Symi, Rhodes & Datça
Two countries in one week. We handle both sets of clearances; you handle the tavernas. Book six weeks ahead — the paperwork is the slow part, not the sailing.
The Logbook
NIMARA · CARIAN COASTHow the week runs
Boarding is at 15:30 on the first day, disembarkation after breakfast on the eighth. In between, the captain sets the order of the anchorages each morning from the forecast — the stops stay the same, the sequence moves.
What is included
- The vessel, the full crew, fuel for the standard route and all anchorage fees
- Three meals a day cooked aboard, plus five o'clock tea
- Bed linen, towels, snorkel gear and the tender
- Not included: drinks, meals ashore, port taxes on Greek islands, crew gratuity
What you eat
Turkish breakfast every morning — white cheese, olives, tomato, honeycomb, eggs to order. Meze at anchor for lunch: stuffed vine leaves, olive-oil artichokes, grilled octopus, whatever the market had. Dinner aboard most nights, ashore two. Tell us about allergies, vegetarians and halal at booking, not on the day.
Symi, Rhodes and the Datça peninsula
Two countries in one week, and the shortest crossing on this coast: ninety minutes from Marmaris to Symi. We hold the transit log, the crew list and both sets of clearances, which is the only difficult part and it is not yours.
What there is to do here
Arrive at Symi at dusk
The neoclassical houses stacked up the hillside light one by one. Come in late and take a table on the quay.
Panormitis before the crowds
The monastery at the south end of Symi, at seven in the morning, before the tripper boats come round from Rhodes.
Walk into Rhodes old town
Mandraki is a ten-minute walk from the walls. The largest inhabited medieval town in Europe, and you are moored at the edge of it.
Stand where two seas meet
Knidos, at the tip of the Datça peninsula, with a harbour on the Aegean side and one on the Mediterranean, and a Greek theatre above both.
Buy almonds in Datça
The peninsula is famous for them, and for thyme honey. Both keep, which is more than can be said for most holiday shopping.
The week, day by day
Saturday to Saturday: aboard from 15:30 on the first day, one bay that evening, then two bays most days and the last night on the Friday. Ashore after breakfast on the second Saturday. Want five nights, or ten? Say so and we redraw it.
Aboard from 15:30, papers and a safety briefing, then one short hop to the first anchorage for dinner and the first swim.
A morning swim where you woke up, a two-hour passage at most, lunch at anchor in the second bay and the night wherever the wind is kindest.
A morning swim where you woke up, a two-hour passage at most, lunch at anchor in the second bay and the night wherever the wind is kindest.
A morning swim where you woke up, a two-hour passage at most, lunch at anchor in the second bay and the night wherever the wind is kindest.
Breakfast alongside, then ashore by 09:30. Most guests take the late flight and leave their bags with us for the day.
Greek waters need six weeks' notice so the paperwork is ready, and every passport must be with us before we file. Port fees on the Greek side are paid locally and are not in the charter price.
What guests say about this route
Sailed this week? Leave a star and a sentence. It helps the next family more than anything we could write ourselves.
Ready to pick your week?
Tell us the dates and the number of guests. We reply with availability, a full price breakdown and a 72-hour hold on the boat.