Any recommendations on cruising guides for the Med?

[Miguelso]

We (Family of 4) are starting to think about our next sabbatical, this time in the Med. Does anyone have any recommendations on guides or books we can start reading? Thanks

[Gruz]

Originally Posted by Miguelso

We (Family of 4) are starting to think about our next sabbatical, this time in the Med. Does anyone have any recommendations on guides or books we can start reading? Thanks

Don't know for the rest of Mediterranean but if you are around French Riviera or Corsica I would recommend "Mediterranean France and Corsica: A Sea Guide" by Rod Heikell

[chuckr]

The Med is not a small pond - it is huge and the variety of places to sail can be overwhelming.
'How long do you have? What do you want to see - old rocks, great beaches, history, new cultures what?
Heikell has cruising guides for each area of the Med and they are quite good. Pick an area get something like Lonely Planet for the area and Heikell - then decide how many days you have and plan according spending not to long in one area before moving on to the next stop.

[Yellow bird]

Originally Posted by Miguelso

We (Family of 4) are starting to think about our next sabbatical, this time in the Med. Does anyone have any recommendations on guides or books we can start reading? Thanks

This for have a general idea:
https://www.imray.com/publications/I...dbooks/IB0175/


And when you will have chosen the area:
https://www.imray.com/publications/I...Mediterranean/

[Miguelso]

Thank you for the responses, it seems like Ron Heikell is right person to read. We are actually thinking in spending two seasons in the Med, but we are just starting the research, so we still don't know the route, nor we are familiar with the weather. Not sure how comfortable would be to cruise during the winter. So I guess the more general "Mediterranean Cruising Handbook" will help us start the process.
Thanks again.

[Yellow bird]

I've been sailing in the Mediterranean for over thirty years,
if, after reading the book, you have any specific doubts, do not hesitate to ask,

even through mp

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by Miguelso

Thank you for the responses, it seems like Ron Heikell is right person to read. We are actually thinking in spending two seasons in the Med, but we are just starting the research, so we still don't know the route, nor we are familiar with the weather. Not sure how comfortable would be to cruise during the winter. So I guess the more general "Mediterranean Cruising Handbook" will help us start the process.
Thanks again.

If you want a really bad ride with nothing to do sail the Med in the winter - most folks sail about late April or so and sail through Oct or so - after Oct things close down and it is COLD - this winter is one of the worse -

As for weather we use Windty among others and others will tell you what they like - but start watching it - With the winds you do need patience to wait them out. I assume you have sailed a lot before and what we found when we came over is the seas get up quickly and become short steep and breaking -

And do not forget Schengen - 90 days in the EU Schengen countries and then 90 days out - so takes a bit of planning to deal with it.

We just finished out 5th year in the Med and have seen most of it but will see what we have not seen this coming year before heading back across

[coopec43]

I think this site is a "must" for ocean voyagers and it costs nothing.

https://www.noonsite.com/Countries

Clive

[Sojourner]

Just a word on sailing the med in winter and hating it... we're doing that now. Yeah, the winter weather can get wild, but in the right places it is perfectly manageable, and there are many many good sailing days in there. Here in the Belares of Spain (mallorca specifically) is excellent for that. Cheap little marinas to duck into and be well sheltered, but also beautiful cruising. The days now in February have been nothing but sun the last two weeks and forecasted the same for the next, between 14-19 degrees C. People are swimming still. With sunshine, 18 degrees is Tshirt and shorts weather. Malta is even warmer. For next winter, we're going to explore Israel, where it is significantly even warmer than that. We don't have to worry about visas (we are dual US/EU and the boat is EU) but between Israel / Tunisia / Tangier (an awesome place) and Turkey can get you enough time to hop around. I think spending the winter here would be less stressful than spending hurricane season in the Caribe, but I've not done that (yet) so I don't really know. But I'll take putting on a sweater over losing my insurance and having to move my boat hundreds of miles anyday

[stevead]

+1 for Rod Heikell's guides. (or any of the Imray guides for that matter).
+1 for noonsite.


Other useful sources:
Web Sites:

JimB Sailing: JimB Sail | A Cruising Guide for European Coastlines
Cruisers Wiki: RIBnet Forums - Powered by vBulletin


Associations:
The Cruising Association

membership required to access online information, but there are many additional benefits.
https://www.theca.org.uk



Some good (meaning detailed) guides for anchorages:
For the Adriatic (Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro):
777 Harbours & Anchorages Pilot Book - Eastern Adriatic
by Karl Heinz Bestandig & Dario Silvestro


For Greece:
The Eagle Ray publications, Various editions for the Dodecanese, Ionian, Cyclades etc.
Home - Eagle Ray Publications - Online Store. Nautical Chart | Sailing Yacht Guide | Pilot Book Aegean, Ionian, Greek, Greece, Hellas


Two seasons won't be enough !!

[chook]

Must agree with a couple of posts from above, we wintered in Kos and it was from what the locals said the worst winter ever. We purchased our boat in Turkey, cruised across the cyclades and are on our way to Croatia. We document most of our trip so check out what we witnessed, hope it helps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpkA8EopCsk

[Sam8989]

You'll need to look at what lines are sailing to where you want to go, what's included, room this, onboard activities, age requirements for kids clubs, etc. Use cruises sites to sort through all the options