Kefalonia is the largest of the Ionian islands and the southern end of the gentlest charter ground in Greece. Argostoli and Sami are the harbours, Ithaca is six miles away, Zakynthos is twenty south and Lefkas thirty north, and the afternoon breeze that makes this coast so easy fills at about one o'clock and dies at sunset.
What a boat costs here
Read on 11 September 2026, Sailo lists 35 boats in reach of Kefalonia, including a captained 44 foot Bavaria for nine guests out of Argostoli at 800 EUR for eight hours. For a week rather than a day, Istion Yachting prices an Excess 14 from 4.950 EUR out of Lefkas thirty miles north, and Nautilus Yachting prices a low season two to three cabin monohull from around 900 GBP.
The southern Ionian loop
From Argostoli north to Fiskardo at the island's tip, across to Ithaca for Vathy and Kioni, north again to Meganisi and the Lefkas canal, then back down the east side by Sami. That is sixty to eighty miles over a week with nothing longer than a fifteen mile hop and no exposed passage at all. South to Zakynthos adds twenty miles of open water and is the only part of this ground that needs a forecast.
Why the Ionian is the easy Greece
No meltemi. The summer wind here is a thermal sea breeze that fills from the north west in the early afternoon at twelve to eighteen knots and dies in the evening, which means mornings under engine, afternoons sailing and calm nights on a quay. Harbours are close enough together that a plan can change at lunchtime. It is the ground every Greek charter company sends a first bareboat to, and correctly.
Questions people ask about kefalonia yacht charter
How much is a yacht charter in Kefalonia?
Sailo lists 35 boats in reach of the island, including a captained 44 foot Bavaria out of Argostoli at 800 EUR for eight hours, read on 11 September 2026. A week from Lefkas starts at 4.950 EUR for an Excess 14 with Istion.
Where does a Kefalonia week go?
North to Fiskardo, across to Ithaca for Vathy and Kioni, up to Meganisi and the Lefkas canal and back down by Sami. Sixty to eighty miles with no hop longer than fifteen.
Is the Ionian windy?
Not in the way the Cyclades are. The summer wind is a thermal breeze from the north west, twelve to eighteen knots from early afternoon, gone by evening. There is no meltemi in this part of Greece.