Ionian advice

[SarahJ]

Heading out 24 June for week out of Nidri, ladies trip this time....Would like to ask those in the know, will it be busier North of Lefkas, that is Paxos and mainland or South, Ithaca/Kefalonia? Trying to decide rough route dependent on weather of course.. Know area quite well but not been in high season for a long time. Prepared to anchor mostly, line ashore etc. I think it comes down to how rammed will Lakka and Mongonisi be ?!?
Any thoughts welcome.

 

[Crisby]

Hi, we’ll be there the week before catching up with our son who’s a flotilla engineer so we can let you know where at least one of the flotts will be! We’re not expecting it to be too bad, (also heading to Paxos) as most of Italy will still be at work....

 

[Davy_S]

You only have a week, for me its a no brainer, Kefalonia and Ithaki, shorter sailing, sea warming up for a swim, chill out and enjoy, IMHO cheaper Taverna prices as well.

 

[Crisby]

Yep, I must admit if we weren’t seeing our son we would probably stay in the south and avoid the 6 hour trip to Paxos with a one week charter, lots of nice places to visit.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Heading out 24 June for week out of Nidri, ladies trip this time....Would like to ask those in the know, will it be busier North of Lefkas, that is Paxos and mainland or South, Ithaca/Kefalonia? Trying to decide rough route dependent on weather of course.. Know area quite well but not been in high season for a long time. Prepared to anchor mostly, line ashore etc. I think it comes down to how rammed will Lakka and Mongonisi be ?!?
Any thoughts welcome.

To answer your question the Ionian is already getting busy , we left a few days ago and heading south away from the madness of the place , people losing their tempers , shouting, cross anchors and drank ignored of some , goes hand in hand with June to the end of August Ionian.
April May, sept October November, Ionian is just wonderful .

 

[Sea-Fever]

To answer your question the Ionian is already getting busy , we left a few days ago and heading south away from the madness of the place , people losing their tempers , shouting, cross anchors and drank ignored of some , goes hand in hand with June to the end of August Ionian.
April May, sept October November, Ionian is just wonderful .

Although that doesn't actually answer the question and isn't very helpful.

 

[RichardS]

Although that doesn't actually answer the question and isn't very helpful.

It most certainly does answer the question .... viz, the Ionian is already getting busy so it doesn't really matter that much where Sarah chooses to go and other considerations as to her preferred destination might well be more significant.

Thus, in conclusion, it was very helpful.

Richard

 

[Crisby]

Yep, the Ionian is lovely in April (Fiskardo)

View attachment 71581

But if your holiday is in June you have to make the best of it....

 

[Hardmy]

I learned last week from a taverna owner in Syvota (Levkas) that because of the lack of flights from the UK to Preveza (after the insolvency of Monarch) some flotilla's bases have been relocated to Kefalonia. As a consequence, his turnover at this time of the year has been weaker compared to the past and he fears the whole year will be in this fashion.

So will we see more flotillas around Kefalonia?

 

[Crisby]

There does seem to be fewer flights to Preveza this year and as an ex Monarch employee I have the double whammy of now having to actually pay for them as well!!

 

[SarahJ]

Thanks for replies. Busy it is then so will just go with the flow or rather the wind....Kioni is a must, maybe Monday or Friday would be better or does it really not matter? We'll take line ashore anyway as we're always late.
It will all be beautiful, I'm sure.

 

[AndrewB]

I left the Ionian at the beginning of June, as I always do, because of the overcrowding problem. Between the second week of July and the first week of September it becomes almost intolerable in the main harbours, but even then there are still quiet places to anchor particularly along the mainland coast. Given what you say I would chose the Inland Sea ( the east coasts of Levkas and Kephalonia, Meganisi and Ithica) because the range of options are greater provided you are prepared to anchor out.

As we passed through I noted that the popular harbours of Gaios (Paxos), Sivota (Levkas), Fiskardo, Kalamos, Frikes, Ag. Euphemia, were already looking quite busy, and the anchorages of Lakka (Paxos) and Nidri (Levkas) specially so. Of the marinas, Gouvia (Corfu) and Levkas had space but Cleopatra was heaving - probably because Preveza Marina is out of action this season (Note too that further south, Messalongi and Patras marinas are also out of action).

We had a pleasant mini-cruise in the Gulf of Amvrakikos in May, always worth considering as an alternative to the Ionian itself.

 

[jordanbasset]

I learned last week from a taverna owner in Syvota (Levkas) that because of the lack of flights from the UK to Preveza (after the insolvency of Monarch) some flotilla's bases have been relocated to Kefalonia. As a consequence, his turnover at this time of the year has been weaker compared to the past and he fears the whole year will be in this fashion.

So will we see more flotillas around Kefalonia?

Just left Sivota today, it was packed and had been for the last 3 days. Not sure how they could physically fit any more boats in there

 

[Greg2]

Interesting reading. We are off on a Paxos flotilla at the weekend for a week. Not done the Ionian before and thought it might be a bit busy - hopefully not quite the crazy season yet from what some have said

 

[Garold]

I left the Ionian at the beginning of June, as I always do, because of the overcrowding problem. Between the second week of July and the first week of September it becomes almost intolerable in the main harbours, but even then there are still quiet places to anchor particularly along the mainland coast. Given what you say I would chose the Inland Sea ( the east coasts of Levkas and Kephalonia, Meganisi and Ithica) because the range of options are greater provided you are prepared to anchor out.

As we passed through I noted that the popular harbours of Gaios (Paxos), Sivota (Levkas), Fiskardo, Kalamos, Frikes, Ag. Euphemia, were already looking quite busy, and the anchorages of Lakka (Paxos) and Nidri (Levkas) specially so. Of the marinas, Gouvia (Corfu) and Levkas had space but Cleopatra was heaving - probably because Preveza Marina is out of action this season (Note too that further south, Messalongi and Patras marinas are also out of action).

We had a pleasant mini-cruise in the Gulf of Amvrakikos in May, always worth considering as an alternative to the Ionian itself.

Can I ask you where you head towards to get away from the Ionian overcrowding.

Garold

 

[vyv_cox]

An aside: yachting seems to be on the increase everywhere in Greece. Having missed last year completely it is evident in the Aegean that there are very many more skippered charter boats, apparently one man bands, than there were two years ago. We have yet to come across ports that were full but we are told that this will be different in July and August. Very different from when we first sailed here.

 

[Crisby]

I must admit that this year our high season charter (August) is the same price as our mid season charter (June) as August is now less popular, if you don’t have school age children. We just approach it differently, get in early, lots of chain, lots of fenders, pour a glass of something cold and just watch everything unfold.......

 

[duncan99210]

Can I ask you where you head towards to get away from the Ionian overcrowding.

Garold

There's very few places that aren't packed from early July to late August. The Gulf Of Amvrakios (inland from Preveza) is one such, with a number of anchorages that never get overcrowded. Indeed, if you're lucky you'll be one of only one or two boats. The water in the gulf is perfectly clean but looks dirty as it's a lagoon, teaming with fish and wildlife.

Otherwise, most places offering safe anchoring are going to be packed. Some are better than others: anchoring under the citadel off Corfu town is a favourite of ours, as is Plateria. Never empty but so shallow you can anchor on the outside of the crowd no matter how many folks have turned up before you.

Heading south it just gets more and more crowded with no where you can really get away from the crowds or indeed guarantee some where to anchor if upon arrive much after 3pm. For peace and quiet, you'll have to head further south down towards Pylos and the Peloponnese. That's where we will head to once UK family duties permit. I understand that many of the charter companies put limits on where you can go, so perhaps that won't be an option.

 

[sailaboutvic]

There's very few places that aren't packed from early July to late August. The Gulf Of Amvrakios (inland from Preveza) is one such, with a number of anchorages that never get overcrowded. Indeed, if you're lucky you'll be one of only one or two boats. The water in the gulf is perfectly clean but looks dirty as it's a lagoon, teaming with fish and wildlife.

Otherwise, most places offering safe anchoring are going to be packed. Some are better than others: anchoring under the citadel off Corfu town is a favourite of ours, as is Plateria. Never empty but so shallow you can anchor on the outside of the crowd no matter how many folks have turned up before you.

Heading south it just gets more and more crowded with no where you can really get away from the crowds or indeed guarantee some where to anchor if upon arrive much after 3pm. For peace and quiet, you'll have to head further south down towards Pylos and the Peloponnese. That's where we will head to once UK family duties permit. I understand that many of the charter companies put limits on where you can go, so perhaps that won't be an option.

its very quiet down here at the moment Duncan , we on the first leg of the P and hardly any boats and the once that are headed north to the Ionian

 

[SarahJ]

Duncan, may I ask where you recommend in the Gulf? We have been next to the island by Vonitsa which was great but where else could we anchor? Draft is 2.1m so not Koronisia but is it ok anchoring outside harbour there? Thanks. This is for end June.