February 24, 2026•1 min read
Your First Yacht Charter: What You Actually Need to Know
No sailing experience needed. A former yacht crew member explains how crewed charters work, what they cost, and what first-time guests wish they had known.
Athens has a large, well-organised international airport with a lot of options to get to the different marinas. On average, you'll be spending about thirty to forty-five minutes in a car, depending on which marina you're heading to. You land, you drive, and before you know it you're standing on the dock looking at your yacht.
There are five marinas commonly used for charter embarkation around Athens, and each one has a different character, a different fleet profile, and a different first evening ahead of you.
Marina | Distance from airport | Drive time | Fleet character | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Zea Marina, Piraeus | ~40 km | 40–50 min | Large motor yachts, superyachts, sailing yachts | Higher-end crewed charters |
Flisvos Marina | ~35 km | 35–45 min | Larger crewed catamarans, mixed crewed fleet | Catamaran charters, pleasant surroundings |
Alimos Marina | ~35 km | 35–40 min | Bareboat and semi-crewed, some crewed cats and motor yachts | Mid-range crewed and bareboat |
Nea Peramos | ~67 km | 45–50 min | Sailing yachts, catamarans, bareboat and crewed | Saronic Gulf itineraries, quieter atmosphere |
Lavrion | ~37 km | 30–40 min | Catamarans, motor yachts, sailing yachts | Cyclades itineraries |
Drive times are approximate and assume normal traffic. During Athens rush hour, add fifteen to twenty minutes for the Piraeus-area marinas.
Zea Marina, Piraeus
Zea is the superyacht hub for the area. If your charter is on a large motor yacht or a sizeable sailing yacht, this is most likely where you'll embark. The marina sits inside a natural harbour in Piraeus, protected and well-organised, with most of the serious charter fleet along its main quay.
There's a second section of the marina, roughly equal in size, with a wider range of vessels. Crewed catamarans, smaller crewed motor yachts, and quite a few private boats that aren't available for charter.
From Athens airport, it's about thirty-five to forty minutes in a car depending on traffic. Taxis and private transfers can drive right up behind the yachts, so there's no long walk with your luggage. The crew will be waiting and will handle everything from the moment you step out.
Flisvos Marina
Flisvos sits on the waterfront promenade of Palaio Faliro, a few minutes further along the coast from Piraeus. It's particularly well-known for its fleet of larger crewed catamarans, and beyond the cats you'll find a varied mix of crewed motor yachts and sailing yachts.
The surrounding area has a lovely boardwalk feel, with restaurants and cafes nearby if you arrive a bit early and want to sit down before boarding. The drive from the airport is similar to Zea.
Alimos Marina
Alimos is the largest marina in Greece, with well over a thousand berths. It leans more towards the bareboat and semi-crewed segment, but it also has an established fleet of crewed motor yachts and catamarans. If you're chartering a crewed catamaran or a mid-range motor yacht that happens to be based here, this is where you'll board.
It doesn't have the polished superyacht feel of Zea. It's large, functional, and well-connected, and the transfer time from the airport is roughly the same as the other central marinas.
Lavrion
Lavrion is a different story. It sits on the southeastern tip of Attica, further from Athens city than the other three, but from the airport the driving time is comparable — about thirty to forty-five minutes, because you're heading southeast and skipping the city traffic entirely.
The reason Lavrion matters is geography. It's significantly closer to the Cyclades than any of the Piraeus-area marinas. So if your itinerary takes you to Kea, Kythnos, Mykonos, Milos, or Sifnos, embarking from Lavrion saves you a long initial sail from the Athens coast and gets you into the islands faster.
And it's not only a Cyclades gateway. Aegina and Poros are within easy reach too, so a Saronic Gulf itinerary works from here as well. The marina has a quieter, less urban atmosphere than the Piraeus options, and the fleet is a good mix of catamarans, motor yachts, and sailing yachts.
If you head east from Lavrion, it's just a short sail to Kea, and from there you can reach the famous Kolona sandbar on Kythnos. Two stops in, and you're already deep in the Cyclades.
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Nea Peramos
Nea Peramos is the lesser-known option, but it's been getting more popular. It's a small marina in a sheltered bay on the west coast of Attica, near Megara, with about 400 berths. The atmosphere is very different from the Piraeus marinas. It's a working fishing village, quieter, more personal, and without the urban feel.
From Athens airport, it's further than the other options at around 67 kilometres, but the drive still takes roughly forty-five to fifty minutes because you avoid the city centre entirely.
The main advantage of Nea Peramos is how quickly you're actually sailing. From the Piraeus-area marinas, you have a fair amount of motoring through busy harbour waters before you're in open sea. From Nea Peramos, you're much closer to the Saronic islands. Salamis is just a few miles away, and Aegina is within easy reach. For a Saronic Gulf itinerary, it's a very practical starting point.
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Which marina are you going to?
The yacht's home base determines the marina. It usually doesn't change based on the itinerary, but it can. If you want to do a Cyclades itinerary starting from Mykonos, for example, the yacht could relocate. On average this costs around a thousand euros and is arranged well before the charter week. Your charter broker will confirm exactly which marina you're heading to once the yacht is finalised.
Getting from the airport to the yacht
There are a lot of transfer services in Athens that provide van pickups for your group and bring you in comfort and air conditioning to the marina. Your broker can arrange this in advance.
At all five marinas, cars can drive up just behind the yachts. You won't have to walk far, and the crew will take care of your luggage from the moment you arrive. There's no check-in desk, no reception, no formalities. You step out of the car, walk a few metres, and you're on board.
Luggage
Having been a charter captain, I can tell you there's a strong preference among crew for flexible bags over hard suitcases with wheels. Hard cases are difficult to store in yacht cabins, and the wheels can easily mark the deck or interior when carried below. Depending on the boat, there might not be enough room to store them out of sight, and during the week, large luggage lying around in the cabins just gets in the way. Soft duffel bags are the practical choice.
Embarkation time
For crewed MYBA and CYBA charters, embarkation is at twelve noon, and disembarkation at twelve noon as well. That means you have almost a full day ahead of you from the start, and on the last day you can return to port that same morning rather than the night before.
It's worth knowing how this compares. In the lower segments, so basically a bareboat charter with crew, embarkation is typically at five in the afternoon and disembarkation at nine in the morning. The yacht also has to return to port the evening before. Your net time on board, and your net experience, is just much greater with a noon-to-noon crewed charter. It's a strong argument for going the crewed route.
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What happens when you step on board
The crew will already know via your broker and preference sheet what you like and what you don't like. So at embarkation, expect to be handed a fresh towel, and your favourite welcome drink offered by the yacht. You'll be shown around the boat, you get time to settle into your cabins, and you get to know the crew a little bit. As soon as you're comfortable, the captain will normally set sail.
Especially in Athens, many lovely anchorages are close by. The first night is usually spent out on the water, with dinner made on board, so you don't have to rush and you get to see the first sunset from the deck of the yacht.
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The first evening
If you embark from one of the marinas near Athens, like Zea, Flisvos, or Alimos, it's just a one to two hour sail to Metopi island, which sits just southwest of Aegina town. This is usually the first swim stop, and for good reason. It's a flat island with very flat water, a shallow anchorage, clear blue water, and room for water toys, swimming, snorkelling, or a short hike around the island.
It's also just a few minutes from Aegina, which is famous for its pistachio exports. And even though it's so close to Athens, as soon as you approach it you feel like you're in a different world. You can anchor just outside the town and spend the first night at a restaurant on the waterfront, or stay at Metopi for sunset drinks from the yacht's deck.
If you embark from Lavrion and head towards the Cyclades, the first evening looks quite different. It's just a few miles to Kea, or you can reach the famous Kolona sandbar on Kythnos. And from there, it's easy to continue towards Mykonos, Delos, Milos, and Sifnos.
Arriving the day before
It really depends. Some guests, especially Americans flying over, like to spend a few days before or after the charter in Athens. And quite a lot of people combine their week on a boat with a week at a resort or some island hopping, just to make the best of their time in Greece.
But as the marinas are located so close to the airport, it's very easy to fly in on the morning of embarkation and be on your yacht before you know it. In just an hour outside the marina, you're already swimming in beautiful blue bays around islands like Aegina. Even though it's so close to the city, as soon as you approach it, you feel in a different world.
If your plans change
Not much goes wrong on embarkation day. If flights are delayed, the driver will know and the crew will simply be waiting for you at whatever time is convenient. The yacht is yours all week, and the crew is your team and will cater to your preferences, whatever they are.
If you want to embark later because you're still at a lovely restaurant with views of the Acropolis, that's totally fine. If that means the itinerary needs to adjust, so be it. The boat can't suddenly go faster, and a weather window might be missed. But the broker and the crew will always find a way to make it work. The goal is always that you don't experience any downsides.
Weather on embarkation day
Any broker offering charters in Greece will inform you about the Meltemi winds during summer and discuss a plan B with you. If you're dreaming of a Mykonos and Cyclades itinerary, your broker will also talk through a Saronic Gulf alternative, in case the weather doesn't allow it.
The Meltemi usually dies down at night, which can allow for early morning or late evening crossings, depending on your captain and your comfort level. The protected islands of the Saronic Gulf, places like Spetses, Hydra, Aegina, and Poros, offer a very pleasant cruising environment for both groups of friends and families. Your captain always has the last word on whether a crossing is safe and possible.
Customs and paperwork
Nothing from a guest perspective. You step on board and go. The yacht holds a charter licence, but this is all arranged well beforehand. Nothing for you to worry about.
Maurits Dierick is the founder of Frontier Yachting, a charter brokerage based in Antwerp. Before moving ashore, he spent years as a yacht captain across the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Atlantic, including an Atlantic crossing under sail.
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