Latin, and Edith Hamilton's
Mythology, and Homer's
The Illiad and
The Odyssey.
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| Let the Adventure Begin! |
The week was by far the most relaxing vacation I've ever had. Every day we swam, snorkeled, read, relaxed, and ate a LOT -- thanks to Despina. I finished three books on the trip.
So, come along on our journey.
Day One
Late afternoon we met Spyros and Despina and boarded the boat at the Lefkada Marina, which is on the northeast end of the island of Lefkada. This was about a four hour drive outside of Athens.
We traveled to the southern end of the island and stayed in the port of Sivota. It was a nice, leisurely pace. Less than two hours at sea and a brief stop for our first swim. Spyros, who has been sailing for more than two decades and is extremely familiar with the area, was a great guide. He wanted us to have a chance to get used to the boat and feel what it would be like sleeping on the boat, so we stayed in port the first night. From there we got into a routine. One night in port. One night anchored in a bay. Just think of it as a boat's version of cold camping -- no hook ups.
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| Leaving Lefkada - Despina's getting ready to bring up the anchor |
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| Coming into port - Sivota |
Day Two
We left Sivota and headed further south to the island of Ithaca. That morning we had our only sighting of a school of dolphins. I hadn't even considered the possibility of seeing dolphins on the trip but after seeing dolphins on everything from postcards to kitchen towels in gift shops, I began to get excited about the possibility of maybe seeing them. To see them on our first full day at sea felt like such a gift. It made me cry. In the afternoon we anchored in a beautiful bay and had the afternoon to read and swim. We also walked into the town of Kioni. It turned out to be a longer and more strenuous hike than we were expecting but we had a good time and made it back to the boat before it got dark.
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| My best photo of the dolphins |
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| Underway - heading south towards Ithaca |
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| Anchored at first cold camping spot - the water was incredible! |
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| A view of the boat as we were walking across the island to the port of Kioni |
Day Three
We pulled up the anchor and got underway fairly early. We stopped at this secluded beach area tucked in between these cliffs. We swam, snorkeled, and I searched for rocks on the beach. We made our way to the port of Fiskardo on the island of Kefalonia. We walked to the point and looked at the site of two lighthouses and an old Byzantine-era church. This was also where I got my birthday surprise where we visited Nicola, a cheese artisan, gardener, and chef. We got to see his cheese production and made a great dinner of homemade pasta.
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| The lighthouses of Fiskardo - this was taken the morning we were leaving Fiskardo |
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| Doing some exploring on land |
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| Explored the island a bit on the way to Nicola's house |
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| A peaceful morning stroll |
Day Four
Up to this point we had been using the motor but today the wind was right and we got to sail part of the way from Kefalonia to Atokos. We stopped at a beach area on Kefalonia for our first morning swim and then we made our way across to Atokos, an uninhabited island. We anchored in a bay for the afternoon and then traveled around to the southern end and anchored for the night. We were in a bay with a small church and an old house. Tom and I swam to shore and checked out the buildings. This was my favorite island for rocks. I found some of the most beautiful and colorful rocks of the trip. I was the first one up the next morning so I went for a morning swim and took some photos of the sunrise.
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| Secluded swimming spot |
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| Sailing for the first time |
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| The island of Atokos |
Day Five
From Atokos, we headed to the island of Kastos. We tucked into a small bay with the nicest sandy beach of the trip. We both snorkeled and Tom got some fun pictures of us in the water. We headed into the port of Kastos for the night. This was a VERY small village. One gift shop, a couple restaurants, and that was about it. We did a lot of reading and played some games. We had brought Skip-Bo and Dominoes on the trip with us.
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| Sunrise |
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| Some of the rocks I found on Atokos |
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| Port of Kostos |
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| In port for the night |
Day Six
Tom and I were both up early so we watched the sunrise from the boat. We got underway fairly early and started to make our way to the island of Kalamos. We were able to sail again. The sea was a bit choppy so it took a while to find a calm enough place to anchor and swim. It was interesting to watch Spyros maneuver the boat and all the different ways he anchored and tied off the boat during the week. I have never been on a sailboat before so it was a real learning experience. Tom was quick to jump in and actually helped a bit with the sails.
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| Another beautiful sunrise in Kostos |
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| Tom helping with the sail |
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| Time to sail |
We ended up stopping twice to swim along the island of Kalamos. The second spot was this beautiful, long, skinny beach that several people were actually camping on. The whole beach was these smooth white stones that were warm from the sun. We both laid down on the stones and it felt so relaxing. We then made our way for the island of Meganisi where we spent the night in an incredibly calm bay with only two other boats. We walked into the port city Vathis. This was a much easier walk than our one on Ithaca. It was also my birthday and Despina surprised me with loukoamia and birthday candles.
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| A very tiny 'beach' area where we swam and snorkeled. The sea was a bit restless this day. |
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| Beautiful views |
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| We're sailing |
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| The thin strip of beach with the beautiful smooth white stones. |
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| A VERY special, memorable birthday! |
Day Seven
Our last full day on the boat. Tom and I were both up early. Our cabin didn't have a cross breeze so we did get warm at night. We went topside and laid down on the benches and got some more sleep. Another beautiful sunrise with incredibly calm water. We headed to a small alcove just north of Varko on the mainland. This was probably my favorite place to snorkel. Lots of fish and I saw red starfish, which were amazing. We stayed at anchor for hours and swam twice and had a nice lunch. We got underway around 3 p.m. to start making our way back to the Lefkada Marina. We docked the boat and said our good-byes to Spyros and Despina. Tom and I stayed one final night on the boat and then headed for Athens the next morning.
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| Looks more like a lake than a sea |
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| Catching some extra zzzzzs |
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| Looking back towards our "parking" spot - last night of cold camping |
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| We requested fishing poles and put them out periodically but didn't catch anything |
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| Spent final afternoon here - swimming and snorkeling |
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| Returning to Lefkada |
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| Final good-byes on the boat |
For me, this 7-day cruise through the Ionian Sea will stand out as one of my most favorite vacations. I journaled a lot during the trip so I've got a good record of the trip. We also filmed Spyros talking through our journey using the navigation map so that we have that as a memento too. I would highly recommend this experience and would be happy to answer questions if anyone has any. Thanks for hanging in there. I know this was a rather long post.
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