Live like the rich and famous for a day by cruising the Aegean Sea on a private yacht.
Ummm, yes please!
The description of this option sounded heavenly and exactly the break we needed after our day of extreme heat in Athens. Luckily the next stop on our Mediterranean cruise was the Greek island of Mykonos.
Mykonos is known for it’s picturesque town and it’s great beaches. Well, we weren’t staying on the beach for this one!
We rented a yacht for the day through a company called Mykonos On Board and four others from our cruise decided to join us. The six hours on the water included lunch and all the beverages we wanted and cost us €580 for all six people. So, around $100 per person!
We sailed into Mykonos on the NCL Spirit. The sun was out, the thermometer was climbing, and the water was beautiful. The day we planned was going to be perfect. All we had to do was get our group to the marina!
Mmmkay.
I never dreamed this would be the difficult part of the day. Our group jumped off the Spirit and made our way to the taxi queue. Then we heard someone in line say there were only a handful of taxis on the island! As in people had already been waiting in queue for an hour! As in, even the simplest things can be extremely difficult at times. As in even the best laid plans … blah, blah, blah!
This is one of the few times I have to (unfortunately) admit we were rude Americans. We followed a woman from Spain in our group and basically and basically hijacked two taxis. Less than 15 minutes after walking off the cruise ship we were on our way to the yacht and the water.
Caution Ahead: While we found there are very few taxis in Mykonos, there are other options to help you get around the island. Here are some ideas to help you avoid our headache.
Artemis, our Captain for the day was putting the final touches on the yacht when we spilled out of our taxis and onto the sand.
Artemis, I mean, how cool is that? This day couldn’t get anymore Greek … and then it did.
We chatted with our Captain and crew as they sailed us around the island and to Delos.
In Greek mythology, Delos is the birthplace of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis? While our captain was not a goddess of hunting, (at least not that I’m aware), he was very good as finding us perfect places to enjoy the water around the island.
We spent hours swimming and snorkeling in the waves. The water was a brilliant blue and so clear we could see old pottery, likely from decades and centuries ago on the ocean floor.
Halfway through the day, our crew pulled out an ice chest, grill, some food and started cooking, right on the back of the yacht! As you can see, we enjoyed several kinds of grilled meat and vegetables, we also had a salad and cheese. It was amazing enjoying the fresh lunch as the boat rocked in the waves.
Lunch combined with all of the soda and adult beverages we could drink left us resting on the yacht in the bright sun.
After a short break, (mom always said not to swim after you eat, right?!?) we jumped back into the Aegean Sea. By this point, all of the great food, hot sun and swimming/snorkeling was catching up with us!
Our day on the water was almost over, but we still had a fabulous sail back to Mykonos.
As we skipped across the waves, we took in the scenery. I will always remember the windmills dotting the shore.
Captain Artemis dropped us of on a pier at the main marina. It was on the Seabus route. We stood on the pier until the seabus arrived. It sailed us straight over to the area where we needed to catch a tender back to the Spirit.
Mykonos’ Seabus is my kind of public transportation. It’s on the water, it’s a boat, and the rows of seats inside remind me of the plush seats you find in movie theaters!
We had more than enough time to embark while reminiscing about our amazing day and how lucky we were to find a yacht tour we could afford.
If you’re looking for the perfect way to spend a day — or part of it — in Mykonos, this is your answer!