Sailing holidays

Sailing holidays vary widely with the seas and seasons but share some common themes. Trips tend to run for a week or more, although short breaks of four nights sailing are possible in southern Europe and in Scotland and Norway. Typically, you’ll sail for three to four hours daily, dropping anchor for a swim, snorkel, or dive, or to explore quiet harbour towns, hike to a hilltop or cycle a coastal path. Breakfast and lunch are often served on board, unless you’re heading way off the charts, in which case full board catering is the norm, with fresh fish caught off the boat. There’s often an itinerary, but it’s a loose one. If dolphins are frolicking around the prow, lunch may get pushed back. If the wind is whipping up choppy seas, the skipper may choose a different route. But this is where the similarities between sailing holidays end. Each offers something unique, in terms of location, style and experience.

The opportunity to relax on deck, cool off in crystal clear waters and relax on deck some more is the top offer of Greece, Italy, Turkey and Croatia sailing trips. Come in the summer and you can dodge the crowds clustered on the resort beaches, sailing to quiet bays and escaping back to your vessel each night. Meals are prepared for you in the day (you’ll eat on shore at local restaurants in the evenings) and the crew sail the ship, too, so you won’t be called upon to read the charts or hoist the sails (although you’re welcome to help if you like). There will always be the option to kayak or snorkel, jump on the paddleboard or have a swim around the boat at anchor at your lunch stop. Once you’ve docked, you can explore island ports or potter round pretty churches.

Some sailing trips are two-for-the-price-of-one in style, offering a specific activity alongside sailing. Go to the Ionian Islands in Greece to sail and hike, or combine sailing with yoga or even freediving, or slip over to the Cyclades to scuba dive. On some sailing trips, the sailing itself is the activity, with guests invited to be involved in the whole adventure; navigating, steering, hoisting sails and preparing meals for their fellow ship mates and crew. You may also fish from the boat for supper or, in Scotland, gather in lobster pots, too.

We also sell more extreme offshore sailing holidays, where you’ll be undertaking crossings of open water for multiple days at a time. These passage-making trips give you valuable experience and more nautical miles under your belt. In Europe this might include sailing in challenging areas like the Bay of Biscay, the North Sea or around the Canaries. In the Caribbean, look to St Lucia, the Grenadines and Antigua. For an even more extreme adventure, you can even cross the Atlantic.

There’s no better place to observe marine life than from a boat, and some sailing adventures make wildlife watching their focus. In Scotland, wildlife sailing holidays bring you closer to the west coast’s seals, cetaceans and seabirds, and you’ll report any sightings to research and conservation programmes. You can cruise around the Maldives in a dhoni, for the opportunity to snorkel with manta rays, or go deep into Spitsbergen’s fjords to see polar bears, walruses and reindeer. In the Ligurian Sea in Italy you can participate in conservation research into whale and dolphin populations on a six-day cruise, or head to the Cyclades in Greece in the company of a wildlife guide and see dolphins, seals and sea turtles in the water, and falcons and eagles soaring above, too.

Some sailing holidays (in Croatia, for example) include land-based accommodation with daytime excursions to islands – perfect if you want a little space in which to spread out and sleep but you still love to explore by sea. It’s also possible to find fully participatory trips, requiring you to shop for provisions, sail, cook and clear up. These are great for building camaraderie and tend to be cheaper, too.

Trips that take children are available, too, there’s usually a minimum age limit of around seven, or you can book out the entire yacht. Scotland is a great destination for family sailing holidays, with a chance to learn about sailing, spot wildlife, kayak and explore on land, and if you can only get away during school holidays, it’s cooler here than southern Europe.