Island Hopping Around Greece

Made it to the top of the Minoan site! Amorgos, Greece.

From Crete, we made quite a few hops along the island chain. We stopped at Astipalaia, Amorgos, Koufonisia, Naxos, Mykonos, Delos, Rhenia, Paros, and Antiparos.

Dolphin at the entrance to Astipalea lagoon.

Astipalaia was our least favorite, due to all the trash. This island had trash dumps on every beach, and while it had a reputation for its lagoon, it was nowhere near what Spinalonga was like. We spent two nights here until we had a good enough weather window to head to Amorgos.

Amorgos was better. The guide book mentioned it was an excellent fishing spot and known for dolphins visiting. We tossed out the fishing line and no sooner had the dolphins paid a visit, we had a fish on the line! It made for a delicious dinner and lunch the following day. 

Our first fish caught aboard Roundabout while on passage

We anchored in a few places, saw bioluminescence at night, and weathered a windstorm in the port. We were invited to a traditional Greek wedding ceremony and hiked up to an ancient Minoan site. 

Climbing to the top of the Minoan site. Amorgos, Greece

From there, we were scheduled to meet up with some other sailing families, so we hopped over to Naxos for a night and then on up to Mykonos.

Temple of Apollo on Naxos.

Temple of Apollo and little cave at Naxos.

We met up with the crew of Wiz and Aleasea. All the kids had a blast playing together. After weathering out another meltemi (wind storm), we hopped over to Delos to explore the ruins. Wow, what an amazing place! This was our most favorite ancient site of all. It is expansive and you need at least two days to explore everything.

More kid fun!

Pondering the ruins at Delos.

A temple at Delos. This tree marks the exact spot where Apollo and Artemis were born (at the sacred lake).

Dolphin mosaic at Delos.

Lots of furry friends at Delos.

From Delos, we spent a night on Rhenia and then sailed back to Paros to meet up with another kid boat, Abaco. Having four kid boats together was awesome. We hiked, played, and enjoyed each other’s company. Such fun times! 

All the kids hanging out around Roundabout and the other kid boats. Rhenia anchorage near Delos.

Our fleet sailed over to AntiParos to explore the cave and met up with yet another kid boat, Wildest Dreams. That night we had a fun beach potluck. Cadence and a friend made cupcakes to celebrate one of the other kiddo’s birthdays, lavender swirled vanilla cupcakes with lavender frosting. Yum!

Antiparos cave field trip with all the boat kids!

Boat kids from s/v Roundabout, Abaco, Alesea, and Wiz (Wildest Dreams arrived later that day).

Making cupcakes as a birthday surprise.

Another meltemi was coming, so our fleet went back to Paros to ride it out. The crew of Abaco went with us to take windsurfing lessons. That was a great day and so much fun! IF you are ever near Paros island, check out Paroskite.gr. You can anchor in the channel between Paros and Antiparos to take lessons at the school or check out their gear. I found a new wetsuit for Cadence and I for a great deal. George G. is the owner and is very nice. 

Learning how to windsurf.

In the end, we all had to go our separate ways. Two were going to Turkey and the rest of us were heading west. The kids really loved hanging out with other kid boats and spent most of each day playing in the water or swimming from boat to boat. It's hard to leave such fun times, but we've got to make tracks towards Croatia!