Istion Yachting Arvostelua 

So complicated. First off, Istion was great. The yacht, a 51' cat with captain and chef, was also great. I would 100% book with Istion again, and I would even book this yacht (the Effie Star) again. In a heartbeat. And the Greek Isles are fantastic.

But what I would also do is make 100% sure that Thanos wasn't my captain, and Leo wasn't my chef. I could write paragraphs about the individual things they did, but let me keep it at the highlights. Thanos just doesn't like sailing, and pretty much refused to do it. Motor only. Leo is a *fantastic* chef, but a super angry person. I offended her, and she cornered me against a wall to yell at me. And I wasn't the only one in our group who spent the trip worried that she would get offended about one thing or another.

We had a wonderful sailing holiday from Kos with Istion Yachting. From the moment we arrived, the team made us feel genuinely welcome and took care of everything with kindness and professionalism. The boat was comfortable, well prepared and perfect for exploring the beautiful Dodecanese islands.

A special thank you to our skipper, George, who made the whole experience even better.

He was friendly, professional and always made us feel safe and relaxed. His knowledge of the area helped us discover some truly beautiful places.

We returned home with amazing memories and would happily choose Istion again for our next sailing adventure. Highly recommended!

The catamaran was comfortable, well maintained and perfect for our trip from Lefkada. Everything went smoothly, and the team at the base was amazing. We came home with some amazing memories and would definitely do it again and try other cruising areas like the Dοdecanese!

Very disappointing skippered charter with Istion Yaching from Kos – July 18–25, 2026
We booked a one-week skippered catamaran charter with Istion Yachting from Kos, from July 18 to July 25, 2026. Unfortunately, the experience was far below what we expected from a professional yacht charter company.
Our main problem was the level of experience and competence of the skipper assigned to us. During the week, we experienced repeated uncertainty when anchoring, including difficulties in choosing and setting the anchor properly. The skipper also appeared to have limited knowledge of the sailing area.
Most importantly, despite booking a sailing catamaran with a skipper, we essentially never sailed during the entire week. We expected to have an actual sailing experience, but the trip was largely conducted under engine rather than under sail and we spent 5 days out of 7 in marinas.
We understand that weather and sea conditions can sometimes prevent sailing. However, this was not the reason in our case. Our concerns were related to the skipper's level of experience and the way the charter was managed.
We raised our concerns with Istion and asked for at least a partial refund, given the significant difference between the sailing experience we had booked and the experience we actually received. Unfortunately, Istion refused to provide any partial refund. Instead, they offered us a discount on a future charter, which we declined. We do not consider a discount on another trip to be an adequate solution when the original charter did not meet our expectations.
We paid for a skippered sailing holiday, and our experience did not correspond to what we reasonably expected from such a service.
I am sharing this review because I believe potential customers should know that, in our case, the skipper's experience and the actual sailing component of the charter were major disappointments.
Based on our experience, we would not choose Istion again for a skippered sailing holiday.

What an amazing sailing experience onboard a catamaran from the Istion base in Skradin. Everything was great. The boat, the itinerary and the base team. A great starting point to experience Croatia by sea.

We had an incredible week sailing our catamaran out of Corfu. Check-in was quick, the boat was very clean, and everything worked as it should. The team was genuinely friendly and always just a quick message away when we had a question. We wouldn't hesitate to book with them again.

I really enjoyed my sailing trip from Volos. The Istion team was very helpful throughout the entire process, making everything easy and stress-free. The boat was in excellent condition, clean, and well maintained. I had a great experience and would definitely recommend this company to anyone looking for a sailing holiday in Greece.

Very disappointing experience – I cannot recommend this charter company.
Du hast recht. Für eine öffentliche Bewertung sollte klar dargestellt werden, was aus deiner Sicht passiert ist. Gleichzeitig sollte sie bei nachprüfbaren Tatsachen bleiben und deutlich machen, was deine Wahrnehmung ist. Hier ist eine ausführlichere Version:

> Very disappointing experience – I cannot recommend this charter company.

We booked a 14-day catamaran holiday to explore the Dodecanese Islands. Unfortunately, our experience has been dominated by poor planning, lack of communication, and unnecessary stress.

On the morning of our planned departure to Nisyros, we were supposed to leave at 8:00 a.m. because everyone knew that the weather was expected to deteriorate later in the afternoon. Instead, we were told we could not leave because the boat had no water. However, the water tank was still around 70% full.

When I asked why the water had not been refilled the evening before, the skipper said he did not have the €10 required to pay for it. I later spoke to the person responsible for supplying the water, who told me he had been at the boat the previous evening, ready to refill the tank, but the skipper had not paid. The skipper had our phone number and could easily have contacted us, but he never did.

Because of this, we departed two hours late, which meant we reached Nisyros after the harbor had filled up. During the trip, we were repeatedly told that a berth had been reserved for us. When we arrived, however, there was no berth available. We were then told that another harbor was too dangerous to enter, so we had to continue on to Kos.

Throughout the day, we were not given clear explanations about the actual risks, the changing plan, or the consequences of the delay. As guests, we relied on the skipper's information and decisions, but the situation became increasingly confusing and stressful.

I booked this holiday to sail between beautiful Greek islands—not to spend days waiting in one harbor or dealing with avoidable problems caused by poor planning. Unfortunately, this experience has seriously affected our holiday, and I have lost confidence in the skipper's ability to manage the trip.

The company is informed about the poor experience of the skipper, but is not willing to give us an experienced skipper

Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this company.

We had an outstanding yacht charter experience from Volos. The entire process was seamless, from booking to check-out, and the team was professional, friendly, and always happy to help. The yacht was immaculate, well-maintained, and fully equipped, reflecting the company's high standards and attention to detail. Their excellent customer service and commitment to quality made our sailing holiday completely stress-free. I highly recommend this charter company to anyone looking for a reliable, high-quality sailing experience from Volos, and we will definitely be back.

A reliable yacht charter company with a variety of charter yachts in Greece. We chartered a sailing catamaran from Athens and had a great time. Very good crew and fantastic itinerary. Fully recommend them.

We had a great charter from Lavrion. The catamaran was amazing and the cyclades also. I really recommend to everybody who loves the sea to try sailing in Greece. Looking forward to sail other areas also!

We charter with a different company every year, and this has been our best experience so far. The professionalism of the team, the quality of both the yachts and the services provided were outstanding. They were always responsive and ready to assist with anything we needed. Highly recommended without hesitation!

What an arrogant and unprofessiponal company! We did not get the yacht that we booked and paid for. On the day of the charter, the yacht was not ready at 5pm check in. We addressed the problems only to get "it's not my problem " from the staff. The young lady in the office was so disrespectful and refused to give us her name. She even raised her voice. This is to a paying Client. The state of the yacht was terrible. They failed to provide a water connection for water at marinas. We had to purchase our own. We had enless problems with the pumping mechanism in the shower. One of the shower door handles were broken. The gear lever of the dinghy boat was broken and we had endless problems starting this. Luckily one of our guests was a mechanical engineer. When we returned they blamed us for it - even though we have video footage of this from day one. Janis the operation manager even took our cpatain aside telling him that his crew ( us the client) are liars. The captain then told him we are telling the truth and told us that he has never encountered such unprofessional behaviour from a charter company. Janis had such an attitude and kept rising his voice. This is the worst we have ever been treated by a company. Surely paying clients deserve better. There was also a lot of hidden cost that we did not know about - like a starter pack cost - still don't know what this is for as the rude booking lady could not tell us what it is for. The diesel cost that Istion charges is 3 times that of the diesel cost of any petrol station in Greece. Needless to say we will never use this company again and will be seeking legal advice for compensation. Shocking service and staff

We chartered 3 catamarans through the Dodecanese. The skippers, Christi, Nicos and Felipe were amazing and our overnight anchorages and the selection of bays and beaches were beyond our expectations. Highly recommmend booking through Austin as everything is well organised and they are very responsive.

It is now 7 years i rent with them, and all experiences were just fantastic. Whatever problem you have they rush to fix it wherever you are. Thanks Manolis from rhodes base for this last trip but before also experienced same

I chartered an Istion bareboat (First Secret, Dufour 470) in Skradin Marina. The staff was incredibly kind, smiling and efficient. They worked until night to solve a technical issue caused by the previous customer. The boat was almost new and very well equipped. Highly recommended charter company

Highly recommend Istion for their boats and overall yachting experience. We leased a skippered Lagoon 46 from Lefkas for a family of 6 last August. It is not easy to put your vacation into the hands of someone else but the base manager (Andreas) was incredibly energetic, creative and professional in making sure everything went well, sometimes down to the smallest details. The Ionian islands are magical but like so much else in Greece, it helps to have someone who is really looking out for you, whether it is getting to the best swimming spots at the right time, securing scarce moorings in popular ports, getting you a table at restaurants that are already fully booked or simply knowing all the options (such as where Captain Pavlos is playing his next set of rock classics!)

Charter Beware
We have been self-chartering at various places around the globe for decades. We also owned a 60-foot catamaran over the last two decades and have reasonably substantial offshore experience. Six of us (including two engineers) chartered a catamaran from Istion Yachting, Lefkada, in the Ionian Sea during September 2024.
As experienced charterers and sailors we need to share, regrettably, that our experience with Istion Yachting was exceptionally disappointing. Overall, the boat and tender were in average to poor condition due to poor maintenance. Plainly some of this was attributable to the fact that the boat would have been under constant charter during the chartering season. For example, the tender’s outboard engine was in poor condition as it was prone to constant overheating and was very unreliable. Despite being meticulous in handling the boat, when we returned to Lefkada Marina, Istion’s base manager, Yiannis, blamed us for various maintenance issues which frankly had nothing to do with us. There was, however, a significant issue in that the prop seal on the port engine, likely overdue for service, had partly failed - leaking sea water into the gear box oil.

Istion, apparently seeking to have us cover their own regular maintenance costs, alleged that we had caused the problem by fouling a fishing line. Curiously, Yiannis said to us that it was ‘impossible for us to know whether we had fouled any fishing twine’. We understand the point he was trying to make, namely that fishing twine is very fine and essentially colourless and essentially very difficult to see whilst underway. And he appeared to be saying that there was simply nothing we could do to avoid snagging fishing twine. The reality was that we were very focussed on this and always tried to steer clear of fishing boats or areas where fishing was occurring. But the conclusion seems to be that, even if we acted diligently and did everything correctly, we were apparently nonetheless liable for damage.
But importantly, we asked many times for some evidence that we had caused the problem. All we received were some photographs of a propeller shaft which indeed confirmed a general lack of maintenance according to our engineering advice. There was simply nothing that evidenced that we had caused the seal rupture. Indeed, the photographs were consistent with some twine having been snagged at a time prior to our charter.
Subsequently, following a complaint on our part, Istion did refund 25% of the bond amount. Attributing us with any cost was absurd as it was plainly a problem that we had not caused, according to our engineers. Accordingly, we feel we need to caution people to avoid Istion Yachting. We have been left feeling that a substantial proportion of our bond has simply been applied, without our consent, towards end of season maintenance.
Clearly, it’s open to us to institute legal proceedings in Greece from Australia, and we are considering this option.

We had a wonderful charter experience with Istion Yachting.

We ventured out from their base on Kos and explored 9 islands and loads of beautiful anchorages over the course of just 1 week. Beautiful destination!

The Istion staff were so kind and helpful and the yacht was in pristine condition with only a few minor setbacks, as to be expected.

Soon again!

Every experienced skipper knows: it is impossible to check ALL the boat before start. You never know how many problems are hidden inside engine and gear, under waterline or on inaccessible side of hull. You fill in check box "all right" (in check-in form) and leave deposit before start. And if later hidden problem will be found you have a best chance to reveal how fair is chartering company.

In my case (charter 24-30.09.2022, catamaran Bali 4.1 «E.S.») there were crushed and ground plastic near anchor roller — somebody left anchor hanged and in wavy conditions it stricken a hull long-long time. This place was invisible from deck as far as from shore (catamaran was moored stern-to-shore). There was small hole from inside, but it was also invisible under chain (seems like hidden for the check-in) and hardly visible because of dirt.

Of course, I have checked a bottoms on the first anchorage, as I do it usual. Propeller, rudder, than keel of one hull, than keel, rudder and finally propeller on second hull. I missed front section from below — till now I had no problem with this. And have found the problem only Thursday.

During my 20 years of chartering experience I had some such a "cases of uncertainty" (who is guilty) and good chartering company always examined facts: was it possible to do the damage in such a conditions and circumstances. Because wise businessmen know how important for company's reputation is avoiding mistaken penalty.

But for Istion client's money (deposit) is more important that reputation. On the check-out they organized standard "performance for client": first to postpone final decision till saturday morning (when client will be hurrying in airport); then to find "repair expert" who maid a quotation of repair exactly for summ of deposit; than to send a client for further discussion to main office (of course, online); then every your letter will be answered with a week delay...

For Istion doesn't matter that in my charter conditions it was hardly possible to do such a damage — we cruised in calm conditions, maid short passages and we had to be deaf, not to hear such a hits (even under power I hear a can of beer, rolling inside of drawer, what to say about anchor!). They prefer your money in all possible ways.

So, if you like risky games, Istion is your's chartering company. Be sure: if you miss any hidden problem onboard, you will be pushed to pay for it. But if you come for relaxing vacation without problem — better avoid Istion.

P.S. More then 12 month have passed since Istion pushed us to pay for someone’s fail. And till now I have not received promised invoice on repairment. Not surprised — for sure, to fix anchor area (fare above waterline) with bolted stainless still plate (I have seen such a repairment) cann’t cost even 1000 euro, what to say about 3000. This is another confirmation of cheating by Istion.

P.P.S. I have 8 witnesses that are ready to confirm all abovementioned facts in court.