BOAT-COMPARATOR

17 ports compared

Boat rental in Greece: every port compared

Windy Cyclades for seasoned crews, the gentle Ionian for first cruises, the Dodecanese off the beaten track: Greece is three seas in one. Boat-Comparator queries the platforms live at every Greek base, from Athens to Rhodes.

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When to sail in Greece

The meltemi blows hard in July–August across the Cyclades; the Ionian islands are more sheltered for beginners. May–June and September are the favoured months.

Ionian and Dodecanese versus the Cyclades: two Greeces, two price levels

Our readings from 5 to 11 September 2026, thirty days ahead of departure, cover all seventeen Greek bases and draw a very clear line. The lowest daily medians are in Lefkada (€378 across 76 offers), Kos (€411 across 36 offers), Preveza (€416 across 31 offers) and Skiathos (€420 across 58 offers); the highest in Mykonos (€1,915 across 92 offers) and Athens (€1,840 across 83 offers). That is a one-to-five ratio between the Ionian Sea and the busiest Cyclades.

On sailboats the hierarchy holds and tightens: €255 in Gouvia (16 offers), €315 in Kos (17 offers), €328 in Lavrio (18 offers), €343 in Preveza (18 offers) and €374 in Alimos (25 offers), against €1,444 in Mykonos (4 offers) and €1,628 in Naxos (4 offers). For a first cruise, the Ionian combines the gentlest wind and the lowest rates in the country — the argument of our guide to the Ionian islands for a first sailboat.

Motorboats, where the gap reaches a factor of nine

Motorboats are where Greece spreads widest: a €218 median in Lefkada on a very solid sample of 47 offers, against €1,929 in Mykonos (25 offers) and €2,035 in Lavrio (8 offers). A factor of nine, in a category that elsewhere in the Mediterranean rarely varies beyond one to four.

On license-free boats Greece is well stocked — operators there commonly offer boats up to 30 hp without a licence, after a briefing and a signed waiver, with the local port police always having the final say on their own waters: €150 in Lefkada (4 offers), €218 in Skiathos (8 offers), €220 in Corfu (13 offers), €338 in Mykonos (4 offers) and €360 in Santorini (7 offers). One gap to flag: no catamaran offer recorded in Corfu on the last complete reading.

The meltemi gets up late morning, not at dawn

This is the parameter that decides an Aegean day, and a study by A. Pezzoli, published in 2005 in Advances in Geosciences, documents it precisely for the Saronic Gulf, the waters off Athens and Alimos. Analysing eleven Augusts of hourly records and three buoys, the author shows that the meltemi follows a sharply marked daily cycle: light and from the north to north-north-west in the morning, it builds abruptly in late morning — the buoys going from 6.5 m/s around 09:00 to over 12 m/s by midday during the 16 August 2004 episode — peaks in the afternoon, then eases in the evening. The study also describes a one-to-two-kilometre convergence zone where the meltemi meets the sea breeze along the Attic coast, and a thermal inversion that creates deceptive calm patches just offshore.

The practical lesson is simple: leave early, make the exposed crossing in the morning, and keep the afternoon for a lee anchorage. See also our one-week Cyclades itinerary and our comparison of which boat rental platform to choose.

Rental ports in Greece

Frequently asked questions

How much does a boat rental cost in Greece?

Roughly €100–250 per day license-free, €200–600 for a RIB, €1,500–8,000 per week for a sailboat or catamaran depending on season. Prices vary markedly by port and platform — exactly what Boat-Comparator compares live.

Which port should I choose in Greece?

Athens, Corfu, Lefkada, Mykonos…: each base opens different waters. The port pages below detail price ranges and the boats available by day or by week.

Plan your cruise in Greece

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