Albania · Ionian Riviera
Yacht Charter Albania
Crewed yacht charter in Albania — Ksamil, Porto Palermo and Himarë, added to an Ionian week from Corfu.
Albania is an hour from Corfu and about thirty years behind it, which is both the reason to go and the reason to plan it properly. The Riviera between Saranda and Vlorë has white shingle bays, water that turns turquoise over the sandbanks and villages that tourism has barely reached; what it does not have is yacht infrastructure. There is no marina on this coast that takes a forty-metre yacht comfortably alongside, few harbours that shelter in a westerly, and no yacht in this fleet lies here — the boat is positioned from the eastern Mediterranean for your week. Which is why the honest answer, for almost every party who asks, is two or three days inside an Ionian week rather than a week of its own.
The coast, and how it is actually sailed
Saranda is the southern gate: around twelve nautical miles from Corfu, an hour under power, and the port where the yacht clears into the country. Ksamil sits just below it, opposite the northern tip of Corfu, with four low islets a short row off the beach in water shallow enough to read the bottom. North of Saranda the coast runs up past Borsh and Qeparo to Porto Palermo and Himarë, then Gjipe, where a canyon comes out at the sea. Vlorë is at the top, some sixty miles from Saranda, and most parties never go that far.
The rhythm here is anchoring rather than berthing. A large yacht lies off Ksamil rather than in it and works the tender; Porto Palermo, a deep bay with one of Ali Pasha's castles on the isthmus inside it, is the one place on the Riviera where you can sleep through a blow. Himarë gives you a waterfront to walk and a dinner of lamb and mountain cheeses that has nothing to do with the Greek menu you were reading the night before.
Two things ashore earn the tender ride. Butrint, half an hour from the Ksamil anchorage, is Greek, Roman and Venetian, set inside a lagoon, and quieter than any comparable site across the water. The Blue Eye, a karst spring of improbable blue, is half an hour inland and a good use of a morning when the wind has gone into the west and the anchorages are uncomfortable.
Why Albania is an addition, not a week
The cruisable Riviera is about sixty nautical miles end to end, and the half worth slowing down for is thirty. Given seven days here you would be repeating yourself by Thursday. Given a week out of Corfu — Paxos, Antipaxos, the Corfu channel — with two or three days across the water, you get the whole point of the place without the padding. Half of what makes this coast startling is the contrast with the one you have just left.
Albania is outside the European Union, so the crossing is a border rather than a hop. You clear out of Greece at Corfu and in at Saranda, everyone aboard needs a passport, and an agent handles the yacht's papers with the police, customs and the port authority. It costs a morning, not a day, and it is the practical argument for going in once and staying a few nights rather than dipping in twice.
Provision, bunker and fill the tanks on the Greek side. Fuel, chandlery and technical help are thin on the Albanian Riviera, and a crew cooking for ten or twelve guests should not be looking for a butcher in Himarë. This is a coast a yacht should arrive at self-sufficient, which is precisely what a properly crewed boat is for.
Which yacht, and where it comes from
No yacht in this fleet is based in Albania, and that belongs on the page rather than in the follow-up email. These waters are covered by six large crewed yachts working the eastern Mediterranean: Aquarius (45.8m, motor), Clase Azul (a 48.2m gulet), North Wind (44m, under sail), Sanctuary (43m, motor), Antheya III (35.2m) and White Pearl (33.9m). One of them is positioned for your dates, and you board in Corfu or another Greek Ionian port before crossing.
That has a consequence worth knowing early rather than late. North Wind and Antheya III already work Greek waters, so their positioning leg is short and they can be arranged at shorter notice. The yachts on the Turkish coast — Aquarius, Clase Azul, Sanctuary and White Pearl — can certainly come, but the delivery is measured in days, so a late enquiry gets whichever boat is close rather than whichever boat you liked the look of.
For the coast itself, the tender matters more than the top speed. Everything you go ashore for is a tender ride, the water at Ksamil is shallow enough that draught decides where you can lie, and the days are spent at anchor — which puts the premium on shade and a good bathing platform rather than on arriving anywhere quickly. Ask also for a captain who has cleared into Albania before. It is a short list, and it is the difference between a morning of paperwork and a day of it.
Practical notes
- Saranda is around twelve nautical miles from Corfu — an hour under power, and the usual port of entry
- Albania is outside the EU: passports for everyone aboard, and the yacht clears in and out through an agent. Allow a morning
- June to September for the water; Ksamil's beaches are busy in July and August, and the anchorages off them are not
- Almost no berths for a large yacht and little shelter in a westerly — nights are at anchor, and Porto Palermo is the one properly protected bay
- Provision, bunker and take on water in Corfu before crossing; support on the Albanian side is limited
Reached from: Corfu and the Greek Ionian ports, clearing in at Saranda
Where to dine
A table by the water
The tavernas at Ksamil
KsamilGrilled fish and Butrint mussels, served a few metres from the water.
Himarë waterfront
HimarëRiviera cooking, plain and honest: lamb, mountain cheeses, local wine.
Porto Palermo
Porto PalermoA handful of kitchens, all facing the castle. You eat whatever came up in the nets that morning.
What to do
Anchorages & excursions
Butrint
A UNESCO site — Greek, Roman and Venetian — inside a lagoon, half an hour from the Ksamil anchorage.
The Ksamil islets
Four islets a short row from the shore, sand-bottomed and very shallow.
Ali Pasha's castle
A nineteenth-century fortress on an isthmus, inside a deep and sheltered bay.
The Blue Eye
A karst spring of improbable blue, half an hour inland from the coast.
The fleet
Yachts available for Albania
Vessels that operate here, from flagship motor yachts to smaller crewed boats. Every rate is quoted on enquiry.
Itineraries
Yacht charter itineraries in Albania
What a week here actually looks like, day by day.
Good to know
Questions we are asked about Albania
- Do you have a yacht based in Albania?
- No, and we would rather say so here than after you have enquired. Nothing in the fleet lies on this coast. These waters are covered by six crewed yachts working the eastern Mediterranean — Greek waters and the Turkish coast — and one of them is positioned for your week, so the delivery leg is done before you arrive. You board in Corfu or another Greek Ionian port and cross in the morning. It also means dates matter: positioning takes days, not hours.
- Can we charter in Albania for a whole week?
- You can, and we would usually talk you out of it. The cruisable coast is about sixty nautical miles and the part worth lingering over is half of that, so a full week starts repeating itself. The week we would actually propose is Corfu, Paxos and Antipaxos with two or three days on the Albanian Riviera in the middle of it.
- What is involved in crossing over from Corfu?
- It is a border crossing, not a day hop: Albania is outside the EU. You clear out of Greece at Corfu and in at Saranda, everyone aboard needs a passport, and an agent deals with the police, customs and the port authority on the yacht's behalf. Budget a morning for it, and plan to enter once rather than twice.
- When is the best time to go?
- June to September, with the water at its warmest in August and September. Ksamil's beaches fill up in July and August with visitors arriving by road, which matters less than it sounds: you are anchored off them, and you can be at Porto Palermo or Gjipe in an hour. Outside those months the swell from the west becomes the limiting factor rather than the crowds.
- What does a yacht charter in Albania cost?
- Rates depend on the yacht, the week and the positioning leg the boat has to make to get there, so we quote on enquiry rather than publish a figure that would be wrong for most people. Send us your dates and party size and we will come back with a proposal.
Destinations
Nearby destinations
Charter here
Enquire about a charter in Albania
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are, and we will come back with the right yacht and a full quotation.