Mykonos sailing holiday for 18-35s

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

Efforts to Reduce Flying
We have intentionally kept international flights out of the tour price so travellers can book their own outbound and return flights from whichever airport works best for them. This gives guests full control to compare airlines on CO? performance, pick more efficient routings, and where helpful tie the trip in with other plans in Europe so the holiday doesn’t require a dedicated long-haul return journey.

Once travellers reach Greece, the tour itself adds no further flights. Boarding takes place in Laurium, a short transfer from Athens International Airport, and the entire 7-night route between Makronisos, Kea, Siros, Mykonos and Kythnos is then completed on a single gulet. There are no ferry hops or short-hop domestic flights inserted between islands, which is unusual for a multi-island Greek tour.

Shared Local Transport
The entire tour is run on a single shared traditional Greek gulet (a handmade, motorised wooden yacht) carrying up to 46 passengers. Travelling together on one vessel between Laurium, Makronisos, Kea, Siros, Mykonos and Kythnos significantly reduces per-person emissions compared to individual ferries, taxis or hired transfers between the same islands.

Use of Sail Where Possible
The gulets used on this tour are motorised pleasure craft fitted with sails, and where wind conditions allow they can manoeuvre under sail. Use of sail is, in line with conditions in the Aegean, more limited during the high-summer months of July and August when winds are very low – but the tour notes make this clear so travellers can make an informed choice.

Human-Powered Activity
Although the gulet itself is motorised, the on-tour experience is built largely around low-impact, human-powered activities. Each day includes scheduled swim stops in the Aegean (including Makronisos, Rhenia, Kolona Beach on Kythnos and various coves around Mykonos), with snorkels and masks provided on board. Exploration on each island is on foot - including Vourkari village on Kea, Ermoupoli on Siros, the windmill area and old town of Mykonos, and the Laurium bar strip on Days 1 and 7.

Advising Customers to Reduce Carbon Impacts
Because life on board is more compact than a hotel stay, the tour notes ask travellers to be especially mindful of resource use during the week. Suggestions cover turning fans and any electrical equipment off whenever cabins are empty, keeping showers short to ease pressure on the gulet’s freshwater tanks, stripping unnecessary packaging from items before they ever leave home, and choosing biodegradable suncreams, shampoos and shower products - which is particularly important when most of those products end up in the Aegean rather than a sewer system.

We also point travellers towards Water-to-Go filter bottles before they depart. The bottles’ three-stage filter system means each one can stand in for hundreds of plastic bottles over the course of a trip.

On the international flight itself, we point travellers towards the carbon-emissions data now published in tools like Google Flights and Skyscanner, so they can compare specific aircraft and routings rather than just price. Smaller choices - a direct flight instead of two short hops, or a newer aircraft type - can make a measurable difference to the trip’s overall footprint before the holiday even begins.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

Low-Impact Marine Itinerary
The tour is structured around the natural Aegean marine environment, with daily swim stops in the crystal-clear waters around Makronisos, Kea, Siros, Rhenia, Mykonos and Kolona Beach on Kythnos. Travellers anchor at coves and beaches and access the water directly from the gulet, with snorkels and masks provided on board, rather than relying on permanent marina infrastructure for every stop.

Environmental Awareness
Because this is a sea-based trip, the tour notes treat environmental behaviour as a practical matter rather than an abstract value - anything dropped, spilled or rinsed off on board can quite literally end up in the Aegean within minutes. The guidance given to travellers therefore, focuses on:
• Taking plastic waste home where possible - particularly empty water bottles, which the small Greek islands are not well set up to process at the volumes summer tourism generates.
• Pre-empting rubbish at source by removing unnecessary packaging from purchases and toiletries before leaving home.
• Switching to biodegradable suncreams, shower products and detergents to limit chemical pollution of swim sites such as Makronisos, Rhenia and Kolona Beach.
• Treating fresh water, electricity and onboard A/C as finite resources, since the gulet relies on what it can carry between ports.
• Showing the same respect to small island communities and quiet coves as to busier destinations like Mykonos.

Plastic Reduction at Source
Marine plastic is one of the Aegean’s defining environmental problems, and a week of island-hopping can easily mean a dozen or more bottled-water purchases per person. To avoid that, the trip is pitched to travellers from the outset as a Water-to-Go tour: rather than offsetting plastic use, we try to stop it being generated in the first place. A single filter replaces between 260 and 400 plastic bottles over its lifetime, so even part of one tour group switching across removes thousands of bottles from the local waste stream.

Safe, Approved Vessels
All gulets used on the tour are government-approved with fully qualified captains, including required safety equipment (dinghy with outboard, ship-to-shore radio, mobile telephone, life jackets and fire extinguishers). Operating with licensed vessels and qualified crew reduces the risk of fuel spills or other incidents that would damage the marine environment.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

Locally Operated Accommodation
Accommodation for the tour is the gulet itself – a traditional handmade Greek wooden yacht crewed by a local Greek captain and supporting crew. By using a locally operated vessel rather than international cruise infrastructure, accommodation and crew costs stay within the Greek economy.

Support for Island Economies
The itinerary is structured around free time and shore stops on a series of Greek islands, channelling spending directly into small local economies, including:
• Laurium (Days 1 and 7) - evenings on the local Laurium bar strip.
• Kea - time to explore Vourkari, considered the most beautiful of Kea’s villages.
• Siros - free time in Ermoupoli, the capital of the Cyclades, known for its local restaurants and traditional sweets such as Loukoumi.
• Mykonos (Days 4 and 5) - two days of free time to explore the island’s shops, bars, restaurants and clubs.
• Kythnos - shore time around Kolona Beach.
• Daily Ouzo shots on board support a traditional Greek product.

Tipping
A ‘tipping kitty’ is included in the tour price and is used by the tour leader to tip the wide range of people who help the tour run smoothly. Clear additional tipping guidance is provided in the tour notes (for example, EUR 3-5 per day for local guides, EUR 1–2 per day for private drivers, and additional tipping recommended for the captain and gulet crew), recognising that service staff in Greece rely on tips as part of their income.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

Local Employment
On this Greek gulet cruise, travellers are looked after by the boat captain and their crew. The captain and most crew are local and speak some English - enough to communicate effectively -ensuring that the day-to-day operation of the tour provides employment for Greek crew members rather than outside staff.

Fair Working Conditions
Where porters are used, they are hired and kitted out in line with International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) guidelines, which cover working loads, conditions, and equipment standards. On this particular tour, the crew’s working environment is the gulet itself, captained and run by a qualified Greek crew under Greek maritime regulations.

Accessibility
The tour notes are open and specific about accessibility: the boats used on this tour are not suitable for passengers with special mobility needs. Embarkation gangways do not fit all types of wheelchairs and cabin bathrooms and staircases have restricted space and are generally unsuitable for people with limited mobility. Travellers with other physical disabilities are asked to contact us in advance, and passengers requiring special attention, assistance or treatment are expected to be travelling with an escort, so we can help them assess whether the tour is right for them.

Cultural Respect
Despite the party-cruise format, the tour notes still set a clear expectation that travellers behave as guests rather than visitors. We include a short list of common Greek phrases (hello, please, thank you, sorry, how much is it, etc.) so guests can make a basic effort with the language on each island, and remind people that customs differ in religious or sacred places and that local dress and behaviour conventions should be followed there, even when the rest of the trip is more relaxed.