I’m a convert, I never realised how much I would love sailing but I absolutely fell in love with it! I’m not sure how great I would be if I had to be running the ship, but I’m happy to hand over responsibility to the experts and relax, as the waves crash against the catamaran and I sip on some prosecco.
Below are the best destinations around the world for a sailing holiday, combining natural beauty, nice island hopping spots and both warm weather and routes that will take you to what are considered ‘once in a lifetime experiences’.
Croatia
This has to be top of my list as I loved it. You may be shocked to hear Croatia has 1,244 different islands, islets and reefs (I know right), while this makes a sailing trip quite diverse, as the skipper can pick which direction to go in.
We visited Solta, Vis, Trogir, Hvar and the Blue Lagoon, all of which were beautiful, offering nice areas to swim and try out paddle boarding. In the evening, you head out to restaurants, but the breakfast and lunch are both included, while we went with More Sailing.
All of your booze is included, which we made sure to drink dry, including plenty of prosecco, red and white wine, plus beers in every single corner of the boat.
Being a catamaran, it meant you never really felt like the boat was really rocking, something we were a bit worried about. The room size was also beyond anything we expected, while we were also very relieved to see we each got our own bathrooms in our rooms, so we didn’t have to use a shared one, a massive relief for us all.
Honestly, the food was amazing, cooked by the Swedish hosts who prepared everything from scratch. It was honestly so impressive, while we also got some fika before disembarking from the boat each day, being a coffee and cake. You can read about our full experience sailing in Croatia in my blog, from the route we took to the food we ate.
Thailand
Looking further away from Europe, Thailand has always been a popular spot for island hopping, with the Andaman Sea offering several great spots, including Phuket, Krabi, the Phi Phi islands and Phang Nga Bay.
I also loved Koh Samui. It had a reputation for being a party island, but we stayed in a luxury resort and never wanted to leave, Ammatara Pura Pool Villas in case you’re curious. It was somewhere we didn’t want to leave. Despite it being a long time ago, it’s still in my top 3 stays I’ve ever had.
One word of warning, while I loved island hopping, expect to be very disappointed with Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh. This island was made famous by the Beach movie with Leonardo DiCaprio, but it was so overcrowded, boats couldn’t even properly come in as thousands squashed together to get photos. They have since been making attempts to lower tourism to the island, but I think they’re fighting a losing battle.
While European destinations can be amazing in the late summer, you actually want to avoid September and October in Thailand due to the monsoon season, but this is when I visited and the weather was fine.
November is the start of the drier season and people highlight it as a great spot all the way through till April. This is a great place for sailing if you like to go snorkelling and see coral reefs. It’s also great if you like your food a bit spicy, something me and Raquel love.
Greece
The Ionian islands are a great route a sailing trip, taking you to Corfu, Paxos, Antipaxos and Lefkada. You can expect greenery (unlike some other areas of Greece), olive groves and those stunning turquoise bays you see in postcards (if postcards are still a thing).
Most of the sailing trips start off at Corfu, arguably as it has a good airline route to many different cities around the world. Before you board your boat, I’d recommend a quick trip to Aqualand, I’m a sucker for a water park and this was so much fun.
Paxos is a drastically smaller island than Corfu, so it won’t have the same level of facilities, but it will also be a bit more calmer and has a number of amazing waterfront restaurants for you to eat an amazing dinner with a view.
Antipaxos is even smaller an island, with really nice beaches and a key spot if you plan on getting in the water and doing some snorkelling.
I’ve mentioned the most common route, but you could alternatively go for Santorini, Mykonos, Paros and Naxos. Mykonos is pretty damn pricey, so I’d eat on the boat as much as possible and avoid buying drinks while there. Santorini isn’t exactly cheap either, so this is certainly the more expensive route, but these really are picturesque locations.
Spain
I’m trying not to show European bias, but it really is a great area for sailing trips and Spain should certainly be high on your list. The Balearic Islands are perhaps the most popular route for island hopping, including the likes of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera.
Mallorca will provide those beautiful bays around Cala Deia and Port de Soller, while Menorca offers a more quiet escape to many of the other Spanish areas, albeit you’ll still inevitably spot a fair few Brits, we get everywhere.
Ibiza might have a party city reputation, but most of the people I know who visit actually go on family holidays here, as the other side of the island is so naturally beautiful and has amazing facilities for couples and families looking to get some summer sun.
You could go in a completely different direction, with sailing trips heading over towards Tenerife and the Canary Islands, closer to Africa. These are also popular if you’re hoping to spot dolphins or whales while on the boat, albeit they’re far from guaranteed. Much of the spotting happens around Los Gigantes.
I’ll always shout about Barcelona, as it’s one of my favourite cities in the world, while it’s often included on most sailing and cruise routes as it’s such an amazing place to visit. Jumping off at the marina, you have a lot to pack in, so I’d recommend having a read of my list of things to do in Barcelona, from the Gaudi Experience to Casa Batllo.
