A Paros sailing tour takes travelers out under sail from Paros. The boat crosses to Antiparos and follows the coastal bays. It is one of the sailing trips in Greece on Greece VIP.
This post covers what a Paros sailing tour includes, its boats and the meltemi wind. Swim and snorkel stops, food, sunset and private sailing come next. Naxos, sailing basics, sea life, safety, packing and the best season close the list.
Each section ends with a Paros sailing tour or cruise to book online.
What does a Paros sailing tour include?
A Paros sailing tour is an outing under sail from the island of Paros. A skipper and a crew run the boat. The group is small, and the boat stops for a swim. Food and drink are served on board while the sails carry the boat between stops.
Paros belongs to the Cyclades, an island group of about 220 islands. It lies about 150 km south-east of Piraeus. A dozen smaller islets surround Paros itself.
A Paros sailing tour uses this scattered setting. The boat leaves the home island and sails out into open water. The islets and the open sea give each Paros sailing tour a wide choice of routes.
Ports and landmarks ashore belong to the wider Paros boat trip choice. A Paros sailing tour keeps its focus on the water, the wind and the sails instead.
A sailing yacht uses sails as its main way of moving. A sailboat moves partly or entirely by the power of its sails. Cruising yachts also carry an auxiliary engine, a backup motor that helps the sails.
On a cruising yacht, this engine sits inside the hull and runs on diesel. Only the smallest boats differ. A sailboat switches to the engine where close manoeuvring under sail is not practical.
On a Paros sailing tour, the sails give the main push. The engine serves for the tight work around a harbour, where the boat has little room to move.
Yacht charter comes in three main kinds: bareboat, skippered and crewed. A crewed charter comes with a captain and a professional crew. That crew can include chefs, engineers, deckhands and stewards.
A Paros sailing tour follows the skippered or crewed pattern. Professionals run the boat. The passengers join as guests on deck and leave the sailing work to the crew.
- Skipper: A professional skipper steers the boat and decides the route.
- Swim stops: The boat anchors in a bay so that the passengers can swim.
- Food on board: Meals and drinks are served on deck during the sail.
- Small group: A limited number of passengers shares the boat.
The format suits passengers who want to see Paros from the sea under sail. They watch the island from a sailing yacht, not from the deck of a ferry. Every Paros sailing tour follows the same basic plan, built around the boat, the wind and the skipper.
Which sailing boats does a Paros sailing tour use?
A Paros sailing tour uses monohull sailing yachts and sailing catamarans. A monohull has a single hull and relies on ballast, or added weight, for stability. A catamaran has two parallel hulls of equal size. The hulls are set far apart, and the boat needs no ballast.
Traditional sailboats are monohulls. Their ballast makes up about 30% of the weight of the boat, and racing designs can reach 50%. The keel is the backbone of the hull and runs along its bottom.
The ballast is built into the keel, which holds its weight as low as possible. That low weight gives the monohull inertia, so the boat turns less easily. A Paros sailing tour on a monohull stays upright through weight below the waterline.
The wide gap between the two hulls gives a catamaran its stability. The hulls resist rolling and overturning. A cruising catamaran also strongly resists heeling, which means tilting sideways, and it resists capsize.
A fifty-footer catamaran needs four times the force to start a capsize than a similar monohull. It does not heel more than 10-12 degrees, even at full speed on a reach. A Paros sailing tour on a catamaran therefore sails with little tilt.
Multihulls bring greater speed and a shallower draft, which is the depth of hull below the water. On a Paros sailing tour, the catamaran also offers more living space. It can draw as little as 3 feet of water and is easier to beach.
Catamarans also have trade-offs: they are harder to tack and take up more space in a marina. Their broad beam, or width, asks for more room to manoeuvre. A Paros sailing tour on either boat balances room on deck against ease of handling.
Both boat types carry sails on masts. The sloop is the common modern sailboat design. It has one mast and two sails, a mainsail and a headsail. This simple set-up is very efficient for sailing into the wind.
Standing rigging, the fixed wires, supports the rig. Running rigging, the movable lines, raises and adjusts the sails. Winches work the sheets, and cleats secure the lines.
The deck of a cruising yacht has a bow pulpit, a metal rail at the front. It helps with handling the jib and the anchor. A Paros sailing tour relies on all of this gear.
- Monohull: A well-designed ballasted monohull can recover from a capsize, even from turning over completely.
- Catamaran: The wide stance of a catamaran can reduce wave-induced motion compared with a monohull.
- Headsail: A smaller headsail is easier for a short-handed crew to manage.
A Paros sailing tour therefore comes down to two hull types with different strengths. Both turn the wind into motion through the same sails and rigging. Under either type, the boat moves by the wind and the skill of the crew.
How does the meltemi wind shape a Paros sailing tour?
A Paros sailing tour meets the meltemi, the strong, dry north wind of the Aegean Sea. It blows from late spring to mid-September. The wind is at its strongest in the afternoon. Its direction decides which coast of Paros lies in shelter.
The meltemi is also called the etesian wind. The name comes from the Greek word etos, meaning year. It points to the yearly rise and fall in how frequently the winds blow.
Etesians have been described since ancient times. The weather they bring is normally fine and clear. The northerly wind also eases the summer heat of the region, which can be fierce at times.
The Hellenic National Meteorological Service records the same cooling effect. A Paros sailing tour in meltemi weather therefore sails under clear skies with a fresh breeze on deck.
The wind can blow at force 7 to 8 on the Beaufort scale. Force 7 means 28 to 33 knots, and force 8 means 34 to 40 knots. It comes up in clear weather without warning.
Sometimes the meltemi lasts for days without a break. Certain yachts cannot sail in such conditions. Yet the same wind gives a Paros sailing tour a good, steady breeze that leisure sailors favor.
For a Paros sailing tour, the meltemi is the dominant weather influence. Paros lies in the central Aegean, where the etesians blow from the north.
Leeward means downwind, the direction in which the wind goes. The word lee names a place without wind. Paros is formed by a single mountain, 724 m high, that slopes evenly down on all sides.
With a north wind, the south coast lies downwind of that mountain. A Paros sailing tour can look for shelter on that side when the wind turns strong.
- Strait: A constant strong wind blows in the strait between Paros and Naxos, a favoured windsurfing spot.
- Direction: The etesians blow from anywhere between north-east and north-west, depending on the shape of the local land.
- Cause: A deep continental depression, an area of low air pressure over southwest Asia, drives the etesians.
- Dry air: The meltemi is a dry wind and has no opposite wind in winter.
The strength of the wind and its afternoon peak set the limits for each Paros sailing tour. Its northerly direction decides where the shelter lies. A Paros sailing tour that reads the meltemi well turns a strong wind into good sailing.
What does a Paros sailing tour see in the channel between Paros and Antiparos?
A Paros sailing tour sees a narrow strait, known as Amfigeio, that separates Paros from Antiparos. The channel measures 0.8 nautical miles, or 1.5 km, across. Small uninhabited islets, including Saliagos, lie in the water between the two islands.
The island of Antiparos lies southwest of Paros. The passenger ferry leaves from the port of Parikia. Parikia stands 8 km from Antiparos.
A local ferry also runs from Pounda, a port 5 km south of Parikia. It links Pounda to the harbour of Antiparos.
A Paros sailing tour crosses the same water as these ferries. Paros lies on one side of the boat and Antiparos on the other. Both coasts stay in view from the deck of a Paros sailing tour.
Other small uninhabited islands surround the islet of Saliagos. They are all that remains of a land link between Paros and Antiparos. That link still existed in the Byzantine period, the era of the eastern Roman Empire.
Rising seas covered the link after that time. A Paros sailing tour therefore passes through water that was dry ground in the past. Southwest of Antiparos, Despotiko lies about 700 m from the shore.
The strait between Antiparos and Despotiko reaches only about 1 m at its deepest point. The islet of Tsimintiri sits in the middle of that strait.
Seen from the deck of a Paros sailing tour, Antiparos is a low island. The shape of its land is flat with small hilly peaks, and its plants stay low.
The main settlement lies on the northeastern tip, facing Paros. White houses and cobbled streets mark it. Bougainvillea, a bright climbing plant, is the main flower in its gardens.
The 2021 census, the official count of people, recorded 1,265 permanent residents on Antiparos. Small uninhabited islands, such as Revmatonisi, surround the island. They give a Paros sailing tour empty shores to watch.
- Summit: The peak of St. Elias, in the middle of Antiparos, reaches 308 m above the sea.
- Size: The island measures 11 km from north to south and 4.5 km at its widest.
- Diplo: The islet of Diplo faces the Camping beach on the northern coast.
Only boats from Antiparos reach Despotiko. Despotiko stands almost exactly at the centre of the Cyclades island group. On clear days, the view from there takes in Syros, Serifos, Sifnos, Kimolos, Folegandros, Sikinos and Ios.
A Paros sailing tour in the channel therefore sails at the heart of this island group. A long line of islands sits on its horizon.
Which swim and snorkel stops does a Paros sailing tour make?
A Paros sailing tour makes its swim and snorkel stops in sheltered bays. The boat drops anchor, and swimmers enter the water from the deck. Snorkellers wear a mask, a snorkel tube and fins. The anchor goes down on sand, not on seagrass.
Naoussa Bay, on the north side of Paros, forms a natural, spacious harbour for boat traffic. In ancient times, a chain closed the bay. The seabed decides where a Paros sailing tour drops its anchor.
Hard sand holds an anchor well, while shell holds it poorly. Weed and grass on the bottom can also stop an anchor from digging in. A sandy bottom therefore makes a good place for a Paros sailing tour to stop.
Posidonia oceanica, called Neptune grass, is a flowering plant of the Mediterranean Sea. It forms meadows under the water. It grows at depths of 1 to 35 m, depending on how clear the water is.
Its ribbon-like leaves grow in tufts of six or seven and reach up to 45 cm long. The meadows are home to animals and plants that find food and protection there.
A snorkel is a shaped tube that lets the wearer breathe air from above the surface. The snorkeller swims face-down and breathes the open air through it. The mask creates an airspace, so the snorkeller sees clearly.
A soft rubber skirt on the mask encloses the nose and seals against the face. Fins help the wearer move through water more efficiently, because human feet are too small. A Paros sailing tour needs only this basic kit to turn a swim stop into a snorkel stop.
- Buddy: A snorkeller on a Paros sailing tour stays with a buddy or the group, never alone.
- Vest: Venues can require snorkellers to wear an inflatable vest, similar to a personal flotation device.
- Breathing: Fast, deep breathing before submerging can cause hypocapnia, a low carbon dioxide level, and shallow water blackout.
- Sun: Sun protection such as a rash guard with SPF and waterproof sunblock lowers the risk of burns.
Posidonia meadows take in CO2 and produce oxygen. They protect the sandy coast from erosion, the slow wearing away of the shore. They also produce a large part of the sediment, the fine material that forms the sand on beaches.
Rising temperatures slow the growth of the plant, and anchors damage the meadows. Inshore craft such as speedboats, which run close to the coast, pose a collision risk to snorkellers.
What food does a Paros sailing tour serve on board?
A Paros sailing tour serves Cycladic and Greek food on board. The menu runs from shared meze plates and Greek salad to island fish and seafood. Local cheeses, olives and rusks, or hard bread, complete the table. The island wine carries a Protected Designation of Origin, or PDO.
Meze is a selection of small dishes that arrive in groups. The plates are shared at will, since nobody is expected to finish every dish. In Greece, meze commonly comes as a plate of snacks beside strong drinks such as ouzo and tsipouro.
That style suits a boat deck, and a Paros sailing tour can follow it. Greek salad fits the same table, with tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, feta and olives. Salt and olive oil dress the salad.
Parian cooking, the cooking of Paros, follows Cycladic recipes. It features oily foods, baked and boiled legumes, and open and covered pies. Cooks also shape balls of tomato, chickpea, zucchini or potato with island herbs.
Fish is the other pillar of the table. A Paros sailing tour with fish on board draws on local waters. Gouna is sun-dried salted fish.
Salatouri is a salad of ray, a flat sea fish, with lemon, oil and fresh herbs. Mackerel and grilled octopus complete the list of fish dishes.
Fish also goes into soups called kakavies. Cooks also grill it, fry it or cook it with vegetables, greens and legumes.
The white wine of Paros comes from the Monemvasia grape, also called Malvasia. Research traces the variety on Paros back to the Venetian era. The red wine blends the red Mandilaria grape with Monemvasia.
A traditional vineyard method on the island is aplotarias. The vine spreads flat along the soil, which keeps its leaves safe from wind and strong sunlight. A glass of this wine gives a Paros sailing tour a taste of the island.
- Xinomyzitha: This fresh cheese is soft and creamy.
- Kefalotiri: This cheese is salty.
- Kopanisti: This sharp, soft PDO cheese comes from cow, sheep or goat milk across the Cyclades.
- Companions: Small koroneikes olives and the renowned rusks of Paros accompany the cheeses on a Paros sailing tour.
The island also produces aromatic honey and capers, along with the herbs oregano, sage and thyme. Souma, the one distilled spirit of Paros, is made from tsampoura, the pulp of pressed grapes.
Dried figs are filled with sesame seeds and almonds. A Paros sailing tour that serves these island products puts the taste of the Cyclades on deck.
What is a sunset Paros sailing tour like?
A Paros sailing tour at sunset is an evening sail on open Aegean water. The light turns redder and softer shortly before the sun drops in the west. The boat then returns to its harbour once dusk starts to fall.
A Paros sailing tour at sunset changes the order of the day. The boat leaves the harbour in the late afternoon. It stays out on the water while the light fades.
The western side of Paros, which faces Antiparos, is the natural place to watch the evening arrive. The pace of a sunset Paros sailing tour is a slow glide, not a run between stops.
The golden hour is the name for this stretch of daylight before sunset. Its light is redder and softer than the light of a sun high in the sky. The term is figurative, not an exact hour.
The effect has no clearly defined length. It also shifts with the season and the latitude, the distance north or south of the equator. On a Paros sailing tour, that light falls on the sails, the hull and the water.
The sun sets due west at the equinox, when day and night last about the same time. Through the rest of the year, the point where it goes down moves along the horizon.
Sunset is not the end of the evening. Twilight, the light left in the sky after the sun goes down, follows in three stages. Civil, nautical and astronomical twilight come in turn, so the sky does not turn dark at once.
Civil twilight begins once the sun has gone below the horizon. It lasts until the sun sits 6 degrees below it. Enough natural light stays in the sky during this stage to see clearly without artificial lamps.
A Paros sailing tour built around dusk returns inside this window. The sky is still lit, and the water still shows its colour.
- Light: The golden hour has a colour temperature near 3,500 K, against 5,500 K at midday.
- Nautical twilight: The sun sits 6 to 12 degrees below the horizon. After nautical dusk, sailors cannot navigate by the horizon.
- Stars: Sailors can take reliable sightings of well-known stars while a visible horizon still serves as a reference.
A sunset Paros sailing tour is built around timing. The plan of the evening therefore moves with the calendar. The format suits travellers who want water, wind and colour in a single outing.
What is a private Paros sailing tour like?
A Paros sailing tour can run as a private hire, with the boat for one group only. The group can be a couple, a family or friends. The hire runs as a skippered or a crewed charter. Licensed sailors can also take a bareboat charter without crew.
On a private Paros sailing tour, the group sets the mood on board. It shares the deck with nobody else. The route, the pace and the choice of stops follow the wishes of the people on the boat.
That sets a private Paros sailing tour apart from a seat on a shared departure. On a shared trip, one plan serves a full deck of guests.
One form of a private Paros sailing tour is the skippered charter. The yacht is rented together with a professional skipper. The skipper is responsible for manoeuvring, or steering and moving, the vessel.
Further crew can join the skipper on board. The group needs no sailing qualification, because the skipper handles the boat.
A skippered Paros sailing tour exists on every yacht type. That includes the yachts that call for documented sailing skill and experience.
The bareboat charter is a different arrangement. The charterer, the person who hires the boat, navigates and manages the vessel. The charterer also carries the full legal and safety responsibility for the boat.
Bareboat yachts range from 32 ft to about 55 ft in length. The owner gives possession of the boat to the charterer for the period of the hire.
A bareboat Paros sailing tour therefore belongs to experienced sailors. The charter company asks the charterer to hold a valid sailing licence before booking.
The licence question has one answer: a certificate. It is the International Certificate for Operators of Pleasure Craft, known as the ICC. A pleasure craft is a boat used for leisure, not for work.
The certificate shows that its holder completed an approved national boating qualification. Or it shows that the holder passed an exam. The exam tests the skill needed to operate a pleasure craft.
Greece has not adopted Resolution 40, the rule that governs the certificate. Even so, the ICC is still the document that visitors are asked to show there. A bareboat Paros sailing tour starts with that paperwork.
- Crewed: A full crew of captain, chef, deckhand and hostess runs a crewed yacht, mainly a motor yacht.
- Catamarans: Catamarans have gained popularity for crewed hire because of their capacity and fuel efficiency.
- Issuing: Governments appoint competent authorities to issue the ICC on their behalf.
A private Paros sailing tour therefore comes down to one choice: who sails the boat. The licence question belongs only to the bareboat route.
Can a Paros sailing tour reach Naxos and the Small Cyclades?
A Paros sailing tour can reach Naxos. Naxos lies 8 kilometres east of Paros, across a narrow channel. The Small Cyclades sit south-east of Naxos. A Paros sailing tour toward them therefore crosses far more open Aegean water.
Naxos is the nearest large neighbour of Paros. It is also the largest island of the Cyclades, with an area of 430 square kilometres. Mount Zeus, at 1,001 metres, is the highest peak in the Cyclades.
A Paros sailing tour that crosses the channel reaches the Portara. The Portara is the gate of the Temple of Apollo, on the peninsula of Palatia near Chora.
Naxos was an important centre of the Cycladic culture in the Bronze Age. In that era, bronze was the main metal for tools.
The Small Cyclades, also called the Lesser Cyclades, form a group of 32 islands and rocks. Only four are inhabited: Ano Koufonisi, Iraklia, Donousa and Schinoussa.
Seen from Paros, the group sits beyond Naxos. A Paros sailing tour to these islands first passes the Naxos coast. Then the boat heads out over the Aegean Sea, which covers 215,000 square kilometres.
Koufonisia lies south-southeast of Naxos and west-northwest of Amorgos. Its highest point reaches 114 metres above the sea.
The group holds Ano Koufonisi, with 5.8 square kilometres, and Kato Koufonisi, with 4.3. The uninhabited island of Keros also belongs to the group. It is a protected archaeological site, a place of ancient remains.
One theory derives the name from Koufos Limin, a lee port, or sheltered harbour, for safe anchoring. That meaning suits a Paros sailing tour on a sailing boat.
Epano, or Ano, Koufonisi means the upper island. Kato Koufonisi means the lower one. The municipal unit, the local council area, counts 391 residents.
- Iraklia: The island covers 17.795 square kilometres, holds 148 residents and has the biggest caves in the Cyclades.
- Schinoussa: The island measures 8.512 square kilometres, counts 229 inhabitants and has Mersini as its port.
- Naxos: The island had 20,578 inhabitants in 2021, with 8,897 in Naxos City, also called Chora.
A Paros sailing tour therefore has two different horizons. A separate page on a Naxos boat trip covers the island from the Naxos side. That is the other way to see this stretch of the Cyclades.
How does a Paros sailing tour teach sailing basics?
A Paros sailing tour teaches sailing basics through real tasks on deck. Guests steer at the helm and trim, or adjust, the mainsail and jib. They help with tacks and gybes and tie simple knots. The skipper explains each task in plain terms before guests try it.
Steering is the first skill on a Paros sailing tour. A helmsman is the person who steers, and on a yacht that role is combined with the skipper’s.
A guest at the helm therefore takes over a real duty. The rudder, a flat blade under the stern, turns the boat. A tiller is the lever that moves the rudder.
The bow, the front of the boat, turns away from the side the tiller is pushed to. Sailing students learn the phrase Tiller Towards Trouble as a reminder.
Sail handling is the second skill. The mainsail is rigged behind the mast. Its lower edge is normally attached to a boom, a horizontal pole.
The jib is a triangular sail set ahead of the mast. Each sail has a sheet, a line that controls the movable corner of the sail. The sheet therefore sets the angle of the sail to the wind.
The aim is to keep the sail just filled with wind. On a Paros sailing tour, guests ease or pull a sheet and watch the sail react.
Points of sail describe the direction of travel compared with the true wind. A boat cannot sail within about 45 degrees of the wind on either side. In this no-go zone, the sails produce no lift, the force that drives the boat.
A beam reach has the wind at 90 degrees, and a broad reach at 135 degrees. Running puts the wind at 180 degrees, straight behind the boat.
To change sides, a boat either tacks or gybes. A tack turns the bow through the wind. A gybe turns the stern, the back of the boat, through it.
A Paros sailing tour lets guests feel both turns. Knots are the last basic skill. Guests on a Paros sailing tour practise them with real rope.
Practical knots fall into groups. A hitch fastens a rope to an object, and a bend joins two rope ends. A loop knot forms a loop.
The bowline is a simple fixed loop. It is easy to tie and easy to untie after carrying a load. Sailors use it to tie a jib sheet to the corner of a jib.
- Jib sheets: A jib has a sheet on each side, and only the downwind one is in use.
- Tack: On a Paros sailing tour, a tack releases the working jib sheet and pulls in the other.
- Irons: A boat that stops inside the no-go zone is said to be in irons.
To reach a point inside the no-go zone, a boat sails a zigzag. This series of tacks is known as beating to windward, or sailing toward the wind.
That one idea links the lessons of a Paros sailing tour. The helm sets the course, the sheets set the sails, and the turns keep the boat moving.
What sea life does a Paros sailing tour see?
A Paros sailing tour sails through central Aegean waters. These waters hold dolphins, the rare Mediterranean monk seal, seabirds and fish living over seagrass meadows. These are species of the region, not promised sightings. No tour can control where wild animals appear.
Every Paros sailing tour sails in Greek waters. About fifteen species of whales, dolphins and porpoises have been reported there. The short-beaked common dolphin lives in the Mediterranean and measures 1.9 to 2.5 metres.
This dolphin has a dark back and a white belly. An hourglass pattern of grey, yellow or gold marks each side.
Common dolphins have been observed bow riding, or swimming in the wave before a moving boat. They also appear in Greek art, including Minoan murals from ancient Crete.
The Mediterranean monk seal is far rarer. It is believed to be the rarest pinniped in the world. Pinnipeds are seals, sea lions and walruses.
Between 800 and 1000 individuals live in isolated subpopulations, or separate small groups, especially in the Aegean Sea. The species is shy and sensitive to human disturbance.
It now uses sea caves instead of open beaches. These shy habits explain why a Paros sailing tour cannot count on a sighting.
Greek law is very strict about seal hunting. The island of Gyaros holds the largest breeding population.
Scopoli’s shearwater, a seabird, breeds on Mediterranean islands as far east as the Dodecanese. It feeds by skimming over the surface. Sometimes it follows tuna to catch the small fish they drive up.
The yelkouan shearwater breeds on islands and coastal cliffs in the eastern and central Mediterranean. It dips from side to side on stiff wings, with its wingtips almost touching the water.
Audouin’s gull is a specialist fish eater that stays strictly coastal. A Paros sailing tour follows that coastal belt, the strip of sea along the shore.
- Seagrass: Posidonia oceanica meadows cover the sandy floor beneath the sheltered anchorages.
- Fish: Seagrass beds are nursery grounds, and juvenile and adult fish live among them.
- Clean water: Posidonia grows best in clean waters, so its presence marks a lack of pollution.
Eleonora’s falcon adds a bird of prey, a hunting bird, to the list. Two thirds of the world’s population of this falcon breeds on islands off Greece.
Even so, wildlife keeps its own timetable. A Paros sailing tour offers a chance to look. The skipper and the other guests watch the water and the sky.
How safe is a Paros sailing tour?
A Paros sailing tour is safe when preparation is complete. Life jackets are on board, and a skipper holds command responsibility. Weather checks use the Beaufort scale. Guests stay on board and take sensible care in the sun and heat.
Life jackets come first. A personal flotation device keeps the wearer afloat, with the head and mouth above the surface. It works even when the wearer is unconscious.
Large vessels carry these devices so that passengers can wear them in an emergency. A person who falls overboard in a life jacket has a much better chance of survival.
Ships also carry lifebuoys, rings with a line that are thrown to a person in the water. A Paros sailing tour follows the same custom.
The master of a vessel is the person in command. The master answers for its safe operation, its navigation and the people on board. Everyone on board is under that person’s authority.
A Paros sailing tour therefore follows the skipper’s instructions. These cover where to sit, when to move and when to stop an activity.
Weather checks come before departure. The Hellenic National Meteorological Service is the government agency that makes weather forecasts and observations for Greece.
Wind is rated on the Beaufort scale. Francis Beaufort, a hydrographer in the Royal Navy, devised it in 1805. A hydrographer maps the sea.
The scale has 13 classes, from zero to twelve, and it is used in Greece. A Paros sailing tour reads the forecast in these terms. A high force number is a reason to change the plan.
- Boom: An uncontrolled gybe can swing the boom across the deck, so guests keep clear of it.
- On board: Falling overboard is life-threatening, so guests on a Paros sailing tour stay on board.
- Sun: On a Paros sailing tour, sunburn can occur in under 15 minutes. Water reflects the sun’s rays.
- Heat: On a Paros sailing tour, drinking enough fluids helps prevent heat stroke, a severe heat illness.
Behind the skipper stands a public safety network. The Hellenic Coast Guard handles search and rescue, jointly with the Hellenic Air Force and the Hellenic Navy.
The Coast Guard also handles the safety of navigation and emergency radio services at sea. It is the backstop when preparation on a Paros sailing tour is not enough.
What do sailors wear and bring on a Paros sailing tour?
A Paros sailing tour calls for light clothes, a windproof layer and soft shoes with non-marking soles. Sun protection, swimwear, a motion sickness remedy and a dry bag complete the list. Each item answers the sun, the wind, the deck or the water.
Light clothes suit a Paros sailing tour, because summers in Greece are hot and dry. Loose shirts, shorts and thin dresses keep the body cool on deck.
A windproof layer matters as well, since the Cyclades have very windy days. A windbreaker is a thin fabric jacket. It is built to resist wind chill, the cold felt from moving air, and light rain.
It is worn mainly in the warmer seasons, when wind or light rain is expected. Such a jacket weighs little, so it packs easily into a small bag.
Soft shoes with non-marking rubber soles leave the deck clean. A pattern of fine cuts in the sole grips a wet deck. That is why sailors choose them for a Paros sailing tour.
Sun protection comes next. Sunscreen works alongside sunglasses, sunhats and sun protective clothing. A broad-spectrum product covers both UVA and UVB radiation, which are ultraviolet rays from the sun.
Label directions call for reapplying sunscreen about every two hours and after time in the water. Fabric carries its own rating, the ultraviolet protection factor, or UPF.
Swimwear is designed for activity in the water and in the sun, such as sunbathing. One item therefore serves both the swim stop and the deck.
Swimsuits that include nylon dry more quickly than suits made of common organic fibers. Organic fibers are natural ones from plants or animals. That makes nylon suits more comfortable to wear after a swim.
A dry bag is a flexible container that seals in a watertight way. It protects electronics and spare clothing from water.
Dry bags come in sizes from a small bag for a smartphone upward. A small one therefore suits a Paros sailing tour.
- Patch: Scopolamine ranks first among medications for motion sickness and comes as a skin patch. Blurry vision is a possible side effect.
- Tablets: First-generation antihistamines such as dimenhydrinate help prevent motion sickness, and sleepiness is a known side effect.
- Ginger: Ginger is an alternative treatment, although its effect against motion sickness varies from person to person.
A packing list for a Paros sailing tour therefore stays short. Medication for motion sickness works better when taken before symptoms begin or shortly after they start. So it goes into the bag from the start.
When is the best season for a Paros sailing tour?
A Paros sailing tour suits the dry months from late spring to early autumn. July and August are the warmest stretch. The Cyclades have sunny, dry summers, and the Aegean surface water is warmest then. Tourism in Greece peaks in the same season.
The Cyclades sit in a dry part of Greece. The Climate Atlas of Greece is published by the Hellenic National Meteorological Service. It places the bulk of the Cyclades in a hot semi-arid, or fairly dry, climate.
Heatwaves, periods of very hot weather, stay mild on the coast. The cooler sea and the sea breeze soften the heat there. A Paros sailing tour in summer therefore meets clear skies as the normal condition.
Hard numbers, meaning exact measured figures, come from Naxos, where the same service keeps a climate station. July averages 25.1 degrees Celsius there, with an average daily maximum of 27.1 degrees.
Rain in July totals only 0.9 millimetres. August is nearly as warm, at 25.0 degrees on average, and records 1.6 millimetres of rain.
A Paros sailing tour in high summer therefore meets warm, rain-free days. January, by contrast, averages 12.2 degrees.
The surface layer, the top band of water in the Aegean Sea, is 40 to 50 metres thick. It reaches 19 to 24 degrees Celsius in summer. Winter readings run from 8 degrees in the north to 13 degrees in the far south.
A Paros sailing tour with swim stops therefore belongs in summer, not in the cold months. A swimmer feels only this surface layer, so the summer range is the figure that counts.
Spring and autumn in the Cyclades follow a different pattern. At the same station, April averages 16.1 degrees with 17.6 millimetres of rain.
September averages 23.0 degrees with 7.7 millimetres of rain, and October brings 38.6 millimetres. December is the wettest month, at 69.0 millimetres.
A Paros sailing tour in September therefore meets warm air and little rain. Spring and late-season trips meet cooler air and more showers.
- Peak: Tourism in Greece peaks between late spring and September, when about 75% of all tourist visits happen.
- Early summer: June averages 23.5 degrees and 2.4 millimetres of rain, so dry weather starts before July.
- Heat: The station’s record high is 37.9 degrees, set in July.
The best season for a Paros sailing tour follows the dry months of the Cyclades. Travelers who prefer cooler time on deck pick the edges of the season.
What do travelers ask about a Paros sailing tour?
A Paros sailing tour raises regular questions from travelers. They ask about children on board, seasickness and sailing with no experience. Other questions cover strong-wind cancellations and a combined sailing trip on another island. The answers rely on public weather and health sources.
What do children need on a Paros sailing tour?
Children on a Paros sailing tour need attention on two health points. The risk of motion sickness falls with age. Younger travelers therefore feel seasickness more easily.
Limiting UV damage, the harm from strong sunlight, is especially important for children. Shade, a hat and sun cream therefore matter on deck. The operator, the company that runs the tour, sets the age rules on the booking page.
What helps with seasickness on a Paros sailing tour?
The rocking motion of a boat causes seasickness. Roughly one-third of people are highly susceptible, which means they get sick easily. On a Paros sailing tour, the best habit is to stay on deck and watch the horizon.
Going below decks for shelter is the greatest cause of seasickness. Holding the head still, not reading, music and mindful breathing, a calm focus on each breath, also help. Fog and poor visibility make it worse.
Does a Paros sailing tour need sailing experience?
A Paros sailing tour places command of the boat with a skipper. Passengers therefore need no sailing experience to take part.
In the 21st century, sailing is mainly a form of recreation, or leisure. Cruising includes coastal sailing within sight of land. A Paros sailing tour belongs to that form of sailing.
Is a Paros sailing tour cancelled for strong wind?
A Paros sailing tour follows the sea forecast. Greece’s national weather service publishes marine forecasts and gale warnings, alerts for very strong wind.
The Beaufort scale relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea. It remains in use in shipping forecasts and severe weather warnings. The skipper and the operator judge these forecasts and decide whether the tour leaves port.
Can a Paros sailing tour combine with a sailing trip on another island?
A Paros sailing tour combines easily with a sailing trip elsewhere. Parikia harbour is a major hub, a busy meeting point for ferry routes. It has daily sailings to Piraeus and to islands such as Mykonos, Ios and Santorini.
Santorini is one of only two volcanic islands in the Cyclades. A Santorini sailing tour adds that volcanic setting to the plan.
Featured photo: Paros catamaran cruise, via GetYourGuide.