Greece · Saronic Gulf
Yacht Charter Saronic Islands
Five islands within two hours of Athens, one of which has never allowed a wheeled vehicle.
The Saronic Gulf sits between Attica and the Peloponnese and holds Aegina, Agistri, Poros, Hydra and Spetses in a line running south-west, none of them more than a few hours from Athens. It is the gentlest cruising in Greece: short hops, deep sheltered water, and a meltemi that arrives here worn down by the mainland instead of at full strength.
Hydra and Spetses
Hydra allows no wheeled vehicles at all — not one, not for deliveries, not for rubbish. Everything moves by mule, handcart or boat, and it has been that way since the rule was made. The town is an amphitheatre of stone captains' mansions round a harbour with no beach and no road out.
Spetses allows a handful of taxis and no private cars in the town, and is greener and lower. Its Dapia waterfront was built for the shipowning families who financed the war of independence, and the Poseidonion hotel of 1914 still runs on the front.
Aegina and Poros
Aegina has the Temple of Aphaia, one of the best-preserved Doric temples anywhere, standing on a pine ridge with a view that makes an equal triangle with the Parthenon and the temple at Sounion — a placement the ancients are unlikely to have arrived at by accident.
Poros is separated from the Peloponnese by a channel two hundred metres wide, which makes the approach feel like entering a river. The town climbs to a clock tower and the lemon groves are on the mainland side, across the water.
Sailing the gulf
Distances are short: Aegina is an hour and a half from Athens, and the whole chain can be sailed in a week without a long day. The gulf is deep and clean of hazards, and there is somewhere to tuck into on any wind.
Off Dokos, between Hydra and the mainland, lies the oldest shipwreck ever found — a cargo of pottery that went down around 2200 BC. It is protected and dived only with permission.
Practical notes
- Aegina, Agistri, Poros, Hydra and Spetses, all within a few hours of Athens
- Hydra allows no wheeled vehicles of any kind: everything moves by mule, handcart or boat
- The Temple of Aphaia on Aegina makes an equal triangle with the Parthenon and Sounion
- Poros is separated from the Peloponnese by a channel two hundred metres wide
- The meltemi arrives here weakened by the mainland, so the gulf is the gentlest cruising in Greece
Reached from: Athens and the Argolic Gulf
Where to dine
A table by the water
Techne
HydraIn a courtyard off the harbour, doing a short changing menu away from the quayside crowd.
Patralis
SpetsesOn the water at Kounoupitsa, family-run since 1935, and the fish is the reason.
Skotadis
AeginaOn the front at Aegina town, where the pistachios turn up in everything including the dessert.
What to do
Anchorages & excursions
Hydra harbour
An amphitheatre of stone captains' mansions round a port with no beach, no road out and no wheeled vehicles.
The Temple of Aphaia
One of the best-preserved Doric temples anywhere, on a pine ridge on Aegina.
The Poros channel
Two hundred metres wide between the island and the Peloponnese, so the approach reads like a river.
The Dokos wreck
The oldest shipwreck ever found, a cargo of pottery lost around 2200 BC, dived only with permission.
The fleet
Yachts available for Saronic Islands
Vessels that operate here, from flagship motor yachts to smaller crewed boats. Every rate is quoted on enquiry.
Good to know
Questions we are asked about the Saronic Islands
- Which island should we base on?
- It depends on the week. Hydra for the harbour and the absence of traffic, Spetses for space and greenery, Aegina for the temple and the short hop from Athens, Poros for shelter. Most weeks take in three or four.
- Is it true Hydra has no cars?
- Not one. No private cars, no delivery vans, no rubbish trucks. Mules, handcarts and boats do all of it, and the rule has held long enough to shape the town.
- What does a yacht charter in the Saronic cost?
- It depends on the yacht, the season and the crew, so we quote on enquiry rather than publish a figure that would be wrong for most weeks.
Destinations
Nearby destinations
Charter here
Enquire about a charter in the Saronic Islands
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are, and we will come back with the right yacht and a full quotation.