Water sports activity holidays in Greece
| country: | Greece |
| location: | Peloponnese |
| departures: | Departs every Sunday from early May to late September |
| price: | From £439 - £895 (8 days) to £599 - £1299 (15 days) including flights from the UK. 20% discount for children. This trip can also be booked without flights |
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the amazing things you'll be doing
The south west Peloponnese is a fertile farming area blessed with fantastic long, wide, sandy beaches. With stunning unspoilt scenery, warm Greek hospitality and a very slow pace of life, Finikounda is the place to go for a sociable and very relaxing holiday. Finikounda is a paradise for intermediate windsurfers and offers some fabulous dinghy sailing to remote, sheltered bays along the coastline.
The mountain biking is great, with intermediate riders in particular enjoying the rolling green hills. Nightlife revolves around the excellent tavernas, all huddled together by the harbour and serving delicious fresh food and the day's catch.
PLEASE NOTE: This holiday can be booked with or without flights. Flights are available from the Gatwick airport in the UK. When enquiring for further details it would be very helpful if you could let us know how many people in your party.
There are a handful of welcoming bars and cafes offering everything from loud dance music to traditional bouzouki. It's been a long time coming, but our favourite Greek village now has credit card facilities at the hotel. If you are planning a trip to "Fini" this season you can now run up a room tab for any drinks and meals at the hotel and pay with plastic at the end of your holiday. For any nights out in the village, credit cards are still pretty much a novelty. The nearest cash point is about 15 minutes drive away in the town of Methoni, so it might be a good idea to bring some cash with you.
A great holiday for:
Eleni's Rooms - Many of our guests enjoy staying in the heart of this charming village, closer to the bars and restaurants around the harbour. We have therefore retained the ground floor rooms at Eleni's House, a popular choice with our guests for many years.
Beach Hotel - The Beach Hotel has an unbeatable location, above the sailing beach, looking towards the village. From here you also get a magnificent view out to the uninhabited islands and of the glorious sunset. This hotel is a great choice for families with its large swimming pool and safe enclosed grounds. The children's club room and long, generally sandy beach will keep even the most active children happy. Our sailing school is in the hotel grounds offering the ultimate in convenient sailing.
Mornings suit beginners with light winds, warm water and a safe sandy beach from which to practice. Stronger afternoon cross onshore winds are great for intermediates, it's ideal for harness practice with footstraps and waterstart sessions. RYA tuition levels 1 - 3, Fastfwd windsurfing.
Dinghy sailing
Dinghy sailors revel in the brisk winds, practising spinnakers and trapezing or racing the laser fleet. Regular day sails allow you to explore remote beaches where the real beauty of this area of Greece can be appreciated. RYA Dinghy Sailing levels 1-2, Seamanship Skills, Sailing with Spinnakers, Day Sailing and Start Racing.
Mountain biking
The rolling green hills behind Finikounda are the setting for a myriad of dusty off-road trails which twist and turn through olive groves and fruit trees. Long sandy beaches, eccentric little villages and ruined Venetian fortresses reward mountain bikers who come to explore this fantastic place.
Beginners will enjoy the off-road riding in the green valley immediately behind Finikounda. Intermediate riders and those who love great views will enjoy the rides to villages like Lachanada, Evangelismos and Akritohori, where a cool lemonade in a local taverna prepares you for one of the many descents back into Finikounda.
Keen bikers can easily spend hours riding the almost limitless network of trails which cover the green hills behind Finikounda. The historic towns of Methoni, Pylos and Koroni are great destinations for off-road trips and our bike guides will take you there via the best tracks that Fini has to offer.
This is one of our recommended resorts for mountain biking and, as such, we offer a fleet of the superb bikes and take up to three guided rides per day, though not during the hot months of July and August, when we focus more on morning and evening rides. There is a "Watersports Waiver" discount of that can be deducted from the Surf, Sail & Cycle prices if you only wish to cycle during the holiday.
Walking
A very fertile, pretty corner of Greece, largely unspoilt by tourist or industrial development. The village and outlying hamlets around Finikounda still thrive primarily as farming and fishing communities, so a brief walk away from the beach opens up hidden valleys of fertile farms, growing all manner of vegetables. Farm tracks cover the hillside and coastal pathways afford easy access either on foot or by bike. You get a real feeling of going back in time as you wander into tiny communities with just one coffee shop, also serving as the corner shop, post office and social club.
Also well worth exploring are the ancient fortified Venetian cities of Methoni and Koroni, the 'eyes' of the once feudal Messinian peninsula, both just a short bus ride or long walk away from 'Fini'. Pylos, further around the coast, has a massive natural harbour and, according to legend, is the home of Nestor's Palace. Our staff will be able to give you details and recommendations on the walks around the area.
Other activities
The mountain biking is great, with intermediate riders in particular enjoying the rolling green hills. Nightlife revolves around the excellent tavernas, all huddled together by the harbour and serving delicious fresh food and the day's catch.
PLEASE NOTE: This holiday can be booked with or without flights. Flights are available from the Gatwick airport in the UK. When enquiring for further details it would be very helpful if you could let us know how many people in your party.
There are a handful of welcoming bars and cafes offering everything from loud dance music to traditional bouzouki. It's been a long time coming, but our favourite Greek village now has credit card facilities at the hotel. If you are planning a trip to "Fini" this season you can now run up a room tab for any drinks and meals at the hotel and pay with plastic at the end of your holiday. For any nights out in the village, credit cards are still pretty much a novelty. The nearest cash point is about 15 minutes drive away in the town of Methoni, so it might be a good idea to bring some cash with you.
A great holiday for:
- Beginner and intermediate sailors and windsurfers.
- Intermediate mountain biking.
- Steady cross shore winds
- Small but sociable resort
- Unspoilt Greece - rugged and tranquil
- Singles, families, couples and groups
- Four children's clubs available
Eleni's Rooms - Many of our guests enjoy staying in the heart of this charming village, closer to the bars and restaurants around the harbour. We have therefore retained the ground floor rooms at Eleni's House, a popular choice with our guests for many years.
Beach Hotel - The Beach Hotel has an unbeatable location, above the sailing beach, looking towards the village. From here you also get a magnificent view out to the uninhabited islands and of the glorious sunset. This hotel is a great choice for families with its large swimming pool and safe enclosed grounds. The children's club room and long, generally sandy beach will keep even the most active children happy. Our sailing school is in the hotel grounds offering the ultimate in convenient sailing.
activities
Windsurfing Mornings suit beginners with light winds, warm water and a safe sandy beach from which to practice. Stronger afternoon cross onshore winds are great for intermediates, it's ideal for harness practice with footstraps and waterstart sessions. RYA tuition levels 1 - 3, Fastfwd windsurfing.
Dinghy sailing
Dinghy sailors revel in the brisk winds, practising spinnakers and trapezing or racing the laser fleet. Regular day sails allow you to explore remote beaches where the real beauty of this area of Greece can be appreciated. RYA Dinghy Sailing levels 1-2, Seamanship Skills, Sailing with Spinnakers, Day Sailing and Start Racing.
Mountain biking
The rolling green hills behind Finikounda are the setting for a myriad of dusty off-road trails which twist and turn through olive groves and fruit trees. Long sandy beaches, eccentric little villages and ruined Venetian fortresses reward mountain bikers who come to explore this fantastic place.
Beginners will enjoy the off-road riding in the green valley immediately behind Finikounda. Intermediate riders and those who love great views will enjoy the rides to villages like Lachanada, Evangelismos and Akritohori, where a cool lemonade in a local taverna prepares you for one of the many descents back into Finikounda.
Keen bikers can easily spend hours riding the almost limitless network of trails which cover the green hills behind Finikounda. The historic towns of Methoni, Pylos and Koroni are great destinations for off-road trips and our bike guides will take you there via the best tracks that Fini has to offer.
This is one of our recommended resorts for mountain biking and, as such, we offer a fleet of the superb bikes and take up to three guided rides per day, though not during the hot months of July and August, when we focus more on morning and evening rides. There is a "Watersports Waiver" discount of that can be deducted from the Surf, Sail & Cycle prices if you only wish to cycle during the holiday.
Walking
A very fertile, pretty corner of Greece, largely unspoilt by tourist or industrial development. The village and outlying hamlets around Finikounda still thrive primarily as farming and fishing communities, so a brief walk away from the beach opens up hidden valleys of fertile farms, growing all manner of vegetables. Farm tracks cover the hillside and coastal pathways afford easy access either on foot or by bike. You get a real feeling of going back in time as you wander into tiny communities with just one coffee shop, also serving as the corner shop, post office and social club.
Also well worth exploring are the ancient fortified Venetian cities of Methoni and Koroni, the 'eyes' of the once feudal Messinian peninsula, both just a short bus ride or long walk away from 'Fini'. Pylos, further around the coast, has a massive natural harbour and, according to legend, is the home of Nestor's Palace. Our staff will be able to give you details and recommendations on the walks around the area.
Other activities
- The fortress towns of Methoni and Koroni
- Classical archaeological site of Messini
- Boat excursions to nearby islands (subject to availability)
travellers' tales
The most memorable part for us was the scuba diving trip that we went on. It was absolutely brilliant, we had such a good time and will definitely go on holiday with this operator again. The staff were excellent, especially James who made our holiday so enjoyable. (more)
how this holiday makes a difference
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As part of our responsible business policy, the team in Finikounda have chosen to adopt the following long term commitments on the activity side of our programme. Since the beginning of the season we have:
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Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |