By sea

Serenity Sailing from Rethymno

A sailing yacht out of Rethymno Port: engine off, one long swim stop, lunch cooked on board.

• Only 8 seats per departure
• 3 looking at this right now

Serenity is a sailing yacht based in Rethymno Port, sold as a day on a boat rather than a seat on a timetable. The standard day is the Morning Premium Cruise, 09:00 to 15:00: out of the port at 09:15, an hour and a quarter along the Cretan coast under sail, a long stop in a secluded bay for swimming, snorkelling and stand-up paddle, then a Mediterranean lunch cooked and served on board - ntakos, dolmadakia, Cretan rusks and olives, seasonal salads and dips, shrimp landed by local fishermen with pasta, tomato and basil, and a light summer dessert - with water, soft drinks, local white wine and beer poured throughout. The same yacht is chartered privately for five hours or a full eight-hour day, and semi-privately by the seat. Everything is quoted on request.

Want a different mix? Build this day yourself.

• A sailing yacht rather than a tour boat - sails up, engine off, along the Cretan coast
• The Morning Premium Cruise, 09:00 to 15:00, with food and drink included throughout
• One long stop in a secluded bay instead of a run of short ones
• Mediterranean lunch cooked and served on board, with shrimp from local fishermen
• Water, soft drinks, local white wine and beer poured continuously
• SUP, the mega flamingo, snorkelling and fishing gear and a Bluetooth sound system on board
• Private five hours, private full day of eight hours, or a semi-private seat
• On request: harbour dinner with a private chef, on-board yoga, sound healing, photoshoots and proposals

Most boats that leave Rethymno are motorboats working a timetable, and you hear them for the whole trip. Serenity is a sailing yacht, and the difference arrives about fifteen minutes out of the port: the engine goes off, the sails go up, and what is left is water moving along the hull. The coast east and west of Rethymno looks like a different island from out there - the ridgelines behind the town stack up, the beach strip thins into rock, and the villages you drove through become a line of white on brown.

The day is built around one long stop rather than three short ones. The yacht anchors in a secluded bay roughly ninety minutes out, close enough to the rock that you can see the bottom under the boat, and stays. That is the point of the whole itinerary: enough time to swim twice, take the stand-up paddle board out along the shoreline, put a mask on and follow the rock down, or fish off the stern and do nothing else all morning. The mega flamingo goes over the side, the Bluetooth system plays whatever you want it to, and nobody is counting minutes.

Lunch is cooked and served on board while the yacht is still at anchor - ntakos, dolmadakia, freshly baked Cretan rusks and local olives, seasonal Greek salads and traditional dips, then a Mediterranean main of shrimp from the local fishermen with pasta, tomato and basil, and a light summer dessert after it. Water, soft drinks, local white wine and beer are open from the moment you board until you step off.

There are three ways to take it: a private five-hour charter, a private full day of eight hours, or a semi-private seat on a five-hour departure. And the yacht does a second life after dark, on request - dinner docked in the harbour with a private chef, yoga or sound healing on deck, a photoshoot, a wedding proposal, a silent sunset with nobody speaking, midnight star mapping, late-night theatre on board, or a bachelor or bachelorette party. Tell us which of those you are after and we will build the day around it.

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