Sailing Holidays Ltd Reviews 47

Loved our trip and the memories that we made. This was a first time for me skippering on my own, and having the luxury of a lead skipper, engineer, and hostess dealing with docking permissions, helping with lines, and throwing a Halloween party for the kids, just to name a few, was of enormous comfort.

Having seen this company in a few quaysides on previous land-based trips we thought we’d give them a try for our first flotilla, and we were generally impressed.
Our crew—Darcy, Flora, & Rowan—did a marvellous job. They were friendly, instructive and there whenever we needed them.
Sailing Holidays flotillas was a great choice for our first charter as they eased us into it, arranged quayside moorings and offered us great recommendations of places to eat and visit while on shore (along with the occasional activity night.)
We also enjoyed reading the SH history book left on board. Gave us something to do during a rainy spell, interesting to learn how the company started and see some photos of the boats and the towns in the Ionian from the past 40 years.
Bravo Sailing Holidays, would recommend.
⛵️🌟

Just back from our first flotilla with this company. We are not sailors and so we hired a skipper to sail with us for the two weeks. Leo was a fantastic skipper, very patient, helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. He made us all feel comfortable, safe and relaxed and was great fun. We would have no hesitation in recommending Sailing Holidays.com and our amazing skipper Leo. Thank you guys.

Just got back from our second year running. This year 2 week Faraway Islands and last year 2 week south Ionian. Both holidays were truly outstanding and created some of the best holiday memories ever. The lead crew and our boats both times were superb (as were our fellow flotilla guests!) Can't wait to book again for next year.

Just home from a brilliant 2 weeks sailing the whole Ionian with Sailing Holidays, beautiful weather, brilliant crew, Laura, Charlie and the lovely Sophie, the best crew to sail with, nothing too much for them, the beautiful islands we visited, what more can I say, it was perfect in every way, thank you all at Sailing Holidays

Just completed 1 week North Ionian with SH. Big thanks to Hostess Charlotte, Engineer Ludo (hope your arm fixes soon) and excellent skipper Anya who is an absolute credit to your company. Yes, it's a flotilla, yes, it's more hand holding than independent sailing, and yes, you're with the same 30 other guests all week. However if you want to confidently sail without constantly monitoring the weather, thinking of new locations, worrying about mooring in harbours, and having an engineer on call when your windlass breaks (as ours did :)).. then for the price inc flights this is perfect. We last used SH back in 2006, and have been bareboat chartering only the last few years. With SH, everything is done for you. This is an ideal sailing holiday if you've just got your day skipper (ICC). A great introduction for newly qualified sailors. And the Greek Islands?? Absolutely Perfect. Thanks to SH for a great week.

My very first flotilla holiday at 66yrs old.
Organised by my brother in law and wonderful sister. Joined by my brother, nephew and his girlfriend. Proper family holiday.
From start to finish no faults to be found. Fun for the whole of the holiday. We were on the Titania. Affectionately named by me as the Titanic.
Laura, the skipper , Sophie who organised everything and Yonnas. Our lovely engineer.
They made it such a wonderful, special holiday. They know why.
Thanks to you all
You will never be forgotten.
Our 'ship' was fantastic.
Happy memories. We all had a ball

We resisted for years booking with SH as we’d never been impressed when seeing them in ports but were persuaded by friends & so booked. Here’s a list of the trips we’ve done with them & our overall experience.

2017 - Saronics - excellent flot & very capable lead crew. We were very impressed.

2018 - 1 wk south Ionian - constantly met up with other flots so almost always rafted out or piggy backed parking. Didn’t use our bow anchor once to moor up. Hostie had a public melt down at briefing lashing out at the general misery from the guests at the constant flot meet ups.

2021 - 2 wk delivery Nidri to Gouvia - best lead crew we’ve ever had. Alex, Meg & CJ made this a fantastic trip. Intelligent & sociable crew who were there for their guests.

2023 - 2 wk south to north - utter disaster. Failed anchor windlass. Green hostie who spent their whole time drinking & smoking on one boat & a decision made to take us through the Lefkas canal during a force 8 gale. Got kicked off Lakka quay on a free day as 3 other SH lead boats were coming in for a lead crew party. Say no more.

2023 - 2 wk Faraways pop up flot - good overall. Failed anchor windlass 25 feet off the quay on day 1. Were allowed to go off alone to Corfu which we appreciated. Crew very competent but rather distant. Ant infestation on the boat.

2025 - 1 wk hotel & 1 wk south Ionian - it’s one we’d like to forget. Not SH fault but one person came down with campylobacter so was very ill. Apart from one on shore staff member, received zero support from SH. Delayed flot start & even had to fund our own transfer to Sivota with the expectation everything would be claimed from insurance.

So, for us, we’re done with SH. If you enjoy the way they operate, as many obviously do, you’ll love them. Unfortunately for us, we’ve been doing this too long to continue to spend £000’s on a less than even a satisfactory experience.

Absolutely disgusting how they block the spaces in the marina for their own boats only. Some guy blocks empty spaces just for their company boats.

A truly special company who care deeply about their customers and provide a wonderful relaxing and inclusive atmosphere. Nothing is ever too much trouble for the office staff or the sailing crew, they made our week very special. We'll be back. Many thanks

I did the Combined RYA Competent Crew + Day Skipper course and had a fantastic time.

Communication beforehand was smooth and I got all the answers to my (several) questions. During the course, both instructors were fun to learn from, happy to share both sailing related and local tips, and in general they were very easygoing.

I booked the course early in the season, to avoid the crowds and the heat, which turned out to be a very good choice: The weather was already good, the tavernas were just opening up (multiple times we were the "opening guests"), but there was barely any crowd both on-shore and in the harbours.

One thing to note: as both instructors emphasized, these are not really "sailing" courses, but rather "how not to kill people on a boat" courses (by nature from the RYA curriculum). This means that the main focus is on safety and safe boat handling. That said, if there was an oppotunity to sail, we definitely did that, including using a cruising chute, and often "sacrificing" early arrival so that we can catch some wind.

The boat I was on was indeed older (~20 yrs), but it barely showed. She was well maintained, clean, dry, and sailed well. I had a private cabin, which was very comfortable for one, might be a bit tight for 2. There was good space otherwise on the boat.

I'm looking forward to book a flottilla holiday with them in the not too far future!

I've been on two Sailing Holiday flotillas, in the North and South Ionian, and loved both. From the service from the office in London to the service from the lead crews in Greece, everything was professionally handled with a smile, with nothing too much trouble. Only two wee niggles: in the South Ionian trip we were advised to be into the next port early nearly every day, or we'd risk missing out on a berth. This hadn't been an issue in the North Ionian a year earlier, when we were free to roam about until the early evenings, and it meant we missed out on some exploring under sail, which is really the whole point of a sailing holiday. Can Sailing Holidays explain?
The other gripe was the poor standard of the showers and loos in some of the ports, especially in the South Ionian. Some of them were really primitive and off-putting. One of my crewmates was reluctant to go sailing there again for this reason, especially if his wife came. Can Sailing Holidays not put some pressure on the owners to invest a bit in upgrading their facilities?
But overall, they were great holidays and I can recommend Sailing Holidays without reservation.

Great staff and solid boats, couldn't do enough for me and the fam, always went the extra mile. I was in the Ionian with them this year (spring 2025) We felt safe and so well looked after, the perfect family holiday! and what a destination.

Nothing like the brochure!
We went on a Course. The boat was shabby with linen that didn’t fit the bed. There was very little down time and the Skipper was short and impatient.
No locks on the cabins. Staff uninterested in customers. Left with the feeling that the customers are only there to fund the sailing staff’s hobby.

Couldn't fault anything - had a fabulous week in South Ionian, 1 week flotilla. Very friendly and well organised - the lead crew are very welcoming and helpful, bringing some nice special touches and just the right mix of socialising with the flotilla vs doing your own thing. Even before arriving, it was refreshing to have real people available in the pre-holiday team to answer our numerous questions, makes such a nice change from faceless websites and travel companies where it's nearly impossible to speak to someone. I'd really recommend this company.

Every contact with Sailing Holidays was fantastic especially with the lead crew on the flotilla. Couldn't fault them and would highly recommend.

Refreshingly none corporate

Frendly admin staff,Lovely lead boat crew,great itinerary just very old boats.

We have just returned from the two week South North Ionian flotilla. It was fabulous, Freddie and his lead crew did everything they could to enhance our trip. Our boat was a bit old but it was fine. Some fabulous stops, mooring was always efficiently managed for all levels of ability by the lead crew. Great route. Well done sailingholidays.com

10th flotilla with Sailing Holidays done. 3 more booked. Whats not to like!
Young but incredibly mature and professional lead crew, in charge but aware of flot's experience level. Always willing to help out other boats in port too. Excellent level of organisation from ever enthsiastic hostie Em. Calm and confidant lead from skipper Tom with a great eye for route planning. Very adaptable to unforseen changes in planned stops. Great engineering skills from Kian who started and finished every issue with a smile.. Lucky that all fellow clients were respectful of lead crew and chilled about changes to port plans.
Wouldnt sail with any other company.

Lovely and interesting locations to sail around. Good support from both the London office and the lead crew.