Family Vacation in the Mediterranean
Private crewed catamarans, motor yachts and gulets for families of up to sixteen, in the Greek Islands and on the Turkish coast
- No fee for our service
- Family run since 1998
- Members of CYBA, HYBA and FYBA
- No fee for our service
- Family run since 1998
- Members of CYBA, HYBA and FYBA
A week of Greek islands on your own crewed yacht, where the kids swim before breakfast, ride a donkey on Hydra, and sleep in the same bed every night.
Parents ask us whether Greece works with children. It does, if you pick the right islands. The Saronic Gulf, a morning’s sail from Athens, has the flattest water you can reach without a second flight, a harbor town every afternoon and an ice cream on every quay. A crewed family yacht charter there is the rare European trip where nobody unpacks twice and nobody waits for a ferry.
Our booking manager, Christina Papadopoulos, was born and raised in Greece and has sailed the islands and the Turkish coast for years. She meets the crews at the charter shows in Greece and Turkey, which is how we know which captains are good with children and which boats have the netting and the toys.
Why a yacht for a family in Greece
Unpack once, see six islands
A hotel vacation in Greece means ferry timetables and a suitcase bumping down a cobbled lane. On a crewed yacht the islands come to you. Two or three hours underway in the morning, the afternoon in the water, the evening in a harbor town, and nobody packs a bag all week.
The crew does the hard part
A captain and a chef, and on bigger boats a deckhand or a stewardess. The captain picks the anchorage, the chef cooks around the preference sheet, picky eaters included, and you spend the day in the water with the kids instead of running the boat.
Warm, clear and close together
The Saronic Gulf and the Ionian are protected water with hops of two or three hours, so the kids are neither seasick nor bored. The sea is warm enough for small children from June into October, and clear enough to watch the anchor land on the bottom.
Where you will go
Most families with us start in Athens and spend the week in the Saronic Gulf and the Peloponnese coast across from it. The islands are close together, the water is flat, and every harbor has a quay to walk along after dinner. Families with teenagers who want Santorini and Mykonos go in June or September, when the meltemi wind is quieter. More about the Greek Islands.
The dashed line runs days 1 to 5, out to Spetses by way of Epidaurus. The lighter dotted line is the way back on days 6 and 7, with the last night at the dock in Athens.
A sample seven night route, Athens, the Saronic Gulf and Epidaurus
Times are for a sailing catamaran. A motor yacht does the same hops in half the time, and Greek charters usually run Saturday to Saturday.
Board at Alimos marina after lunch and cross to Aegina in two or three hours. First swim off the boat at Moni, a small island where deer and peacocks walk down to the beach, then the crew moves you around to Perdika for the night.
Two or three hours west across the strait to Palaia Epidavros, the port for Epidaurus. A car takes you the six miles inland to the theater, where a coin dropped on the stage can be heard from the top row, and on to Nafplio, forty minutes further, for the Palamidi fortress, 999 steps as the locals count them, and a carriage ride around the old town. Night at anchor in the bay.
First thing, the kids snorkel over the sunken Roman villa in the bay, in six feet of clear water. Then three or four hours around the Methana peninsula to Poros. Swim at Russian Bay, then climb to the clock tower above Poros town while the chef gets dinner going. The ferries come and go under your stern all evening, which is the best show on the island when you are five.
Two hours down the coast. No cars on Hydra, so the luggage goes by donkey and the kids go by water taxi. Swim off the rocks at Hydronetta, walk the harbor at dusk, and anchor in Mandraki bay for a quiet night.
Horse carriages instead of taxis, and the pine shaded bay at Zogeria, where the water is shallow enough for the little ones to stand. Dinner in the old harbor.
The longest hop of the week, three or four hours north with lunch at anchor on the way, and the night in a bay on Poros with the town lights across the water.
Two hours to Agistri for a last swim at Aponisos, where the lagoon is the color of the Bahamas, then two or three hours back to Alimos for a quiet last night at the dock before the flight home.
Teenagers and the Cyclades. June or September. If the family wants Santorini and Mykonos, we run a one way route from Athens through Kythnos, Sifnos and Milos that ends under the caldera. One way routes carry a repositioning fee, which we show you up front. In July and August the meltemi can blow for days out there, so we keep families in the Saronic and send them to Santorini by ferry if they must.
Small children and the Ionian. Green and flat. Fly to Preveza and spend the week between Lefkada, Meganisi, Ithaca and Kefalonia. Pine trees down to the water, a sea cave the tender can drive into, and the calmest water in Greece. It is a second flight, an hour in the air from Athens to Preveza, but it is the right answer for children under six.
or call 1 877 759 8263
The right yacht for a family
How many of you there are, and how old, changes the boat more than anything else.
Catamaran for one family
Four cabins, four bathrooms, a trampoline up front and a cockpit the size of a living room. Stable at anchor and shallow enough to swim ashore. The usual choice for two parents and two to four children in the Saronic or the Ionian.
Motor yacht for teenagers and the Cyclades
Faster between islands, which matters in the Cyclades, where the distances are longer than they look on a map. Air conditioning throughout, a bigger master cabin, and room for a grandparent who would rather read on the aft deck. Most larger motor yachts in Greece are stabilized, which the grandparent will thank you for at anchor.
Gulet for two families
A wooden Turkish yacht with six to eight cabins, a crew of four and a deck the size of a tennis court. Slow, shaded and priced by the boat, so two families or three generations pay less per cabin than on anything else we book. Bodrum or Gocek for a week, or across to the Greek Dodecanese.
Nearly every crewed yacht in Greece carries a tender, snorkel gear and a paddleboard or two. Water skis and a wakeboard are less common than in the Caribbean, so say if they matter and we will find a boat that carries them.
What the kids will do
There is something to do at every stop, and most kids are asleep before the adults finish dinner. Our Sailing with Kids page has the long version.
- Swimming off the boat at every stop. The water is warm from June, and in the Saronic it is clear to the bottom.
- Snorkeling. Fewer fish than the Bahamas, but more to poke around in. Sea caves, a sunken villa at Epidaurus, and an octopus under the rocks at most anchorages.
- The tender. Teenagers can take the wheel with a crew member beside them, where the captain allows it, and in the Ionian it goes into the sea caves.
- Donkeys on Hydra, horse carriages on Spetses, the fortress steps at Nafplio and the theater at Epidaurus, which they will test for themselves with a whisper.
- The ferries coming in at dusk, and the harbor walk after dinner that every Greek town does.
- Movies and music in the evening, and WiFi. Most crewed yachts in Greece carry 4G or satellite internet, so say if that matters to the teenagers and we will check the boats we shortlist.
The small things we arrange
Mention the children in your first note to us. Some of this is part of the charter and some is at cost. We tell you which before you book.
- Child size life jackets on board before you arrive, and netting on the lifelines for the small ones
- A cabin for a grandparent, a nanny or a friend
- Early dinner for the little ones and a later one for the adults, on board or at a taverna the crew has booked
- A guide for the Acropolis who is good with children, and a car and driver for Epidaurus or Mycenae
- A birthday cake and a beach picnic
- A tube or a wakeboard if the boat does not carry one
- A night in Athens at either end, in a hotel near the Acropolis with a pool
When to go
The Greek charter season runs from the middle of May to the middle of October. Family weeks follow the school calendar, so here is how Greece lines up with it.
June to early July
School is out, the water is warm and the meltemi is still light. The best family weeks in Greece. Book them the summer before.
Mid July to mid August
Hot, full and windy in the Cyclades, so this is when we keep families in the Saronic Gulf or the Ionian, where the wind drops and the crew knows which bays stay quiet.
Late August and September
Still warm, quieter, and September costs less than July. If the school year starts late where you live, this is the week to take.
How booking works
A phone call or the form on this page is enough to start.
Photos, cabin plans, crew profiles and the exact terms for each one.
We hold the yacht, send the contract and take the deposit.
Christina briefs the crew on the children before you arrive. From the dock on, the captain runs the boat.
Our service costs you nothing extra. Charter brokers are paid by the yacht, so the rate we quote is the yacht’s own rate. Christina is a member of the Hellenic Yacht Brokers Association. Gail King sits on the board of the Charter Yacht Brokers Association and chairs its ethics committee. That is the kind of thing that matters when you are handing over a deposit.
From the standpoint of my family, it was perfect. We have been cruising on my own yachts for many years, so we are a bit spoiled, but my family really loved the trip. Could not have been any better.
Bob Y., family charter on TATIANA in Turkey, August 2013 · Read all client reviews
Founded in 1998 · Over 2000 crewed yachts · Members of CYBA, HYBA and FYBA
Check your dates
Planning a family week in Greece? Send us your dates and the ages and we will tell you which islands suit them and which yachts are free.
- Our service costs you nothing extra. The rate we quote is the yacht’s own rate.
- You get three or four yachts that are free on your dates, with photos, cabin plans, crew profiles and the exact terms.
- Every line of the price is spelled out before you commit.
Booking window. For June or early July, nine to twelve months ahead, because the good boats go first. For September, six to nine. The Greek charter season runs from the middle of May to the middle of October.
Questions parents ask us
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If you have any questions about a Mediterranean family yacht charter call us at 1 877 759 8263, or in Greece at +30 210 895 6443, or contact us by email today.
Is it safe for small children?
We make sure child size life jackets are on board, and most catamarans can rig netting along the lifelines. The crew keeps watch when the kids are in the water, but you are the parents and nobody on board is a babysitter. In the Saronic the hops are short enough that the youngest are rarely underway for more than a couple of hours, and we pick a boat and a crew to suit them.
Will the kids get seasick?
Rarely in the Saronic Gulf or the Ionian, where the hops are short and the water is protected. The Cyclades are a different matter in July and August, which is why we keep families out of them then. Bring whatever works for them in the car, and tell the captain, who will take the first crossing gently. Our What to Bring page has the rest of the packing list.
What about picky eaters?
That is what the preference sheet is for. Greek chefs are used to children. Pasta, grilled chicken and fries sit next to the grilled fish and the salad, and there is yogurt with honey at breakfast.
How many can we bring?
Most crewed catamarans sleep eight guests in four cabins, with the crew in separate quarters. Larger motor yachts take ten or twelve, and a gulet takes twelve to sixteen. Give us the headcount and we will match the boat.
What does the price include?
Most crewed yachts in Greece are quoted as a base rate plus an advance provisioning allowance, usually 25 to 35 percent of the base rate, which pays for fuel, food, drinks and port fees as you go. Anything left comes back to you. Greek VAT is added on top, a tip for the crew at the end of the week is customary, and a one way route carries a repositioning fee. Gulets in Turkey are usually quoted with meals included. We show every line before you commit.
When should we book?
For June or early July, nine to twelve months ahead, because the good boats go first. For September, six to nine. Last minute is possible, with less choice.
Is there a minimum age?
It depends on the yacht and the crew. Many take children of any age, some ask for five and up, and a few are adults only. Give us the age of the youngest and we will only show you boats that take them. Greek crews are used to small children, but cribs and high chairs are not standard, so let us know if you need one.
What paperwork do the kids need?
A passport for everyone, including babies, with at least six months left on it, which covers Greece and Turkey both. US citizens do not need a visa for either. The EU now takes a photo and fingerprints at the border on a first visit, and children under twelve skip the fingerprints. The EU is also due to start asking US visitors to register online before they fly, so we will tell you if it applies to your dates. If a child is traveling with one parent, or with grandparents, carry a notarized consent letter from the parents who stayed home.
What if someone gets hurt?
Aegina, Poros, Hydra and Spetses each have a health center, Aegina and Nafplio have hospitals, and Athens is never more than a few hours away. The European emergency number is 112 and it works in English. Every crewed yacht carries a first aid kit and the captain knows the nearest doctor at every stop. Bring the children’s own medicines, put allergies on the preference sheet, and buy travel insurance that covers a medical flight home.
Tell us who is coming and when.
Call 1 877 759 8263 or send us a note. We’ll come back with yachts that are free on your dates, the islands that suit the ages, and a straight answer on price.
Founded in 1998 by Tony and Gail King, who have a combined experience of over 50 years in the charter industry.
Office Location
1515 North Federal Hwy. Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33432 USA
Phone (United States)
Office: +1 (877) 759-8263
Mobile: +1 (305) 401-8208
Phone (International)
Office: +1 (954) 607-3780
Greece: +30 (210) 895-6443
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