Lefkas / Kefalonia sailing for a week

[mihpreda]

Hello fellow sailors !

We plan a one week sailing and our options are from Lefkas marina or from Sami on Kefalonia (altough we need to get the ferry to it).

What must see places would you recommend ?

Should we go east or west side of the islands ?

Thank you !
Mihai

[Vladis]

Hello,

From Lefkas marina I would go South on the east side of the island. With just a week I would not go further than Ithaki! From Sami I would go up to Lefkas!

Regards, Vladis

[dlymn]

Sami and Lefkas are not very far apart. Lefkas has more places to visit nearby. The inland sea is easy sailing. Meganisi is a great island to visit. Some of the places to moor are Nidri, Palairos, Vathy, Spartakhori, Sivota,Kalamos. There are even more little coves you can anchor in. Sami is a little more out of the way from the tourist areas but you can visit Eufimia, Fiskardo, a different Vathy, Frikes as well as Syvota and Kalamos.you can also go north from Lefkas or south from Sami but for a one week charter you might be doing a few long hauls (25 miles). The prevailing wind is NW. It picks up in the afternoon and quiet ends at 8. If you want to get a mooring at a quay, you might need to get in earlier. For a first charter in the Ionian, I'd go out of Lefkas; it's a bit of a nursery patch.

[Xlantic]

You can do either, depending on how much sailing you would like to do. I have a slight preference for the souther option, particularly Ithaca and the coast of Kefalonia facing Ithaca.

As mentioned, the predominant wind is from the NW so staying east of Kefalonia and Lefkaswill be calmer.

There are some lovely, quiet coves just south of Fiskardo where you can anchor (the goats may wake you in the morning!). Agios Andreas in the southern tip of Ithaca is another lovely anchorage.

For planning cruises in European waters you can't beat this site:

Sailing the Inland Ionian | JimB Sail

[Xlantic]

The anchorages in the north of Meganisi are also very nice.

You can also swing by Skorpios but watch-out for the beefy patrols!

[DMCantor]

We spent a few days in the Amvraika Gulf last fall, and really enjoyed the peace and quiet. The ruins at Nikopolis are really interesting.

[FilBrown]

There are loads of little bays & harbours as listed above but personally I liked Sparthakokri (not the town Marina) on the wall along from the Taverna.
Fiskardo is about the busiest small town around there and is a pretty place if you can get in. There's a Roman burial ground just around the corner from the harbour.

[mihpreda]

Thank you all for your suggestions.

It's actulally our second year in Ionian.
Last year we head a very pleasant surprise sailing around Corfu, Paxos, Antipaxos.

I was expecting a very touristy, crowded place, but it was quiet (end of July) with lots of spectacular anchorages.

Highlights were Sidari on Corfu with Canal D'Amour and Erimitis beach on Paxos.

I am hoping Lefkada will turn out to be the same.
We'll try to stay overnight in Egremni beach, if there is still something left after earthquake.

[Barra]

Originally Posted by mihpreda

Thank you all for your suggestions.

It's actulally our second year in Ionian.
Last year we head a very pleasant surprise sailing around Corfu, Paxos, Antipaxos.

I was expecting a very touristy, crowded place, but it was quiet (end of July) with lots of spectacular anchorages.

Highlights were Sidari on Corfu with Canal D'Amour and Erimitis beach on Paxos.

I am hoping Lefkada will turn out to be the same.
We'll try to stay overnight in Egremni beach, if there is still something left after earthquake.

Sorry to rain on your parade but the boat crowd factor goes up exponentially south of Lefkada so you have been prepared...

Having said that one week in August we were sharing a meganisi anchorage with around 80 boats and 2 weeks later in beginning of september there were just 4 of us (same warm water, same views) so depends when you go.

In the jul/aug peak you will be like sardines in many places and trying to avoid the same spots as the flotillas becomes as big an issue in next days sail plan as the wind.