Aeolian Islands

Typical afternoon wind

4–6 Beaufort · Variable

Passage lengths

3–6 hours, open water

Suits

Experienced skipper

Season

May–October

Seven volcanic islands with long open passages, deep anchorages and Stromboli erupting on the horizon after dark.

The Aeolians are proper open-water sailing. The islands are steep-to and volcanic, so anchorages shelve away fast and need plenty of chain. There are few genuinely all-weather harbours, and the passages between islands are long enough that a change in conditions matters. In settled weather it is one of the most dramatic weeks in the Mediterranean.

A typical week

1. Day 1 Milazzo to Vulcano
2. Day 2 Lipari
3. Day 3 Salina
4. Day 4 Filicudi or Alicudi
5. Day 5 Panarea, Cala Junco
6. Day 6 Stromboli, anchored off for the evening show
7. Day 7 Back to Milazzo

Roughly 110 to 140 nautical miles over the week

Worth the detour

• Stromboli's Sciara del Fuoco after dark
• Salina's green terraces
• Panarea's Cala Junco
• Vulcano's fumaroles

Watch out for

• Deep, steeply shelving anchorages need plenty of chain
• Few all-weather harbours, watch the forecast closely
• The Stromboli anchorage is untenable in anything from the north

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