Whether you are an experienced sailor or sailing for the first time, it is of great importance who you go on holiday with, or who exactly your crew members will be.
This is especially important when you go sailing with family that includes your young ones - whether they are teenagers or children. The difference in their age changes certain rules that you have to follow, but in any case, a good organization of the trip before sailing must be your top priority. Experienced sailors have prepared reasons why to choose family or friends sailing vacation over other type of holidays.
Is Sailing as a Type of Vacation Suitable for Couples or Families with Children?
Sailing is the perfect way of vacation not only for families with children, but also for couples, newlyweds on their honeymoon or for friends looking for fun. A little bit of adventurous spirit is enough to try a slightly different but special family sailing holiday that you will be delighted with.
Interestingly, not only are there big sailing enthusiasts who take their children on sailing holidays from an early age, but there are whole families living on a sailboat who are followed by a large number of people on social media and who read their blogs - some like Sailing La Vagabonde or Sailing Zatara, a family of six.
Sailing is Private
While sailing with family you have the ultimate freedom of movement, but also absolute privacy. You don't have to listen to other people, you don't have to share food with others, you don't even have to be in a social mood when you don't feel like it. On the other hand, when you want absolutely all of the above, just head to whatever town you want. Sailing gives you great freedom of choice at the moment - whether you like privacy or not, you just choose the destination most suitable for you. The perfect choice for a holiday with family and friends!
Best Sailing Destinations Are a Step Away from You
You don’t need to go to the other end of the globe to find the perfect destination for your sailing vacation with family. This is especially true for people from Europe - Mediterranean countries such as Croatia, Greece, Italy or Spain are the world's best and most popular sailing destinations that are sure to meet your needs.
Each destination has its own specifics - Croatia is quite popular for sailing with children because it has a fairly calm sea, while Greece is popular among young people who go sailing with friends seeking for fun or among newlyweds seeking romantic places.
Sailing Experience Is Not a Requirement
Although it may sound like it, for a sailing holiday with family or friends sailing experience is not a requirement - just hire a skipper, or if you want extra service from both the hostess and the chef and enjoy the holidays from your dream with family and friends.
The skipper takes care not only of the boat, but also your safety. However, it is good to be well informed and read some basic rules of sailing before your vacation, especially if you have no experience and are sailing for the first time.
Family Sailing Trip Is Not Too Expensive
A large number of people have the wrong idea about the price of sailing and perceive nautical tourism as elite. While it’s true that it has its own specifics and certain extra expenses, sailing with family doesn’t have to be expensive. By comparison, a week of renting a sailboat with a skipper cost about the same as a week in an average four-star hotel. Often even less, depending on the hotel and destination.
Of course, there are additional costs for transportation, fuel or food, but the fact is that for a week you have a mobile home with which you can see the destinations as much as you normally see in three, four or five years of vacation.
And your children? In addition to learning new skills, getting to know new destinations and learning the rules of behaviour, they will go through new adventures every day that they will never get bored with.
Responsibilities and New Skills for Kids
Your children will acquire new skills - not only those related to sailing, but also skills of behaviour at sea, getting to know the winds and activities that sailing with the family allows in relation to a classic holiday on land.
A very important factor is the responsibility that each crew member has in order to avoid dangers at sea - it applies not only to parents, but also to children who should be familiar with the rules of conduct. The skipper will explain the basic rules to all crew members, but you as a parent must also show initiative and explain to your little ones how to behave and the responsibility they have, when sailing together as a family.
You don't have to worry about safety - all boats are equipped with a safety net, child safety life jackets, and for the smallest ones you can even take a car seat and install it in the cockpit to make sure your children are always safe.
Honeymoon on Board
Sailing with family does not necessarily include only those who come on holiday with children - sailing is also perfect for a romantic honeymoon. Since almost all of the world's most romantic destinations are also sailing destinations, it's not that hard to add two and two. Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Greece or maybe the Caribbean; just choose a destination and forget about meetings and work. Sailing experience is not a condition; hire a skipper who will, outside of driving and taking care of your safety, point you to the best destinations, food, cities or bays that will satisfy all your desires.
And What About a Sailing Party Trip with Friends?
Sailing is not only created for vacations with family but is also created for young people eager to have fun. Especially in certain destinations, such as Greece, Spain or Croatia, where young people regularly go to sail with friends. But also, to party.
On the other hand, perhaps the most famous event in the nautical world is yacht week, which brings together young people from all over the world who want to party, socialize and have fun. You will sail, explore new destinations, dance, and at the end of your sailing week fall in love with this type of vacation. Once a sailor, always a sailor!
Sailing with Family and Friends - Tips & Tricks from Experienced Sailors
When you go on a sailing vacation with family or friends, you still need to keep a few things in mind. Experienced sailors have singled out some things that you need to pay attention to before going on a trip.
Plan Your Sailing Route
One of the crucial segments of a family sailing holiday is sailing route planning. With a good and careful choice, you allow yourself to relax sailing and you leave yourself time to explore, get to know the cities or party. Unfortunately, most do not study potential routes before their vacation, so often a situation occurs in which it is simply impossible to make the most of your holiday time.
If you hire a skipper, he will certainly help you on the spot with choosing a route, but in any case, it is very important to research well the possibilities and which route best meets your needs. We have developed a tool, Route planner, that allows you to easily compose your own sailing route.
If you are sailing for the first time or are an inexperienced sailor, after creating a route ask our agents to revise your route. It may happen sometimes that you forget to take into account the weather conditions, maximum speed at sea, which would greatly change your plans. Anyway, at least partially plan your route before your trip so you can enjoy your dream holidays.
Take Your Medications
Whether you go sailing alone, with family, children or friends, be sure to take basic medications to avoid sudden situations at sea. This sentence should not scare you - taking sunscreen, anti-nausea pills or anti-sting spray will prevent normal but uncomfortable situations.
If you go sailing with children, be sure not to expose them too much to the sun because burns often occur since you are at sea almost all day.
Always Pay Attention to Your Safety
Whether you go sailing alone, with children or with friends, safety at sea must always come first. This is especially true if you are going on holiday with your children to whom you must explain all safety instructions and protocols that must be followed, regardless of the fact that they will subsequently hear all the information from both the skipper and the charter workers.
A safety net is an additional cost, but it's always good to have one - even when you don't have children with you. Unexpected situations can always occur during sailing, so it is important that children always wear life vests, and in extreme situations this also applies to adults. Even if you have no previous experience, always be well informed beforehand so that you know how to behave if something unplanned happens.
The weather forecast must be the alpha and omega of every sailor. Always keep track of changes in weather and wind so you can plan or adjust your route. Never, but never, counter and heed the safety warnings of meteorologists because that is exactly how accidents at sea occur. Even at the cost of staying a day longer at a destination you didn’t plan on, your safety and the safety of your children is a priority and not worth the risk.
Activities During Your Sailing Holiday
Outside of sailing as your primary activity, a few others occur during your vacation. The choice of activities varies greatly depending on whether you are sailing alone, with children or with friends.
It is good to plan your activities to maximize time spent at sea. Through sailing you have the opportunity to get to know several different locations, explore the area you are going to and plan an itinerary. In addition to standard diving, swimming, exploring and sightseeing, you can try some other area-specific activities.
Younger people are attracted to activities such as jet skiing, paragliding or bungy jumping, and many locations offer just such activities. For the party team, some other activities are a priority, so we advise you to check the rules of the country you are in so that your week goes well.
And advice for everyone else. Most sailing destinations are also gastronomic destinations. Take advantage of it! Experience cheese or wine gastro tours or take a local cuisine tasting tour.
