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You’ve decided you want to go on a luxury yacht in Greece to explore the mythological Greek islands, but how do you choose between a motor yacht, sailing catamaran or motor catamaran. There’s an overwhelming choice of boats, but essentially there are only three types popular today.

MOTOR YACHT

Motor yachts sit heavy in the water, displacing the sea so even at speed, they are very stable for guests in most weather conditions. Motor yachts come very well equipped and appointed with luxurious features from the plumbing faucets and lighting fixtures to the multiple back-up systems for power generation, air-conditioning and navigation. Motor yachts have the highest standards of service and gastronomy where meals are prepared by highly trained chefs and served by expert crew. Motor yachts carry a multitude of water toys to enjoy such as a high-speed tender/dinghy for water skiing and tubing; Seadoos; Seabobs; kayaks and stand up paddle boards – some even have inflatable upper deck slides! The downside of a motor yacht is that they consume huge amounts of fuel to run at speed and power the silent generators that run day and night. It is easy to spend over Euro 10K a week on fuel even on smaller motor yachts, but this does allow guest to get to swim stops and ports quicker so you can potentially see more in a week. A motor yacht in Greece is a fast, 5* hotel on water, with the highest possible level of service – with a higher price tag to go along with it!

SAILING CATAMARAN

Luxury crewed catamarans have huge amounts of deck and interior space – more than the equivalent length motor yacht. The deck spaces include large alfresco dining areas, 3rd floor flying bridge decks, and relaxing trampolines to enjoy riding over the water or sipping a cocktail in the evenings. Crewed catamarans are all recently constructed vessels (if not brand new) and have a very contemporary, airy and bright feel in their interior design. A crewed catamaran in Greece can be chartered with many water toys, with the exception of SeaDoos (as there are no cranes aboard), and some of the bigger catamarans even have Jacuzzi built into the deck! They cost much less in fuel consumption than motor vessels but reach only 8-12 knots speed, under engine or sail. So, speed is sacrificed over the thrill of slicing through the water under the power of nature. The downside of sailing catamarans is that the interiors feel a little plasticky, and the sea can slap loudly on the light-weight fibre glass hulls and they do not have the heavy construction of a motor yacht. It’s possible to make good time sailing or with both engines and enjoy a wonderful itinerary similar to that of a motor yacht, but passages will take longer between islands.

MOTOR CATAMARAN

A motor catamaran is essentially the same as a sailing catamaran however they come without the mast, sails and rigging. They are equipped with much more powerful 500hp engines to attain speeds between 12 and 24 mph and have more solidly constructed hulls to withstand these speeds. Motor cats maintain the nice 3rd floor flying bridge deck feature of the larger sailing catamarans but are not as wide and come with narrower hulls for better fuel efficiency. They carry the same water toys as sailing catamarans, so no SeaDoo. These are a nice compromise as they consume less fuel than heavy displacement motor yachts yet are much quicker than sailing catamarans. The downside is that they are narrower so offer less deck and interior space than sailing catamarans and are made of the same light weight material so can feel plasticky and the sea can slap loudly against the hulls, when compared to a motor yacht.

Now all you have to decide is when to do your luxury yacht charter in Greece!
 

Published 15 May 2020. Author…Poseidon Charters