Why Vasiliki, Lefkada is a high vacation spot for watersports lovers

After every week of crusing across the South Ionian, we discovered ourselves spending a number of days in Vasiliki within the south of the Greek island of Lefkada. This can be a place that does watersports in type – it’s not loud or lavish in the way in which some Mediterranean hotspots will be. As a substitute, there’s an understated magic right here and a reliability within the climate due to a day wind identified affectionately as Eric.

Why Vasilki?

There’s a motive seasoned windsurfers, Olympic sailors, and wide-eyed first-timers maintain returning to Vasiliki. It isn’t simply the beneficial situations – reasonably, it provides all of the requisite situations for various watersports lovers, spaced out all through the day.

Mornings are quiet, with barely a breeze – excellent for paddleboarding, kayaking or e-foiling – in a bay that’s sheltered and shallow.

However then the tempo modifications.

By early afternoon, the air shifts. The wind comes cross-shore, daring and unrelenting, and identical to that, the water turns into alive—dancing underneath the agency grip of Eric. It’s a constant, clear wind and one which brings out skilled sailors and windsurfers of their a whole lot.

It’s oddly reassuring because it’s a sample that occurs on daily basis and, in contrast to different coastal spots the place watersports really feel like an add-on, Vasiliki pulses with aquatic vitality.

The season runs lengthy—from April by way of October—with peak winds and social buzz cresting in July and August. However even outdoors these months, the situations are enviable. It’s the kind of place the place you’ll meet individuals who got here for every week and quietly by no means left.

E-foiling with E-VASS

Some experiences defy satisfactory description. Flying, as an example. Not within the seatbelted, pressurised cabin sort of method—however actually flying. On water. On a board. Our sons had lengthy wished to strive their hand at e-foiling and this was our likelihood to offer it a go.

At E-VASS, a smooth little outfit that sits halfway alongside the bay, we met Maye—our teacher— although she mentioned that if we forgot her identify, “any month would do”. She made e-foiling look easy, however was additionally affected person and inspiring once we tried our hand at it and made it look far more troublesome.

We went out a brief method into the bay with an outsized paddleboard that was anchored and used as a floating island, so we might take turns at studying to grasp our steadiness. The method begins humbly with you on all fours initially, familiarising your self along with your steadiness on the e-foil. As you speed up utilizing a handheld motor, you are feeling the board begin to raise up and out of the water – it’s an unimaginable sensation, as if you’re defying physics.

Due to Could’s tuition, we have been capable of progress and get some success in standing and foiling in simply our first lesson, even when it was solely transient and invariably adopted by some spectacular falls. Each wipe-out was met with raucous laughter and renewed dedication.

In case you ought to occur to search out your self in Vasiliki, that is an exercise we might throoughly advocate, particularly for anybody who enjoys a superb dose of adrenaline. And with E-VASS’s meticulous steerage and encouragement, possibly you can also fly.

Crusing with Wildwind Holidays

While e-foiling was a completely new expertise for us, crusing with Wildwind Holidays was a return to extra acquainted territory. For our boys, each seasoned sailors, it was much less a lesson and extra a homecoming—albeit with boats they’ve not often sailed.

The morning started with a Hobie Cat—swift and agile, even in comparatively light winds. The sunshine breeze was excellent for some playful tacking and strategic bursts of pace. The bay, nonetheless waking up, offered the perfect stage.

By afternoon, as Eric took the reins, they opted for one thing somewhat extra acquainted – the RS500, a lean, quick and delightful boat that had them racing throughout the bay. The important thing distinction between this and the boat they often race (the RS200) is that it has a single trapeze for the crew, enabling greater speeds in stronger winds, and a bigger spinnaker (that means sooner downwind speeds).

Wildwind Holidays is not any beginner operation. With a long time of expertise, world-class instructors, and a variety of boats that will make any yacht membership blush, they cater to each the curious and the dedicated. Whether or not you’re new to crusing or trying to refine your racing methods, they have you ever lined—suncream not included, however extremely suggested.

Windsurfing and different watersports

In fact, no point out of Vasiliki can be full with out windsurfing. It’s the game that put the village on the map and continues to outline its soul. From youngsters studying their first waterstart to grey-haired veterans carving elegant jibes, the bay is a canvas of windsurfing tales in movement.

However the palette right here is broad. You’ll discover wingfoiling in addition to sea kayaking alongside the rugged shoreline, stand-up paddleboarding by way of the calmer coves, scuba diving within the depths, and extra. So, it doesn’t matter what your watersport of selection is, there’s one thing for everybody.

And with locations like E-VASS and Wildwind peppered alongside the shoreline, you’re by no means in need of professional steerage, high-quality equipment, and a heat, enthusiastic welcome from like-minded lovers.

The ultimate verdict

Vasiliki is a watersports paradise.

It’s a spot the place even the wind has a reputation and the situations are near-perfect, if not excellent.

So sure—come for the sports activities. Come for the situations. However don’t be shocked in case you keep somewhat longer than you deliberate, or end up coming again prior to you’d imagined.

Disclosure: Our experiences have been sponsored by E-VASS and Wildwind Holidays. Our journey was sponsored by AEGEAN Airways.

Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxurious Journey Weblog and has labored within the journey trade for greater than 30 years. He’s Winner of the Improvements in Journey ‘Greatest Journey Influencer’ Award from WIRED journal. Along with different awards, the weblog has additionally been voted “one of many world’s finest journey blogs” and “finest for luxurious” by The Telegraph.