Mediterranean Cruising Guides

Introduction 

These web pages introduce the Mediterranean as a whole; weather, when to go, yacht support and passage planning. The left menu leads to the rest of the Mediterranean Cruising Guide pages, visible only to members. Printed booklets are also available for the West Mediterranean, the Adriatic, Greece and Turkey. These give less detail than these web pages (Web Cruising Guides).

Preparing advises on boat equipment and preparation, mooring techniques peculiar to the Mediterranean, and describes routes to and from the region from northern Europe.  The West Mediterranean and Adriatic differ from the more eastern regions, so each has its own area page. These lead to 'region pages', which often correspond to pilot book sections or chapters. They describe places to go, 'must sees' and things to beware of. They also give short descriptions of any key amenities which may be in short supply; ports of entry, significant marinas, layup locations. Links to other Cruising Association sources of information about the region are listed. When using these guides, check our disclaimer!.

Links (blue) in text lead to other web pages, often only visible to members. Cruising Association web pages will open in the same window - use your back button to retrace your steps. Pages from other sites will open in a new window - so you won't lose us. 

Using the Map. To move quickly to your area of interest, click when the cursor shows it is on a link.  

Cruising the Mediterranean - in a nutshell?

In these warm and tide-less waters pilotage is generally very easy, and in many regions, the cruising season as long as you want. Magnificent scenery, live volcanoes, well preserved relics of early civilisations, bustling cities full of character, easy access to fresh food, and a laid back approach to the pace of life are great attractions. Smart crowds decorate the sophisticated west Mediterranean resorts in peak season, when marina fees in the Costa Smeralda (Sardinia) hit world records. Some unattractive developments have evolved to serve mass tourism - but these are easily avoided.  Meanwhile, in the east Mediterranean and Adriatic, empty anchorages can always be found. The disorganised charm, open culture and thoughtless bureaucracy of small Greek ports contrasts sharply with the higher mooring fees and security worries endemic in the busier and more organised west.  All this contrasts totally with the relatively un-developed countries of the Africa coast, where tight control of movement is normal, with friendly welcomes in Morocco and Tunisia, a prickly welcome to Egypt, and political instabilities in the Levant, Libya and Algeria.

Of course, afternoon heat doesn't encourage work. Siesta intervenes from 14:00 to 17:00. A slower pace of life geared to agricultural economies also makes some visitors impatient. Things don't always work smoothly, projects halt half complete, and a clunky bureaucracy may interfere more than you wish. Away from tourist areas, English is not widely spoken. However, a lower cost of living than UK and the Scandinavian countries is common. Open air life, cafe culture, and (in the west Mediterranean) superb cuisine and fine wines easily make up for other perceived shortcomings. In the east Mediterranean . . . ah well, it's cheaper still, so don't expect gourmet, fine wines and smooth organisation. Something has to give.

Weather

The Mediterranean seems to have only two sorts of weather - settled, and unsettled. Some say the wind is either 'on' or 'off' - true only in the more sheltered areas. Settled weather is nice, with sunny skies, maybe a bit of high cloud, sometimes brisk diurnal winds, and maybe periods of moderate visibility. In areas where winds are stronger, expect very fierce gusts to blow down the lee of higher ground or around high headlands. Unsettled weather is when there's significant cloud around for a day or four; then some very sharp and violent wind shifts may occur, often associated with thunderstorms. Quick access to a well sheltered harbour is important in unsettled conditions. The ability to reef a sailboat rapidly is important.

Strong Wind Areas.  Winds above F5 rarely last long in settled weather, except in the zones marked with pink arrows on the chart, and the Straits of Gibraltar, where strong easterlies or westerlies funnel through the entrance to the Mediterranean. The Straits winds are likely to be strongest to the south of Tarifa and are important for those entering and leaving the Mediterranean.

• The French coast's Mistral or Tramontana (up to F9) winds are a regular feature of the Golfe du Lion, especially over winter. Even in summer these can reach far afield for days at a time; to N Corsica, Bonifacio straits, or even S Sardinia and the Sicily Strait.
• The Adriatic Bora with its 40kt blasts from the NE, can occur at any time, certainly in winter and spring, and as far south as Dubrovnik.
• The Greek Meltemi is a summer feature caused by strong seasonal heating over land,  giving  a day or four of northerly F7 in one or other chunk of the Aegean from late June to mid September. 

Away from these areas, light morning winds often keep a saiboat engine busy until the afternoon sea breezes settle in. Sea breezes can be brisk in high summer.

Forecasts are available from the usual sources throughout the region and predict the onset of strong winds or unsettled weather with reasonable reliability. 

When to Go

Summer. Summer broadly lasts from mid May to mid October, with a couple of weeks shaved off each end along the more northern coastlines - France, Adriatic and N Greece. Settled weather is the summer norm, and unsettled weather the exception. Local terrain affects the winds, creating quite big deviations from general area forecasts.

Daily heating of the larger land masses creates some brisk afternoon sea breezes; these will usually veer to give winds along the coast as though there is a low over the land.  For all except the peak months (Mid July to late August) peak day temperatures are usually comfortable, from 22C to 30C. In peak season, two or three periods lasting up to 4 days or so with air temperatures 38C or above should be expected - uncomfortably warm for some people. Sea temperatures only exceed 26C in enclosed waters, making such heat easier to tolerate when living aboard.

Between Summer and Winter. There's a transitional month or two at the end of season when the frequency of unsettled weather increases; and the same in spring as the settled weather takes over from winter. Water temperatures in spring drop to 18C in southern areas, 16C in more northern areas.

Winter. In winter (say, 1 Nov to 1 Apr), unsettled weather is common, with day temperatures around 10C to 15C. Frost is very unlikely, although winters in the N Adriatic and Sea of Marmaris (where there can be snow) and N Greece are chilly and wetter than other areas. In unsettled weather, easy access to a well sheltered harbour is important. But periods of settled weather are reliably forecast, and provide fine cruising conditions, with peak day temperatures often exceeding 20C. There are no crowds, although berths may not always be easy to find as few boats are on the move.  Some tourist areas really do go to sleep, and facilities, shops and restaurants in smaller places will close down outside the holiday season. The transition from bustling high season August to empty September can be astonishingly abrupt.

Peak Seasons. In these attractive conditions popular parts of the west Mediterranean and Adriatic become crowded and expensive, especially for the peak six weeks from mid July to the end of August. Marina prices can put the Solent to shame - if you can find a berth. Throughout the Mediterranean, noise can be intrusive near popular tourist destinations.  Discos can start around midnight and go on until dawn or later.  Even away from the obvious areas, local feast days may blast fireworks and loud music from dusk to dawn. In the more popular cruising areas, fleets of charter boats, handled with varying levels of skill, add both entertainment and worry as they compete for berthing space and puzzle over rights of way.

Yacht Support

Yacht support varies widely between regions, with the best facilities in Palma (Mallorca), Malta, S France, N Italy, the Adriatic, West Greece (around Preveza) around Athens, SW Turkey and Istanbul; in fact, anywhere where chartering is common. Away from these areas electronic equipment support is weak. Everywhere, diesel engineers and GRP/wood/metal fabricators are easily available. Value for money away from Spain, France and Italy is good, though the expertise is often agricultural and English language limited. Wooden vessel skills are widely available and excellent value for money, especially in the eastern Mediterranean. Sailmakers? Patchy, you might say, away from the centres, but local awning manufacturers can often help out.

Passage Planning

When planning passages through the Mediterranean, an excellent on-line reference is the RCC web site, which gives distances between key ports, brief details about those ports and descriptions of the current pilot books they publish for each area. Buy your pilot books through CA office (via Imray) for a discount!