The Very Best Ionian Yacht Charter Week 2

This is the week two itinerary of the 2019 NauticEd Flotilla Sailing the Ionian Sea, Greece

When you are doing a 2-week charter flotilla – after week 1 you’re only halfway through. Seems obvious but you should have seen the disappointment and jealousy on the faces of those that left us at the end of week 1.

At this stage, we are rating this location in our top 5 charter locations in the world. There is plenty to see and do and you could spend absolute weeks and weeks here and not go to the same place twice. It is truly awesome and not to be missed in this lifetime.

Our flotilla was filled with 8 boats. 5 with Sunsail and 3 with White Sails, a local and large Greek yacht charter company. NauticEd are agents for both White Sails and Sunsail. Shameless ad: contact us if you want to do a yacht charter with either of these companies.

Here is our week two itinerary map.

DAY 1

Saturday, June 22—Lefkas Marina.

Discover Lefkas. Check in to the marina. Provision.
Board the boats in the early evening and spend the first night on the boat in the marina.

The Lefkas Marina and village are both large. The village has a ton of really great restaurants and quite a few grocery stores to provision from. There is a large one in the marina itself. Plan on spending a few days before or after in Lefkas.

DAY 2

Sunday, June 23—Lefkada—Meganissi

Leave Lefkada in the morning turn left at the first opportunity and do a great little stop and swim at Varko Bay. Hit the beach but bring your own drinks. The bar on the beach are pretty proud of themselves.
Then head for Vathi, Meganissi. Dock at the private marina at Odyseas Marina Yacht Club.
Vathi is the island’s main village. Here we will be able to explore and rent bikes or take a private excursion to explore
Or prior to heading to Vathi, stop by one of the beautiful Meganissi bays. You can visit Agios Ionannis, a beautiful beach on the western side of the island named after the church. Or visit Fanari Beach, famous for its picturesque surroundings.
For our welcome dinner this evening, we will have a Greek BBQ together in front of the Odyseas Marina yacht club. The Odyseas Marina Yacht Club are very accommodating. They do charge a wee bit for their med mooring fees but the restaurant and bar make up for a wonderful first-night evening stop to set the tone for the rest of the trip.

DAY 3

Monday, June 24—Meganissi—Kalamos

In the morning, we depart Meganissi and head to Aprogialli Beach at the east end of Kalamos. This is Jackie Kennedy Onasis’ favorite beach! She would come to swim here from Skorpios
For the evening, head to either:
- Kalamos village. This quiet village is away from the main ferry route with a relatively big dock; or
- Head a little further south to Porto Leone where you can anchor away from civilization in a protected bay.

We elected to moor up in Kalamos Village. Oh man wow what an entertainment show. The restaurant owner is also the harbor master and the more boats he packs in the marina the more money he makes at night from the restaurant. Get there early, break out the popcorn, and just watch the show. BUT make sure you’re up on your Med mooring skills – everyone is watching.

DAY 4
Tuesday, June 25—Kalamos—Atokos—Ithaca

Leave Kalamos heading southwest. On the way to Ithaca, stop at Atokos. We can drop an anchor in Atokos’ Cliff Bay to enjoy the immense scenery!
Afterwards, head to Ithaca. Options:
- You can go to Vathi, Ithaca. Here you can dock in the marina. Vathi is a main village with lots of character, amenities, and beautiful walks. From here you can also check out Gidaki or explore the island on guided tours.
- Or you can anchor in beautiful Filatro where you can sleep under the stars.

Cliff Bay is pretty darn spectacular and not to be missed. Med moor with a long line ashore on the west side of the bay. Of the options, we elected Vathi for the evening. A lively village with plenty of options for dinner. Here, we Med moored at the far south of the bay close to the grocery store and the main village.

DAY 5

Wednesday, June 26—Ithaca—Kefalonia

The next morning, head out to visit Lygia, the beautiful, remote, uninhabited south part of Ithaca.
A short sail from Ithaca to Sami in Kefalonia. We will spend the night in Sami. Here you can rent a car or scooter to explore. Enjoy the gyros and ice cream. Sami also has larger supermarkets and laundry facilities.
Don’t miss the unique geological Lake Cavern of Melissani. It is only 2km away from Sami so you can even walk to it. There is an entrance fee for the 20 min boat tour inside the cave lake. The best hour to visit is mid-day when the sunlight enters the cave from the roof giving a unique color to the water.

DAY 6

Thursday, June 27—Kefalonia—Syvota

Get ready to sail north towards Lefkada. Take a stop in the northeastern Kefalonia bays where there are many to choose from, each one prettier than the next.
We will end up in Syvota, Lefkada for the evening. This village is one of the most protected natural harbors in the area. There are plenty of seaside tavernas and bars. There is plenty of exploring to do the following morning.

DAY 7

Friday, June 28—Syvota—Lefkada Marina

Leaving Syvota, head to Skorpios to sail around this Onasis private island. If we are lucky, we can drop an anchor.
Or sail close to the sea cave of Papanikolis. Accessible only with calm seas, no anchor. The skipper holds the yacht while the rest visit with the dinghy or SUP.
Spend the final night on the boat in the marina with friends new and old finishing off the provisions and libations and exploring Lefkas

All in all, our second week of the flotilla was just as awesome as the first week. We decided that, if we really had to, we could spend a month or two in the area. Certainly, we’ll be back.

Thanks to locals Mike and Etsy Soutos for helping put our flotilla together and providing us with all the local knowledge. Mike and Etsy have their own private hire skipper and crew yacht charter company on their Beneteau 43 – “Oasis”. They can be found online at www.oasisailing.com. Check them out – if you need a skippered sailing vacation, we can attest that they are the best of the best.

If you’d like to charter a sailboat in the Ionians, we are yacht charter agents and can find you the best deal. We don’t charge you a fee and more than likely we can save you money.

Just go to our Sailing Vacations page

You can also check out week 1 which had a completely different itinerary.