South Ionian flotilla holidays

The sheltered waters and light winds between mainland Greece and the beautiful islands of the south Ionian create ideal conditions for less experienced sailors. You'll never be more than a few miles away from shore and distances between ports are relatively short – giving you plenty of time to explore hidden coves and anchor to enjoy the beauty of the area.

Keep a close eye out for dolphins, turtles and rays, as they all enjoy the Ionian waters at certain times throughout the summer. Bring or buy masks and snorkels, so you're able to explore life below the waterline too.

The one week south Ionian flotilla starts and ends from our yacht base at Vounaki Beach Club in Paleros.

Your flotilla route

This flotilla route will give you a flavour of what to expect from your week on the flotilla, it's an example, is not fixed and may vary from that listed below (nm = nautical miles).

If you want to spend longer afloat on a two-week flotilla, you can choose to do two one-week flotillas back-to-back. After your first week on the flotilla, you will return to the yacht pontoon at Vounaki Beach Club with the rest of the flotilla. That evening and the following day you will have the chance to stretch your sea legs and relax at Vounaki Beach Club, making full use of the facilities, you can even have a game of tennis, go on a bike ride or take out a kayak. Use of facilities (except for the spa) and activities is free of charge. 



You will then be refreshed and ready to set sail again for the second week of your holiday with a new bunch of sailors. Please note, that we may re-visit at least one of the harbours from your first week on flotilla.

Your flotilla boats will be ready from 5pm on your arrival day. Once settled on board, the Neilson crew will give an individual boat briefing. If you arrive after 7.30pm the crew will give a short briefing on essentials such as lights, loos and gas with a full briefing the following morning.

The main flotilla briefing for all yachts is the following morning at 9 or 9.30am and boats are free to depart at any time after the briefing is over. All boats will need to be back at the Neilson base before 6pm on the final sailing day, and vacated by 9.30am on the day of departure.

Before you head off on Flotilla, we need to know you can sail. You'll need at least 2 adults aged 18+ who have previously sailed. One will need documentation to prove they can sail and the other will need enough experience to be able to take charge of the boat and complete a man overboard procedure.

Accepted qualifications include RYA Yachtmaster, RYA Coastal Skipper or RYA Day Skipper and you must also apply for a UK ICC (International Certificate of Competence Sail) issued by the RYA, and take this with you in addition to your RYA certificate. All original certificates must be taken with you on the flotilla. All yacht skippers on flotilla are required to hold the ICC (International Certificate of Competence) certificate.

If you do not hold a valid certificate before departure, you may gain training – or indeed an assessment at a training centre in the UK – details of locations are available on the RYA website www.rya.org.uk.

Our sailing holidays include damage waiver, marine insurance and fuel, plus we don't ask for a security deposit. There are a few items we don't include in your holiday, such as mooring fees. If you do need to pay it's usually just a few Euros per night.

If you'd like to go on a sailing holiday but don't have the experience, our stay and sail holidays might be just the thing. Stay and sail holidays are exclusive to Vounaki Beachclub, we can get you to the correct level of experience during a week of yacht training and you can then join the flotilla in the second week relaxed, fresh and with the required experience.

• Departure airports: London Gatwick, Manchester, Bristol or Edinburgh
• Departure days: Sunday
• Arrival airport: Preveza (Aktio)
• Flight duration: approx. 3 hours 35 minutes
• Airlines: EnterAir (ENT) / Jet2 (LS)
• Transfer time: approx. 40 minutes