Cyclades sailing & walking holiday in Greece

Planet

The sailing & walking week has an eco focus. It informs our guests about the endemic species that they will encounter while sailing & walking around Greece. We'll show our guests a couple of presentations on the local widlife that will help them appreciate what the see. It’s essential that you appreciate and understand the beings that you come face to face with. If you understand them, you know where to find them, how to approach them in order not to scare them and disrupt their life and how to observe their behaviours.

In general with all our trips, we’re trying through our activities to encourage travellers to approach places they visits with greater understanding and respect. A few of our activities and actions related to wildlife:

- We organise wildlife tours which combine sailing and discovering endemic species. Under the guidance of our experienced biologist, people are introduced to tens of endemic species, both from the animal and plant kingdoms which exist only in this small corner of the globe. Guests leave with a different approach towards wildlife and aware of the dangers they face and how to minimise them.
- We organise visits at the two national marine parks in Greece, in Zakynthos and Alonisos, where the two most important NGOs for the protection of the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta and the Mediterranean monk seal Monachus monachus are based. Our guests are briefed on their work and how they can get involved and support them.
- We watch and monitor dolphins & other cetaceans by far away without disturbing them, adhering to the ACCOBAMS guidelines for commercial cetacean-watching activities in the Mediterranean Sea.

When our sailing boat, is not chartered, we sail around cleaning beaches, recycling or giving a helping hand to researchers and organisations in their efforts to collect data in order to study and protect the environment and wildlife.

By including in our itineraries and taking our guests to remote or underdeveloped islands [such as Kinaros (population: 2 people), Levitha, Iraklia and Anafi (population: under 100 people)] we aim to distribute economic benefits to those places that are hard to get to due to lack of frequent ferries or that are unreachable without a sailing boat or similar means.

- By recommending the purchase of products from the local agricultural co-operatives which function in many islands
- By advising our guests to taste the local cuisine in local taverns and get a taste of the local culture and avoid global restaurant chains
- By recommending rooms & apartments that we have carefully selected that are run by local people, not generic hotel chains.

People

We include in all our itineraries and take our guests to remote or underdeveloped islands [such as Kinaros (population: 2 people), Levitha, Iraklia and Anafi (population: under 100 people)] as we aim to distribute economic benefits to those places that are harder to get to due to the lack of frequent ferries or because they are unreachable without a sailing boat or similar means.

We encourage our guests to visit and try the local cuisine and purchase local goods wherever we go in order to get a taste of the local culture and also support the local community. More specifically:

- We recommend our guests the purchase of products from the local agricultural co-operatives which operate in many islands,
- We advise our guests to taste the local cuisine in local taverns and get a taste of the local culture and avoid global restaurant chains,
- We recommend our guests to stay in rooms & apartments that we have carefully selected that are run by local people, not generic hotel chains.

Our base has become the island of Syros where most of the maintenance work is carried out. We employ locals for all the jobs concerning the boat. We buy materials for the maintenance of the boat from local shops.