(Before we start, if you think that bareboating is sailing for naturists, or Flo Tiller was a member of an early 20th century dance troupe, you might want to read What holiday type? before you read this section. If you know the sort of holiday you want, follow the links on the right).
The type of holiday you choose will affect your choice of destinations. Bareboat holidays and Skippered Charters are available in a wide range of destinations. Other options, such as Learn to Sail courses or Cabin Charter are less widely available, though you’ll still find there are numerous options. Fully Crewed Charter yachts often have no base so if you are interested in a particular yacht, the sailing area may be determined for you, although if the price is right they may be happy to bring the yacht to you!
Do what you want may be more important than the location
However, don’t be put off picking the right style of holiday, just because it isn’t available in a particular location. You may have always wanted to sail around Santorini and have dreamt of doing a Flotilla Holiday there, but there might just be a good reason (or several) why some holiday types are not available in certain places. There are lots of better areas for such a holiday, and if they weren’t great places to go, the operators wouldn’t be offering them.
So this section takes you through the different types of sailing holiday. For most people, I would suggest picking what you want to do is more important than where you do it and it will often help narrow down the choice of destinations.
But if the idea of getting afloat is just so exciting you just don’t care whether you sail the boat yourself, or whether you share the boat with others, then you might want to focus more on the destination, or even where you can go that can be reached from your local airport! I’d still recommend you read this section though, so that whatever sort of holiday you pick, you know what to expect.