Sailing Greece in October

[SANSTLMCO]

Looking for a recommendation for the best area of Greece to sail in October. Yes, I have read lots of posts here and on the web, but thought I would post this specific question to the group. We will have one week for sure... am hoping for two weeks but for the moment have to assume it will only be one. We have extensive sailing experience in the Virgin Islands (easy sailing), having kept our previously owned Lagoon 450F in a charter fleet on Tortola. This may be our only opportunity to sail Greece, so looking to get the most out of it. Priorities are beautiful islands/coastline, great anchorages, nice little villages/towns, and no crowds. Sailing distance/time is not important and everything else being equal would prefer shorter over longer sails.

[Anders]

October is a bit late to guarantee good weather. I've seen quite a few charter groups having a short sail to a nearby harbour, stay there for the week before heading home again.

[danstanford]

Could be really cold. I was in Rimini in Italy a few weeks later and it was ski jacket weather.

[sv_pelagia]

We love Greece in October! If you want to have more certainty of warmer weather, consider the Dodecanese islands (e.g,, Kos, Rhodes, Symi, etc) in southeast, close to Turkey.

[Dogscout]

Two things. Fall weather can be ugly in Greece as evidence of a big storm that hit the Ionian on October 4, 2019, and even worse Storm Ianos that hit on September 17th of 2020.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Ianos

That said, Greece is a wonderful place and you can still find lots of great sailing in October. I have used this website to make plans in the islands. It has good descriptions of island regions https://www.sailingissues.com/greek.html

[FormerExpert]

I'd go along with DogScout's views


I spent more than two summers in Greece working on a 42' TDSY a Uniflite with a pair of diesel engines, back in the early 1980's. The "Meltelmi" can be viscous.


There were times that the commercial ferry boats would not go to sea. I'd get time off and get on a ferry boat and go down to Mykonos and such like and then discover that I could not get off the island, back to work, as the return ferries had been cancelled. So we used to stick to places like Spetes Hydra Kos etc. We did a trip one year up the Korinth (Corinth) canal to Corfu via Patras Kefalonia. The Meltemi blows from north to south as there's a low pressure over Turkey and over Italy and it just funnels a 40kt wind on a bad day. Just be careful and read the pilot books before hand..


JM

[bensolomon]

I sailed the cyclades extensively. Left from Athens and went to Cape Sounion. From there, after seeing the Temple of Poseidon set off for Kea and then played in the Cyclades.

The trouble with the cyclades is they're in the latitude between 36 and 37° North and therefore you have the potential for some cold days. But, October can also be very beautiful in that latitude.

Every island is different and they're all lovely!

[IoannisD]

I presume you will be chartering from Athens, Kalamaki or near Athens from Lavrion. In this case for one week you could visit in the Aegean sea the nearby islands of Kythnos, Serifos and Sifnos. They are beautiful, especially during autumn and the 'meltemi' northern wind is not strong. If you have two weeks you could add Paros and Syros.

If you are chartering from the islands of Corfu or Lefkas (western Greece) you could sail to Paxos, Ithaca, Zante and several smaller islands (short distances). Weather might not be as good as in the Aegean, as rainfall is more frequent in October in Western Greece, the wind is generally pleasant for relaxed sailing.

Hope you have a great time and don't hesitate to ask me for more info!

[lawrence_craig]

We had some of our best sailing in the Saronic and Evia channel at that time of year. You get some amazing sunny days and cool nights. Obviously, it is more variable though.