Island hopping: Connecting the dots on two sides of the Aegean

Editor

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Created on Jul 1, 2018

The Aegean is full of islands; some small, some big, some holiday legends, but all lively and colorful… You can start from Turkish or Greek waters and cruise out to the most popular islands, enjoying all the natural beauties along the way.

Island hopping: Connecting the dots on two sides of the Aegean

Island hopping is a lovely term, a lovely thing to do… Islands are all around the Aegean sea, forming a scattered bridge between Turkey and Greece. You can go from one island to the next within hours and enjoy the best of two cultures. Just check out the most popular destinations by local operators and the islands you can visit.

Choose where to start – Turkey or Greece

You can start your island hopping adventure from either side of the Aegean. The charters can be weekly or stretch out to two weeks, depending on the destination. The destinations are usually two- way but you can try and arrange a one- way charter depending on the boat’s availability. If you’re going to start from Turkey, most popular marinas are in Bodrum, Marmaris and Göcek. From the Greek side, Kos and Rhodes will most likely be your starting point. (Remember that Kos is only half an hour away from Bodrum and there are daily ferries between the two cities.)

Although there are many options to customize your destination, local charter operators already know the itineraries that work best. We listed a few of them to get you familiar with the concept.

Starting from Turkey

Bodrum destinations usually go: Kos- Gyali- Nisiros- Symi- Rhodes; or Loros-Patmos- Lipsi- Kalimnos; or Kos- Nisiros- Tilos- Rhodes- Symi; and back to Bodrum.

From Göcek, the itinerary goes: Rhodes- Kos- Symi- Bodrum and back to Göcek.

And from Marmaris, three most popular destinations include variations of Datca, Symi, Rhodes and Bodrum.

Starting from Greece

If you start from Kos, you can visit Leros- Patmos- Lipsi- Kalimnos before you get back to Kos.

From Rhodes, you can choose to go: Symi - Nysiros - Kos - Tilos – Symi; or Marmaris – Fethiye; or Symi - Datca - Bozburun - Marmaris; and back to Rhodes again.

Customize with your charter operator

You can always customize your destination to the Aegean islands and make the best of the experience; with help from your operator. They will offer you the most sturdy boats and experienced captains for the cruise. And there might be a lot of details for which you’ll need the expertise of your operator. For example in August, the north winds called the Meltemi winds (Etesian in Greek) are strong and the seas are rough. If you’re planning to start from Bodrum and cruise to upper Dodacanese, then to Cyclades, you might be offered to choose another time of the year.