Seafarer Cruising & Sailing Holidays - www.seafarersailing.co.uk

I have just returned from the Nikiana Beach club had a great time, this was my first holiday alone, I needn't have worried the staff and other customers were all very helpful and friendly.The on site facilities and training are second to none and taverner is excellent value. Thank you guys hope to see you again soon.

I had a really good time with the crew in the Cyclades so I decided to stay with my son an extra week. They were welcoming and we felt like home in the boat which was a real treat. I was shocked to see where they live, what they call their cabin - a ridiculous space of 2m at the front of the boat with no air coming through. But nevertheless, they were always in a good mood and friendly with us and the rest of the guests.

But I have few complains regarding the company. First, the weather was extremely challenging as it was at the end of July. The website doesn’t mention anything about the meltemi (strong north wind: 35/40 kts of wind) which can make the sailing really uncomfortable. For this reason on the last day we decided not to go back to Mykonos but stay in Paros, take an hôtel … as the first time my son was feeling really ill and I got scared, hé allier fainted and We had to stay in thé room. . The other two guests also took a ferry and they were fit and in a good shape to explain how awful is that leg.

Secondly, the website sell a route that can’t be done by the crew and it would be risky. I understood that due to the weather we couldn’t go to Santorini as it was too far south and would be impossible to come back to Mykonos. But once again the crew made the most of it. They did a fantastic route far away from the busy, touristic and ridiculously expensive places like Mykonos for example.

We decided to stay an extra day at Koufonisi for a stormbound and we all enjoyed to stay in a place a little bit more and have time to visit. The islands we visited were excellent as all the swims and lunches stop!

Unfortunately I won’t come back to Greece again as I felt like it was overpriced and too busy at that time of the year!

We had our holidays with Seafarer as complete newbies to water sports. In a week we didn't become sailors of the seven ancient seas but we got to try the basics and quite frankly we got really hooked! The great thing about Nikiana Beach Club is the wide range of activities and equipment. Starting from available for everyone - kayaks and sups - through windsurfing boards and some nice racing dinghy sailboats.

As I mentioned we were complete newbies to sailing and windsurfing but the staff runs basics introductions to this sports during the week and it's really enough to keep you going! I personally absolutely didn't expect windsurfing to be my thing but here I am now - planning when I can have next windsurfing holidays.

On the other hand the place itself offers fantastic location if you decide that this whole sailing thing is not your cup of tea. The hotel is just at the beach - no problem taking morning swims just after waking up. There are couple of hills to hike - if you really, really decide sailing is not your thing (or you are unlucky and there is no wind whatsoever).

Nikiana is a lovely little village - not too crowded - although in high season it might be different - with just enough cafes, restaurants and shops - all located around 10 minutes away from the Beach Club.

The staff is very friendly and helpful – they will help you not only around the hotel and equipment but also can recommend and advise on car rents, bikes and what to see around in the neighborhood etc. They are also very, very patient with beginner sailors/windsurfers so no worries about that.

Excellent service on booking. Very well equipped yacht and outstanding flotilla lead crew .

I will definitely go again

We enjoyed a previous catamaran cabin charter by Seafarer and wanted to try a sailing yacht. They made us very welcome and really made the trip. We didn’t get away as planned on the first day because of a storm. The seas were choppy for most of the trip but we enjoyed sailing to Paros, Schinoussa, Sifnos and Siros. Sifnos was a real highlight we’d love to visit again. They prepared great breakfast and lunches, and treated us to his signature risotto too!

There were 4 guests on the yacht, us plus another 2 people, so we had plenty of space. I think a full charter with 8 guests would be very cramped especially in cold and windy conditions like we experienced for most of the trip.

Their good humour, enthusiasm and professionalism really added to the trip. We helped with docking and some sailing under close supervision which was amazing.

Seafarer organised all our flights, hotels and transfers - excellent work by the team as always

We sailed with the fabulous skippers, L. and Z., on Malama the second week in September, 2021. The skippers’ professionalism, courtesy, and thoughtfulness made this experience one to remember. We particularly appreciated the flexibility and knowledge the skippers brought to this experience as they were able to keep us informed when changes in itinerary were necessary for our safety and enjoyment. The “unscheduled” islands we visited were beautiful and gave us a larger perspective of the Greek Isles. Before we arrived at each island, our skippers gave us useful information regarding history and what to see and do. We sailed on calm days and on windy days and felt quite comfortable in all conditions. We were encouraged to participate if we desired...or to just sit back and enjoy. At every port, our skippers shopped for fresh produce and foods with which they prepared very enjoyable breakfasts and lunches. All in all, it was a great experience. I would caution people contemplating this type of sailing holiday, especially older folks like us (we are 75) who have had no experience traveling on a sailboat, that accommodations are tight and if you are looking for a luxury cruise, you will not find it here.

We spent a week sailing in the Cyclades with Seafarer at the end of August 2021. At first we were extremely hesitant to book the trip because of the bad reviews online - but we decided to take the risk and it more than paid off because we had the most amazing week!

Highlights:

- We started the sail in Mykonos and it turned out that we were the only guests booked for the week so we had the entire yacht to ourselves along with the lovely captain and first mate. I love that Seafarer didn't cancel the sail because there wasn't a full boat.

- the captain and first mate went above and beyond the entire week! They are a young couple who are very passionate about sailing so they always made sure we were anchoring or docking in the best spots, and put up the sails whenever the wind was on our side. On top of their sailing duties, they prepared lunch on the boat for us each day which we always enjoyed with lots of laughs!

- Itinerary - When we got on the yacht, the captain asked us where we'd already been in Greece and what we'd like to do and see during the week, and tailored the itinerary around the Cyclades for us so that we weren't visiting places we'd already been to and gave us the opportunity to see the lessor known untouched islands such as Delos, Schinoussa, Koufounisi, Iraklia and Denoussa.

- Swimming spots - the captain always made sure we'd anchor at a spectacular swimming spot each day on the way to the next destination. One of our many favourite places was in Iraklia where we snorkelled to see a WW2 plane wreck in the bay. Very cool!

- Sailing - The sails went up whenever there was enough wind and we could be involved as little or as much as we wanted. We learnt a lot about sailing over the week!

- Showers - We always had hot water, what more could you ask for!

We were on the Malama yacht, it has some wear and tear but it's completely safe so it's great value for money considering you are sailing through the Greek Islands.

We can't recommend this trip enough - we had an incredible week sailing through paradise, at a very affordable price, and we came away with new friends and memories that we'll never forget.

We booked our sailing tour to the Cyclades islands in September through an Italian supplier. Not only our holiday was ruined, but the customer service was ridiculous, and we never got reimbursed. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!

DISORGANIZED

In short, the Italian website was not aligned with Seafarersailing.co.uk. While we were promised a specific tour, passengers who booked directly through them were told that the tour would include one new island per day, with no guarantee of which one. This already messed up our plans on what to visit… This was the first sign of general disorganization and misalignment with their official vendors. Also, the snorkeling advertised on their site was canceled due to COVID19, with no notice.

BED BUGS

Me and my wife both had bed bugs bites after our first night on the boat. We were not initially sure, but after our third day, when the number of marks increased, we contacted a doctor. The doctor clearly identified the red, swollen, triangular-shaped bites and strongly advised us to quit the sailing tour. We could easily confirm through previous footage that these bite marks were not present on our body before sailing. We were told that this was impossible because “the crew thoroughly sanitized and cleaned the boat before our arrival for COVID19 issues”. But this does not mean that they killed any bed bug since they hide in seams and wood and require a different treatment (fumigation). We had to thoroughly disinfect EVERYTHING once at home... The crew did not believe us and unprofessionally dismissed our claims, saying they believed this was just an excuse for us to leave the cruise, because we did not like it. Because of this, we really doubt any check was performed. We understand the surprise about the situation, but it is not unheard of that bed bugs can be found on boats with different guests every week.

After we reported this to the managing director at seafarer, he also dismissed our claims since in 25 years he had never heard of such problems. However, funnily enough, he also added “Nonetheless, to be 110% sure, they have been instructed to carry out the appropriate remedial actions, just in case.” Even after saying this, they categorically refused to reimburse not even a part of our trip.

This all led us to have to reschedule our holiday, pay a whole new set of hotels and lose 2000 euro. We find unacceptable that a company which should value the health and safety of their passengers would put so little effort in such situations!!!

I chose Seafarer because they offer RYA-approved sailing tuition, & they got me through Level 1 whilst ensuring the whole week still felt like a holiday. I went on singles week but it's not a dating event of any sort whatsoever, and I'd do it again in an instant - it's the kind of holiday that grows with you and delivers every time if you like some excitement and acquiring new skills when you head off to the sun.

Seafarer Holidays / Dodecanese Flotilla / 14 nights

Booked with Seafarer but only found out on arrival that our holiday was actually booked with Dream Yacht Charter, Kos. We did not get the beautiful teak decked yacht we had carefully chosen. That went to some other lucky people on a Bareboat holiday. We were given an old wreck! So no teak deck, the VHF radio was broken and no one could hear us calling out, doors inside could not close and banged about noisily when sailing, the interior table was totally rotten and collapsed on first use (we could see it had been repaired on numerous occasions before due to all the extra screw holes). There was no CD player as on the original yacht we had picked. We lost the extra leg room in the main cabin that we had wanted. We had to change the foul smelling water in the tanks on board ourselves - no help from the staff. In fact the staff were hostile and unhelpful, blaming us for all the problems with their yacht. They even tried to extort money from us for a broken light.

The lead crew on the Flotilla were useless; they missed several days sailing whilst we free sailed without them and we were told it was because one of them was seasick. In fact they were simply hung over from late night (and possibly all day) drinking in the local bars.

I was in actually tears at the end of this nightmare holiday. It was so stressful. I will not be using this company ever again!