Free anchoring places around the med ??

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simonbuk

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Are there lots of free mooring areas around the med to use , especially Greece and Turkey ?

To keep costs down I would want to stay in quiet little coves and use my own anchor around the Greek islands - is this possible or do they stop you doing this ?

I appreciate I will have to visit marinas every so often to top up with water and fuel and shop but won't want to neccesarily stay there and pay for the night.
 
I don't know about Turkey but in Greece I don't think you will find many places (if any) outside a marina or some sort of little harbour that you need to pay to drop your anchor.
Unless I have misunderstood your question.
 
We did a flotilla in Greek waters about three years ago. This anchorage was free (Ormos Peristeri in the Sporades)

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as was virtually everywhere else we went except for the small port of Loutraki, where we were charged €1.30 for the night, for a 35 footer.

I think things vary a bit, and some parts of Greece may be more expensive, but I wouldn't expect to be charged for anchoring anywhere, and only the smallest of amounts (outside the big marinas) for mooring up on a pontoon or harbour wall.
 
There are very few places where the Greeks will stop you anchoring - Gouvia Bay in Corfu is the only example that springs to mind. Elsewhere, just drop your hook and enjoy. The cost of mooring at town quays and harbours varies from nothing to not a lot. There aren't many 'marinas' as such in this part of the world; they tend to be fairly expensive, although not as much as Italian ones.

Get hold of one or other of the guides (Heikell is the usual suspect) and they'll mostly tell you what is possible - anchor off, town quay etc - and what, if any, the level of charges are for using a quay.

All that said, officially, there is a laid down tarriff for yachts using harbours within Greece, which works out at about €9 - 12 per night for a 12m boat. This should be paid to the harbour police, who will stamp your Depka at the same time; the implementation of the rules are haphazard, as is the amount actually charged but it's never that much. We very much stick to the principle that if you're moored to a quay, be prepared to pay but don't go looking to pay - wait for someone to turn up asking for money; 75 - 85% of the time no one asks, so no money changes hands! Wonder if it'll be different this year, with the financial crisis?
 
duncan99210 said:
There are very few places where the Greeks will stop you anchoring - Gouvia Bay in Corfu is the only example that springs to mind. Elsewhere, just drop your hook and enjoy. The cost of mooring at town quays and harbours varies from nothing to not a lot. There aren't many 'marinas' as such in this part of the world; they tend to be fairly expensive, although not as much as Italian ones.

Get hold of one or other of the guides (Heikell is the usual suspect) and they'll mostly tell you what is possible - anchor off, town quay etc - and what, if any, the level of charges are for using a quay.

All that said, officially, there is a laid down tarriff for yachts using harbours within Greece, which works out at about €9 - 12 per night for a 12m boat. This should be paid to the harbour police, who will stamp your Depka at the same time; the implementation of the rules are haphazard, as is the amount actually charged but it's never that much. We very much stick to the principle that if you're moored to a quay, be prepared to pay but don't go looking to pay - wait for someone to turn up asking for money; 75 - 85% of the time no one asks, so no money changes hands! Wonder if it'll be different this year, with the financial crisis?
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+1 however Turkey is generally different..if you go into a harbour you usually are charged a fee..which will include W&E. Anchoring however is still free.There are also many restaurants which have a jetty with W&E and they are free as long as you eat with them..which is fair enough,but check the menu prices first.
 
simonbuk said:
I appreciate I will have to visit marinas every so often to top up with water and fuel and shop but won't want to neccesarily stay there and pay for the night.
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Others have answered the anchoring part of the question. Suffice to say that there are hundreds of anchorages in Greece, all free.

There are very few marinas in Greece where you will need to pay, I guess less than ten. There are many more built using EU money that have never achieved commercial management. These are all free, although berths can be difficult as many have been taken over by fishermen, local boat owners and flotilla operators (and sunk, abandoned boats). Then there are the ports, for which a small charge may be made, €8.38 per night for my 10.6 metre boat. In many places nobody will collect it. In most of these diesel and water is available by mini-tanker, although some of the bigger ones have water by hosepipe. If you are determined not to stay overnight there is normally a contact telephone number somewhere nearby that you can call and the tanker driver will arive within minutes. You can then fill up and leave.

The water available in the islands is often brackish and undrinkable. However, somewhere nearby there will be a spring, tap or something similar where the locals fill up their drinking water bottles, so you need a reasonable sized container to carry there. Or you could buy it from a shop if you really want to.
 
simonbuk said:
Thanks everyone, and yes thats what i meant, just find a nice little spot to moor up and enjoy the view !! Sounds like heaven !!
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There are hundreds of them. Even in busy cruising areas (Saronic, Inland Ionian) with a bit of ingenuity you can find quiet anchoring spots in high season. For instance, You'll see some promising areas marked with blue lines on the second chart on this page: http://www.jimbsail.info/drupal/mediterranean/greece/athens
 
vyv_cox said:
There are very few marinas in Greece where you will need to pay, I guess less than ten. There are many more built using EU money that have never achieved commercial management. These are all free, although berths can be difficult as many have been taken over by fishermen, local boat owners and flotilla operators (and sunk, abandoned boats). Then there are the ports, for which a small charge may be made, €8.38 per night for my 10.6 metre boat. In many places nobody will collect it. In most of these diesel and water is available by mini-tanker, although some of the bigger ones have water by hosepipe. If you are determined not to stay overnight there is normally a contact telephone number somewhere nearby that you can call and the tanker driver will arive within minutes. You can then fill up and leave.

The water available in the islands is often brackish and undrinkable. However, somewhere nearby there will be a spring, tap or something similar where the locals fill up their drinking water bottles, so you need a reasonable sized container to carry there. Or you could buy it from a shop if you really want to.
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Vyv,

That's a lovely summary of port and anchoring facilities in Greece. May I borrow some of that wording to use on my web site?
 
jimbaerselman said:
There are hundreds of them. Even in busy cruising areas (Saronic, Inland Ionian) with a bit of ingenuity you can find quiet anchoring spots in high season. For instance, You'll see some promising areas marked with blue lines on the second chart on this page: http://www.jimbsail.info/drupal/mediterranean/greece/athens
Click to expand...

As usual Jim has hit the nail on the head! We sailed from LEFKAS to Cyprus and called in to many small anchorages, for overnight stays. We live off my state pension so try to avoid any marinas. Also we stayed FREE in some part built marinas en-route.

Enjoy, mmet new friends and most of all avoid all negative people.

Fair winds

Peter
 
I agree. Greek anchorages can be delightful. Watch out for the katabatic wind though. It's a good plan to observe other yachts when you're in a new anchorage. They may know something you don't. It can go to dead calm to a hooly in seconds. The steeper the surrounding hills the faster the wind in my experience. And those negatice people... I call emotional vampires. Garlic keeps them away.
 
Are you saying Charles that there are over 80 anchorages on the west coast of the Peloponnese? Between say Kyllini and Neapoli. Does seem a rather high number when there's virtually nothing between Katakolon and Pylos for starters. I think you need to release that list, you won't be inundated!
 
tri39 said:
Are you saying Charles that there are over 80 anchorages on the west coast of the Peloponnese? Between say Kyllini and Neapoli. Does seem a rather high number when there's virtually nothing between Katakolon and Pylos for starters. I think you need to release that list, you won't be inundated!
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Why confine this to the W Peloponese? What's wrong with the anchorages between Navarino and Cap Maleas ?
 
We went to see a large Russian cruise ship moored in Gythio in about 1980. It was called the General something (everything in Cyrillic, of course) and we mingled with hundreds of Russians who were milling about on the quayside and jabbering away in Russian in the Greek sunshine. It seemed quite surreal at the time.

I assume that the Russian ships cruise down through the Black Sea and into the Med but that's the only time I have ever actually seen a Russian cruise liner!

Richard
 
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