A Kos yacht charter is the hire of a catamaran, motor yacht or sailing yacht from Kos, as a crewed private charter, a shared cruise or a self-skippered bareboat charter, for a day cruise or a week in the Dodecanese. The base is Kos Marina on the east of the island. Plan the whole trip with Greece Tours.
This guide covers the Kos yacht charter in full: what a charter includes and costs, the catamaran, motor yacht and sailing yacht options, Kos Marina, the Dodecanese route to Kalymnos, Pserimos and the Nisyros volcano, bareboat versus crewed hire, and how to book. Pair it with the Kos airport transfers and the things to do in Kos.
What is a Kos yacht charter and what does it include?
A Kos yacht charter is the hire of a catamaran, motor yacht or sailing yacht from Kos Marina as a crewed private charter, a shared per-seat cruise or a self-skippered bareboat charter, for a half-day trip, a full day or a seven-night Dodecanese voyage.
The sunset slot on a Kos yacht charter fills first in high season. Every Dodecanese trip begins with a Kos yacht charter from a southern marina. Booking a Kos yacht charter ahead secures the boat and the sunset slot. The choice of Kos yacht charter comes down to the vessel, the hours and the group size. A Kos yacht charter carries the transfer from the hotel to the marina and back. A Kos yacht charter runs half-day, full-day or as a five-hour sunset cruise. A Kos yacht charter is booked before the trip for a fixed, agreed price for the whole boat. The charter starts at Kos Marina on the east coast of the island, one of the principal charter bases of the Dodecanese. From that berth the boat heads out into the Aegean toward Kalymnos, Pserimos, Leros, Nisyros and the Turkish coast at Bodrum. The vessel, the route and the length of the trip are all fixed at booking, so guests board a boat matched to the exact plan they set with the base.
A crewed Kos yacht charter includes the skipper who runs the boat, the host or crew who serve on board, the fuel for the itinerary, the food and drinks, the snorkelling gear and the transfers between the marina and the accommodation. The guests bring swimwear, a towel and sun protection; the base supplies the rest. Lunch is cooked and served on deck, the open bar pours through the day, and the anchor drops at protected coves for swimming and snorkelling over rock and sand.
The scope of the inclusions changes with the format. A private crewed charter hands the whole boat to one group with the skipper and host aboard. A shared cruise sells single seats, so the price covers the guest’s place, the lunch and the drinks rather than the vessel. A bareboat charter delivers the yacht clean, fuelled and provisioned for a self-skippered week, with the licence, the navigation and the cooking in the hands of the guests. Each format answers a different plan, and the base sets each one against the same fleet at Kos Marina.
How much does a Kos yacht charter cost?
A Kos yacht charter is priced three ways: a private charter for the whole boat as one figure, a shared cruise per seat, and a bareboat charter by the week plus a refundable security deposit. The rate tracks the vessel type, the trip length and the season.
Families take a Kos yacht charter for the swimming stops and the meal on board. A Kos yacht charter is the cleanest way to reach Kalymnos and Nisyros. A private Kos yacht charter is exclusive to your group, with no other guests on board. A Kos yacht charter includes the skipper, the crew, the meal and the snorkelling gear. The motor yacht is the fast, luxurious option for a private Kos yacht charter. The Dodecanese route on a Kos yacht charter passes Kalymnos and the Nisyros volcano. For couples and groups, a Kos yacht charter is the private way to see the Dodecanese. On a private crewed charter the group pays for the entire vessel for the day or the week, and the headcount inside the boat’s limit does not change the figure. A catamaran that carries up to 12 guests costs the same whether 6 board or 12 board, so the per-person cost falls as the group fills the deck. That structure rewards families and friend groups who take the full boat and split one price across every seat.
A shared cruise divides the day into individual seats. Couples and solo travellers pay for their own places, board a catamaran already carrying other guests, and share the lunch, the open bar and the swim stops. The per-seat rate sits far below a whole-boat figure, which puts a crewed day on the water within reach of a small party that does not fill a private hull.
A bareboat charter is quoted by the week for the yacht alone. On top of the weekly rate the base holds a refundable security deposit against damage, returned after the boat comes back clean and intact. Fuel, marina fees along the route, and food are added by the guests, since a bareboat leaves the base without crew or provisions. Half-day cruises of 3 to 4 hours and sunset cruises of 3 hours carry the lightest prices; a full-day cruise of 6 to 8 hours costs more for the fuel and the extra hours of crew; a seven-night charter, crewed or bareboat, sits at the top of the scale. Booking the boat early for the peak Dodecanese weeks locks the rate before the fleet fills.
Which yachts are available to charter in Kos?
Three vessel classes charter from Kos: the catamaran, a stable twin-hull that carries up to 12 guests with a cooked meal and an open bar; the motor yacht, fast and luxurious for quick hops between islands; and the sailing yacht or monohull for guests who want the boat under canvas.
A Kos yacht charter departs from Kos Marina on the east coast. The set fare on a Kos yacht charter covers the food, the drinks and the fuel. The catamaran is the steady choice for a Kos yacht charter with a meal and open bar. The sunset slot on a Kos yacht charter fills first in high season. Every Dodecanese trip begins with a Kos yacht charter from a southern marina. Booking a Kos yacht charter ahead secures the boat and the sunset slot. The choice of Kos yacht charter comes down to the vessel, the hours and the group size. The catamaran is the workhorse of the Kos fleet. Two hulls hold the deck flat, so the boat sits level at anchor and moves without the roll of a single hull, which suits families with children and guests new to the water. The wide trampoline forward and the shaded cockpit aft give room for up to 12 people to spread out. The galley turns out a full lunch on board and the bar stays open through the cruise, so the catamaran doubles as a floating platform for a long day of swimming and eating at anchor.
The motor yacht trades sail for speed. With power under the hull it crosses the strait to Bodrum, runs up to Leros or reaches Nisyros in a fraction of the time a sailing yacht takes, which opens a wider stretch of the Dodecanese inside a single day. The cabins, the sun deck and the interior saloon carry the luxury end of the fleet, and the boat lands at each island with hours to spare for the shore.
The sailing yacht, a monohull, is the choice for guests who want the Aegean the traditional way, heeled over on the wind with the engine off. It carries a smaller group than the big catamaran but delivers the quiet of sail and the feel of the sea that a motor boat masks. A bareboat sailing yacht goes to licensed skippers who run their own week; a crewed sailing yacht comes with a professional at the helm. Whichever hull the group picks, the base matches the vessel to the number of guests, the itinerary and the format before the charter is confirmed.
What is Kos Marina and why charter from Kos?
Kos Marina sits on the east coast of Kos and ranks as a major Dodecanese charter base. From its berths a yacht reaches Kalymnos, Pserimos, Leros, Nisyros, Astypalaia and Bodrum, which makes the island the natural launch point for a Dodecanese cruise.
The price of a Kos yacht charter is set at booking, for the boat rather than per seat. Planning a Kos yacht charter ahead beats the scramble for a summer sunset slot. A Kos yacht charter drops anchor for swimming off Pserimos and Nisyros. Families take a Kos yacht charter for the swimming stops and the meal on board. A Kos yacht charter is the cleanest way to reach Kalymnos and Nisyros. A private Kos yacht charter is exclusive to your group, with no other guests on board. A Kos yacht charter includes the skipper, the crew, the meal and the snorkelling gear. The marina holds a deep pool of catamarans, motor yachts and sailing yachts on charter, backed by the fuel, provisioning, transfers and technical support a charter base needs. Boats leave from a single quay with the skipper briefed, the food loaded and the guests transferred straight from their accommodation, so the day on the water starts without a scramble. That concentration of fleet and service in one harbour is what defines a base, and Kos carries it at the scale of the busiest ports in the island chain.
Position is the second reason the island draws charter traffic. Kos sits in the middle of the Dodecanese, a short leg from Kalymnos and Pserimos to the north, within a day’s sail of Leros, opposite Nisyros to the south and across a narrow strait from Bodrum on the Turkish mainland. No single island in the group puts as wide a spread of destinations inside easy reach of one harbour, so a week that starts at Kos threads more of the Dodecanese than a week from a port at the edge of the chain.
Getting to the boat is straightforward. The island runs an international airport with a dense summer schedule, and a short Kos airport transfers run drops guests at the marina gate. Before or after the charter the island itself fills the days, with the harbour town, the Castle of the Knights, the ancient Asklepion and the beaches on the list of things to do in Kos. The airport, the marina and the town sit close together on the east side of the island, so the transfer from runway to deck is a matter of minutes rather than hours.
What does the Dodecanese route from Kos cover?
The Dodecanese route from Kos covers Kalymnos the sponge-divers’ island, the small islet of Pserimos, Leros, the volcano island of Nisyros with its caldera and the cliff village of Nikia, Astypalaia, and Bodrum on the Turkish coast across the strait.
A Kos yacht charter runs half-day, full-day or as a five-hour sunset cruise. A Kos yacht charter is booked before the trip for a fixed, agreed price for the whole boat. For the Dodecanese at sunset, a Kos yacht charter is the finest seat on the island. A Kos yacht charter departs from Kos Marina on the east coast. The set fare on a Kos yacht charter covers the food, the drinks and the fuel. The catamaran is the steady choice for a Kos yacht charter with a meal and open bar. The sunset slot on a Kos yacht charter fills first in high season. Kalymnos is the first name on the route, the island of the sponge divers whose boats worked the Aegean and the Mediterranean for the sponge trade. Its harbour at Pothia climbs the hillside in bright houses, and the sheer limestone above the coast draws rock climbers to the finest routes in Greece. A charter from Kos reaches Kalymnos in a short leg north, close enough for a day trip and central enough to open the rest of the group beyond it.
Pserimos is the islet between Kos and Kalymnos, a scrap of land with a single sheltered bay of clear shallow water and a short sweep of sand. Charters drop anchor off its beach for a swim and a lunch stop, since the cove holds a boat flat and the water runs turquoise over a sand bottom. Leros lies further north, an island of deep bays, an Italian-built town at Lakki and a hilltop castle over the sea.
Nisyros is the volcano to the south, a live caldera whose crater floor a visitor walks across, ringed by the white and blue village of Nikia perched on the rim. The island’s harbour at Mandraki sits under a monastery cut into the cliff, and the sulphur of the crater rises from the ground underfoot. Astypalaia, shaped like a butterfly with a Venetian castle over its main town, marks the western edge of the route, and Bodrum across the strait in Turkey adds a foreign port with its own castle and market to a Dodecanese week. A crewed charter threads the coves and harbours of the group over a full day or a seven-night voyage, and the skipper reads the wind each morning to set the order of the islands.
Private, crewed or bareboat — which Kos charter is right for you?
A private charter takes the whole boat for one group; a crewed charter adds a skipper and host who run the boat and serve on board; a bareboat charter hands a licensed guest a self-skippered yacht for the week. The right format follows the group’s size, licence and plan.
For couples and groups, a Kos yacht charter is the private way to see the Dodecanese. The crew of a Kos yacht charter handle the sailing, the cooking and the anchoring. The price of a Kos yacht charter is set at booking, for the boat rather than per seat. Planning a Kos yacht charter ahead beats the scramble for a summer sunset slot. A Kos yacht charter drops anchor for swimming off Pserimos and Nisyros. Families take a Kos yacht charter for the swimming stops and the meal on board. A private crewed charter is the answer for a family or a group that wants the deck to itself with no work and no licence. The skipper navigates, the host cooks and pours, the fuel and the snorkelling gear come with the boat, and the guests do nothing but swim, eat and take in the islands. The whole vessel is theirs for the day or the week, so the itinerary bends to the group rather than to a fixed timetable, and the price splits across every seat the boat carries, up to 12 on a catamaran.
A shared crewed cruise suits couples and solo travellers who want the same crewed day without the whole-boat price. The seat carries the lunch, the open bar and the swim stops on a catamaran already holding other guests, and the crew handle the boat exactly as they do on a private trip. It is the lightest way onto a crewed deck for a small party, and it fills a half-day or full-day cruise rather than a week.
A bareboat charter is for the licensed skipper who wants command of the yacht. It needs a valid sailing licence, since the guest navigates, anchors and runs the boat alone across the Dodecanese for seven nights. The base delivers the yacht fuelled and provisioned, holds a refundable deposit against the hull, and leaves the route to the skipper. Guests without a licence who still want to steer take a crewed charter and share the helm with the professional aboard. Group size, licence and the appetite for self-command sort the three formats cleanly, and the base confirms the match before the charter is set.
When is the best time for a Kos yacht charter?
The Kos charter season runs from late spring through early autumn, when the Aegean warms, the sea settles and the Dodecanese islands open in full. The peak weeks of high summer fill the fleet first, so the boat is booked well ahead of those dates.
The choice of Kos yacht charter comes down to the vessel, the hours and the group size. A Kos yacht charter carries the transfer from the hotel to the marina and back. A Kos yacht charter runs half-day, full-day or as a five-hour sunset cruise. A Kos yacht charter is booked before the trip for a fixed, agreed price for the whole boat. For the Dodecanese at sunset, a Kos yacht charter is the finest seat on the island. A Kos yacht charter departs from Kos Marina on the east coast. Late spring opens the water. The sea has warmed enough to swim, the islands are green from the winter rain, and the crowds have not yet arrived, so anchorages at Pserimos and off Kalymnos sit quiet. The wind blows steady and moderate, which favours the sailing yachts, and the light rates of the shoulder weeks make a private charter cheaper than it runs in July and August. It is the window for a group that wants the Dodecanese without the heat and the traffic of high summer.
High summer is the peak. The sea holds its warmest temperature, the days stretch long, and every island runs at full pace with its tavernas, harbours and beaches open. The meltemi, the north wind of the Aegean, blows hardest through these weeks, so the skipper on a crewed charter plans the route by it and the leeward coves stay in the plan. This is the busiest stretch of the season, and the peak Dodecanese weeks book out first, so the boat is locked in months ahead to hold the date and the rate.
Early autumn closes the season with warm water and thinning crowds. The sea keeps the heat it built through summer, the meltemi eases, and the islands quiet down as the peak traffic clears, which returns the calm anchorages of spring with a warmer sea. A sunset cruise of 3 hours lands its best light in these weeks as the days shorten. For the peak weeks the rule is fixed: book the Kos Marina base ahead, before the fleet fills and the date is gone.
How do you book a Kos yacht charter?
Book a Kos yacht charter by fixing four things with the Kos Marina base: the vessel type, the format, the trip length and the date. Confirm the boat ahead for the peak Dodecanese weeks, since the fleet fills first at the height of the season.
A Kos yacht charter includes the skipper, the crew, the meal and the snorkelling gear. The motor yacht is the fast, luxurious option for a private Kos yacht charter. The Dodecanese route on a Kos yacht charter passes Kalymnos and the Nisyros volcano. For couples and groups, a Kos yacht charter is the private way to see the Dodecanese. The crew of a Kos yacht charter handle the sailing, the cooking and the anchoring. The price of a Kos yacht charter is set at booking, for the boat rather than per seat. The first choice is the vessel and the format. Pick the catamaran for a stable family day up to 12 guests, the motor yacht for speed and luxury across the islands, or the sailing yacht for the boat under canvas; then set the format as a private whole-boat charter, a shared per-seat cruise or a self-skippered bareboat. A bareboat request goes with the skipper’s sailing licence, which the base checks before it hands over the yacht. A crewed request needs no licence, since the skipper and host run the boat.
The second choice is the length and the route. A half-day cruise of 3 to 4 hours takes in Pserimos and a swim stop, a full-day cruise of 6 to 8 hours reaches Kalymnos and Nisyros, a sunset cruise of 3 hours runs the coast at golden hour, and a crewed or bareboat week of 7 nights threads the wider Dodecanese from Leros to Astypalaia and across to Bodrum. The base sets the itinerary against the boat and the weather, and the skipper adjusts the order of the islands each morning to the wind.
The final step is the date and the confirmation. Send the group size, the chosen vessel, the format and the dates to the Kos Marina base, settle the whole-boat price, the per-seat rate or the weekly figure with its deposit, and the marina transfers, the food and the snorkelling gear fall into place for a crewed booking. For the peak weeks of high summer the boat is reserved months ahead, since the Dodecanese fleet at Kos fills first at the top of the season. Lock the date early, confirm the vessel and the route, and the charter is set from the berth at Kos Marina to the last swim stop on the way home.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is a Kos yacht charter?
A private Kos yacht charter is priced for the whole boat, agreed at booking. A crewed charter covers the skipper, crew, food, drinks and marina transfers; a shared cruise is priced per seat; a bareboat charter is priced by the week plus a deposit.
What is Kos Marina?
Kos Marina on the east of the island is a major Dodecanese yacht-charter base, with a full bareboat and crewed fleet. It is the departure point for a Kos yacht charter into Kalymnos, Pserimos, Leros and the Nisyros volcano.
Where does a Kos yacht charter sail?
A Kos yacht charter sails the Dodecanese to Kalymnos the sponge-divers’ island, the islet of Pserimos, Leros, the volcano island of Nisyros with its caldera, Astypalaia, and Bodrum in Turkey across the strait.