Aφιέρωμα στην ιστιοπλοΐα και τον ναυτικό τουρισμό της Ελλάδας δημοσιεύει το Bloomberg

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Aφιέρωμα στην ιστιοπλοΐα και το ναυτικό τουρισμό της Ελλάδας δημοσιεύει το Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-12/how-to-sail-the-greek-islands-in-the-sybaritic-summer-of-2021 . Όπως τονίζει ο συντάκτης του άρθρου, το επίσημο άνοιγμα του ελληνικού τουρισμού στις 14 Μαΐου δίνει τη δυνατότητα σε κάθε ενδιαφερόμενο να επισκεφτεί τη Ελλάδα και να βιώσει συναρπαστικές στιγμές περιπέτειας στις ελληνικές θάλασσες, μόνο με την προϋπόθεση ενός αρνητικού PCR test. Ωστόσο με 10.000 μίλια ακτογραμμής και 6.000 νησιά στο σύνολο από τα οποία 227 είναι κατοικήσιμα, χρειάζεται καλή προετοιμασία πριν ξεκινήσει το ταξίδι στην Ελλάδα.

Το αφιέρωμα «χαρτογραφεί» στη συνέχεια τους πόλους έλξης του θαλάσσιου τουρισμού και πλέκει το εγκώμιο για τις πάντα δημοφιλείς Κυκλάδες, τα αυθεντικά Δωδεκάνησα, τις αναζωογονητικές Βόρειες Σποράδες, τα ιδιαίτερα νησιά του Αργοσαρωνικού και τα καταπράσινα Επτάνησα.

Ανάμεσα σε άλλους προορισμούς ο έγκριτος ταξιδιωτικός συντάκτης ξεχωρίζει ποιοτικές επιλογές όπως την Πάτμο και την Αλόννησο. «Η Πάτμος προσφέρει στον ταξιδιώτη ψυχική γαλήνη και ηρεμία, όσα στοιχεία δηλαδή είναι το ζητούμενο στην εποχή μας. Οι απαράμιλλες φυσικές ομορφιές, οι δαντελωτές ακτές, η επίσπευση της διαδικασίας εμβολιασμού στο νησί, η ποιότητα υπηρεσιών και τα ιστορικά Μνημεία Παγκόσμιας Κληρονομίας της Unesco όπως το Ιερό Σπήλαιο της Αποκάλυψης, είναι συστατικά της διεθνούς καμπάνιας μας, που κερδίζει καθημερινά ολοένα και μεγαλύτερο έδαφος”, σημειώνει ο δήμαρχος Πάτμου, Λευτέρης Πέντες.

«Επιτυγχάνοντας σημαντικά ποσοστά εμβολιασμού στην Αλόννησο οδεύουμε με ασφάλεια προς μία νέα τουριστική σεζόν. Ο σύγχρονος ταξιδιώτης αναζητά υψηλή προστιθέμενη αξία στις διακοπές του. Για τον σκοπό αυτό και με απόλυτο σεβασμό στο οικοσύστημα και το φυσικό περιβάλλον, διαθέτουμε μοναδικά χαρακτηριστικά όπως το μεγαλύτερο φυσικό θαλάσσιο πάρκο της Ευρώπης αλλά και το πρώτο υποβρύχιο μουσείο της Ελλάδας», δηλώνει ο δήμαρχος Αλοννήσου, Πέτρος Βαφίνης.

How to Sail the Greek Islands in the Sybaritic Summer of 2021

Your time to book a boat in the first European country to open to tourists is running out, but there are still chances for an Odyssey of your own.
The view from Hydra in the Saronic Gul.
The view from Hydra in the Saronic Gul.

Photographer: Michael Amme/laif/Redux/laif 

On May 14, Greece will become the first country in the European Union to open its doors for summer tourism. All you need to enter is a negative PCR test.

Interest in visiting has been so intense that Prior, a travel membership club, rushed to open an office in Athens last month. “We have a lot of confidence in Greece,” says Chief Executive Officer David Prior, who suggests travelers trade the country’s tried-and-true options for some of its countless underrated gems to avoid a crush of tourists this year.

Jack Ezon, founder and managing partner of luxury agency Embark Beyond, says his clients have been especially interested in sailing trips. The itineraries are glamorous and—suiting the moment—crowd-free. After the country’s reopening announcement in April, he booked $6 million in yacht charters in just 10 days. “Almost 28% of our summer business is heading to Greece,” he says. He expects this year to be the one in which Greece “gets its close-up.”

But the Greek isles aren’t a place you Google and go. The archipelago consists of 6,000 islands (only an estimated 227 are inhabited) and almost 10,000 miles of coastline. Weather and winds are erratic and can greatly affect routes; the strategy for navigating in those conditions varies depending on the boat you choose and where you first launch. And some of Greece’s most coveted experiences—such as dining at a tucked-away taverna on a “secret” beach—require the improvisation of a skillful captain.

relates to How to Sail the Greek Islands in the Sybaritic Summer of 2021
Lounging on the Rare Find, a superyacht available through IYC.
Source: IYC

The standard charter lasts one week and can accommodate visits to four islands, plus some isolated coves and beaches. On deluxe, six-person catamarans, a trip costs upward of $15,000; a superyacht can go for hundreds of thousands of dollars. One broker favorite—the 181-foot, 12-passenger Geco—commands about $324,000. You get what you pay for: A superyacht can cut a wider swath and chart choppier waters than a sailboat, which may also be limited in range to a few hours of sailing a day.

For those who do want to sail, Heather Hatcher, charter management director at the international brokerage IYC, recommends the 75-foot luxury Gigreca, which sleeps eight and has a cool, back-lit bar—and is almost a tenth the price of the Geco.

The rush is on to book. Ann Landry, senior charter broker at leading superyacht agency Northrop & Johnson, says all of 2020’s canceled trips rolled into 2021, and border restrictions elsewhere have further spiked demand. “There won’t be enough boats,” she predicts.

Oia Santorini Greece
Oia, Santorini, in the Cyclades.
Photographer: Allard Schager/Moment RF

A further complicating factor is that Greece requires travelers to stick to the roughly 5,000 crewed ships registered in the country, and vacationers with credits from last year have scooped up the prime inventory. Additional availability exists in June and September, and you can still get great weather then.

If you can’t find your sweet spot, try sleeping on dry land and booking a private, captained high-speed power boat or 39-foot, rigid, inflatable boat. For about $2,000 a day, they allow you to island-hop within a small radius and cruise into shallow coves that larger yachts can’t access.

Whatever route you take, expect a warm welcome. In 2019, 31 million people visited—and 1 in 5 jobs were attributed to tourism. Only 20% of that traffic arrived last year. As Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an address earlier this year, “If we were to get 50% of what a regular year would look like, it’s still going to be 100% better than last year.”

Five Island Groups to Know

Aegean Destinations

Data: Yacht Charter Fleet

The Cyclades
Home to thumping Mykonos and luxe Santorini, this group of islands is the most popular choice. Mina Agnos, whose company Travelive focuses on trips to Greece, says 85% of her clients request this barren archipelago that’s dotted with charming sugar-cube houses, blue-domed churches, and tony beach clubs. In July and August, large crowds are a downside, and periodic gale winds called the Meltemi can disrupt sailing routes.

The Dodecanese
In-the-know Greeks would invite you to this relatively untouched archipelago near the Turkish coast. It includes historic Rhodes and the spiritual haven of Patmos, which has a multitude of preserved Byzantine monasteries amid its traditional fishing villages.

People. tourists on a boat. sailing ship. the Blue Cave in the sea of ​​Alonissos Marine Park. Sporades Islands. Greece
The Blue Cave on the sea of ​​Alonissos Marine Park in the Sporades Islands.
Photographer: Marco Simonini/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

The Northern Sporades
For waterborne adventures, look to the Northern Sporades. They’re commonly accessed through off-the-beaten-path Volos, a port city on the mainland midway between Athens and Thessaloniki. The islands are home to excellent diving sites—don’t miss the National Marine Park of Alonissos, where you can explore a 2,500-year-old shipwreck and spot rare Mediterranean monk seals.

The Saronic Islands
Set conveniently against the mountainous Peloponnese peninsula south of Athens, the Saronic Gulf is poised to have a big moment. Focus on car-free Hydra, where culture-loving Athenians spend weekends mingling at art galleries and sipping cocktails on the beach.

The Ionian Islands
West of the mainland lies the pine-forested, mountainous archipelago featured in Homer’s Odyssey. The waters tend to be calm, but it’s lively on land in culturally rich Corfu and pastoral Kefalonia. Cliff-backed Shipwreck Beach, on the up-and-coming island of Zakynthos, is the scenic oasis conjured up in most summer Greek fantasies.

Bloomberg

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