The Yacht Week Greece

Awhile back (ok, many months back) I went on an infamous little trip called The Yacht Week and had been meaning to write about my travels to Athens and the Greek Islands. I’ve just been extremely lazy until now. The Yacht Week was an awesome experience and I couldn’t let the experiences linger without writing a proper review of my trip. But where do I start? There are not enough words I can use to describe how amazing this trip was!
In this post I will talk about the entire experience of the Yacht Week, including the logistics and costs for those who are interested in pursuing this.

So you want to go to The Yacht Week…

I will start with a warning that The Yacht Week is all fun and games, but also a ton of planning. Yacht bookings open at least 6 months before the actual event date and you cannot simply book a spot on a yacht (at least back then, I believe now you can). Whoever books is financially responsible for the entire yacht. Having decided to spontaneously jump onto this trip and realizing that everyone I know is around the age of a broke college student, I was left without much choices in terms of being able to just book my own yacht and throw all my friends on it. But fear not! There are ways to get onto a boat if you want to go and cannot find others to join you!

One of the best sources is on the yacht week website (http://www.theyachtweek.com/crew-finder/). I actually found a Facebook group for the crew finder and messaged a few people to see what was available. Obviously with the internet being the internet you’re going to get some normal responses and some not-so-normal replies. Some people will reply and others will leave your message hanging in the “Other” inbox that I had no idea existed (and neither did they). As it is a week-long trip, people will likely want to interview you to get to know you a little better (and make sure they did not let some weirdo run wild on their boat). Totally understandable. During this time, I find it helpful to ask about things that could easily put a dent in your trip such as how the group plans their meals (cooking meals on the boat is generally cheaper than eating out), splits the cost of items (food, alcohol, etc.), and level they want to go out (some boats are just more boring than others). Remember, this is a group trip and you will be stuck with the same people for the entire week. Surprising as it may sound, you definitely need to be a cohesive, well-functioning team on this event to have a fun time.

Finances and Breaking the Bank

So you got yachts on yachts and the lovely Greek islands during the summer peak travel time. Costs can’t be too bad, right? I thought so too until I looked at flights online going from San Francisco to Athens. In summary, here is an estimate of how much I paid for The Yacht Week:

Flight: $2000

The Yacht Week: $1000 (varies depending on the boat and how many people)

Miscellaneous: $1500-2000

I technically found cheaper flights, but it involved a 30 something hour one way and 2-3 layovers which did not make it worth it. If you have ample vacation time and can kill an additional 2 days in transit, you can definitely book a cheaper flight. The cost of the yacht is going to vary depending on how many people you have on your boat and the specific boat you reserve. Their website has the gross cost and the breakdown per person, assuming you fill the boat to 100% capacity. That being said, some boats may not have full capacity and everyone else in the boat has to cover those additional costs. It should also be safe to assume that The Yacht Week is not a cheap trip (especially if you do not live in Europe). My group splurged on meals, alcohol, and tables to no end. It’s definitely a wise idea to have an honest conversation with your group to figure out if you’re comfortable with the general spending range before getting there. The last thing you want is to argue over finances while on vacation.

Packing

We got 7 days of fun so how many bags should I pack? Can I bring my entire closet?

Having been on The Yacht Week, I highly recommend packing lightly. Most people over pack their first time and end up wearing only half of their outfits. It only gets worse when you get to the location and realize how many cute souvenirs there are and find all of these clothes you want to buy. Another struggle everyone quickly learns is that rooms on the yachts are very small and also have to fit you and your luggage. Unless you love the feeling of sleeping on top of rock-hard suitcases, I recommend packing only what you need. To give you a better idea, here was my packing list for the week that I was able to fit into a gym bag (pretty impressive, right?):

• 7 bikinis (or enough bikinis to wear over 7 days)
• 7 day outfits (I also had a few more for my side trip in Athens)
• 7 night outfits
• Sperrys shoes
• Sandals
• Sunblock
• Sunglasses
• Purse
• Wallet
• Cell Phone (doubles as a camera)

Of course I also had another gym bag that I had dubbed the “party bag.” It contained the following:

• 1 Inflatable beer pong table
• 3 Ping-Pong balls
• 1 captain’s hat
• 1 California flag (gotta represent)
• 1 Travel pillow
• First Aid Kit (you never know)

The best packing advice I will give to anyone going on The Yacht Week is to NOT pack a hard-shell suitcase! Gym bags are your best bet because they will fit into the small crevices of the boat. Soap and shampoos are also better to buy once you’re at the location if you don’t feel like hauling more stuff. You can buy what you need at the start of the trip and throw it away before leaving. The best part of traveling with 2 gym bags is that I could bring both as carry-on in the plane.

The Yacht Week!

The real deal is here! The glorious Yacht Week!

Lavrio

Lavrio is the first location of The Yacht Week for Greece. You meet everyone at a bar in the marina and finish up all the paperwork. (Did I mention that you’re financially responsible for the boat?) I was finally able to meet my sailing buddies in person here and everyone was pretty awesome. We had the opportunity to meet everyone, share a few drinks, and make a supply run to load up the boat. From there we got dinner (and I mean really good Greek food) and explored the island by going to another bar (surprise, surprise). The scenery of Lavrio was absolutely beautiful. It’s a small town tucked away from Athens so you get a better feel of the more rural parts outside the city.

Lavrio Marina

I’m going to say it’s safe to assume I had jetlag because I woke up sometime right after the sun came up (maybe around 5 or 6am) despite going to bed late. I do not regret a minute of it since I had the best view in the morning, right when the port was still sleepy and the only thing you hear is the sound of the water and feel the waves gently knocking the sides of the boat. It was nice to sit out in the front of the deck and look out into the scenery.

The morning sun shining overhead

Ready to set sail!

And then we set sail for Poros!

Poros

A 5 hour sail later and we were in Poros! Since it was the first Greek island I had ever seen/explored, I was majorly excited. There were small restaurants and shops by the port and it was just awesome stepping foot onto the island and exploring it. Later in the evening everyone on The Yacht Week went to a bar together where we were able to meet more new people on the other boats and grab a few drinks.

 Arriving in Poros

Ermioni

The next day we set sail for Ermioni and pretty much did a repeat of what we did on the last island. This time we had a day party with everyone on The Yacht Week at a bar right by the water on the island. The fun part of this party was that it was themed. It took me right back to college! Everyone wore white and surprisingly the dress code was enforced. My group ended up getting a table and we all danced until the sun set.

Port of Ermioni

Taking a stroll

Sunset over the waterfront bar

Plaka

We woke up early again and set sail to Plaka. The island was bigger than the first two we visited and had a bar right on the beach where we enjoyed more drinks and ice cream. Dinner on the island this time was different and the restaurant lined up tables stretching along the waterfront. It was amazing to see how many people were here sailing together on this trip and despite the fact that there was maybe 100 or so people, we still managed to have dinner together.

View from the bar

Bars on beaches for days

Our extremely long dinner table 

Dhokos

Next stop on our trip… Dhokos! It was not a real island (at least to me). There were neither shops nor restaurants. Instead we tied all of the boats together and enjoyed swimming in the blue waters of the Mediterranean. Some people hiked up the island but everyone mostly stayed by their boats. We had a dinghy boat race where members of each boat would paddle in their dinghy to see who could go faster.

Circle Party

This is technically not an island, but it could pass. All the Yacht Week boats sailed together to a remote location in the sea and tied all the boats together to form a circle, hence “circle party.” By far, this was one of my favorite memories of The Yacht Week. We frolicked all day in the water with our inflatables! Rubber ducks and water wings are highly recommended. The inflatable beer pong table was useful for lounging.

Hydra

The last island of the trip was Hydra. It was the biggest of all the islands we went to and also the most touristic. There were giant ferry boats parked in the harbor that shuffled tourists for day trips. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant situated right by the cliffs, leaving us with great food and awesome views. People went cliff diving right in front of the restaurant and swam in the sea.

Of course what was even more impressive was dinner on Hydra. It was a more formal affair so everyone traded their sandals and swim trunks for dresses and collared shirts. We dined at the Sunset Restaurant which was located right off a cliff to expansive views of the sea as the sun was setting.

All dressed for dinner

View from our dinner spot

Closing Remarks

The Yacht Week was a very surreal and amazing experience. I am glad I had the opportunity to partake in this event and would totally go back if I could. I met people from all walks of life and all parts of the world. I think the best part of The Yacht Week is being able to go on a trip knowing no one to meeting all of these people who are about my age. It’s not like this in the real world and it totally changes the experience of a regular vacation. People on The Yacht Week are very open to meeting new people and you cannot get that same experience going to a new location and staying in a hotel by yourself. The cohesion of the entire group is one thing that stood out and made this event as great as it is. It’s like college all over again, but in Greece and for just a week. I mean where else can you randomly knock on a stranger’s door (or boat) and ask to be friends without getting the cops called on you? The Yacht Week, it’s nothing like the real world.