For years, DMA Yachting’s team has asked charter captains across the Mediterranean yacht shows to name their favorite Greek islands. Mykonos and Santorini never win. The islands that do share one trait: the cruise ships cannot reach them, and that is where Greece’s real luxury now lives.
My Greek Charter, operated by DMA Yachting, says the most reliable test of luxury in Greece has become a simple question: “can a cruise ship get there?” The brokerage’s team has put a version of that question to hundreds of charter captains over years of Mediterranean yacht shows, in seminars, votes, and filmed interviews. The answer never changes. Mykonos and Santorini are worth a visit, but no working captain calls them a favorite. The islands the captains love are the ones the big ships cannot reach.
The evidence has been building for years. When captains at the Greek yacht show voted on the Cyclades, the result became the brokerage’s published ranking of the top ten Cyclades islands, captains’ choice, led by quiet names like Kythnos, with its double bay and natural hot springs, and the uninhabited paradise of Polyaigos. In filmed interviews, Milos keeps coming up as a favorite. And at the Sanremo charter show this spring, Captain Tasos Nasos, whose guests rebook the same yacht year after year, gave his own answer: Folegandros, an island with no airport and no cruise berth.
“Of course we go to Santorini, of course we go to the hotspots like Mykonos,” said Captain Nasos in the interview. “But it is not worth spending the whole week out there when you have paid for a charter yacht. Why spend two days in Mykonos when you can spend them in a secluded bay, with privacy and all the toys under your feet? If I had to choose, Folegandros is one of my favorite places. It is a tiny island. I call her the hidden gem of Greece.”
His signature move makes the point better than any argument. He lets guests watch the famous sunset in Santorini, then sails them to Folegandros the next day and sends them up the cliff steps to the church above the village at the same golden hour. They stand there alone. The reaction, he says, is always the same: “we should have skipped Santorini and spent the extra days here.” Greece itself has reached a similar conclusion. Since last summer, cruise passengers landing on Mykonos and Santorini in high season pay a 20 euro levy per person, a measure passed by parliament to manage crowds the islands can no longer absorb.
“It is too easy to get to Santorini, and you arrive into a crowd,” said Leonidas Marousos, Athens-based Yacht Charter Broker at DMA Yachting, whose home waters are the Cyclades. “I want to send my clients to the part of Greece most visitors never get to see. That is the true luxury of chartering a yacht.”
A charter can still call at the famous names, and some guests want the Santorini sunset once in their lives. But the best weeks often skip the hotspots altogether and follow a true yacht route through unspoiled Greece instead, like this 8-day Cyclades yacht charter itinerary, with nights off Folegandros, Milos, and the small islands most visitors never reach.
About My Greek Charter
My Greek Charter is a DMA Yachting-operated luxury yacht charter brand focused on crewed motor yacht, catamaran, sailing yacht, and superyacht charters throughout Greece. The team inspects and reviews yachts first-hand, interviews the captains who work these waters, and publishes destination guidance and itinerary planning resources for high-end charter clients.
Contact Information:
Business: My Greek Charter
Contact Name: Mo Pristas
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://mygreekcharter.com
Country: United States
