That long, lovely Mediterranean Summer! Summer in the Med is fantastic - for visitors, if not for gardeners! It is highly unusual to even see a cloud in the sky in summer, let alone any rain. April may still have a few rainy days early in the month, but by the end of April, it is that glorious sunshine-all-day!

We get the occasional cloudy day in Oct; and usually, there are a couple of days sometime during the month when we get a major downpour. It's very short-lived generally. Turkey stays beautifully warm right up to early Nov; Greece does get cooler, and some nastier southerly winds in Oct sometimes (hence our reason for being in Turkey at this time of year!)

Daytime temps in early & late season (May, Oct) would be around mid 20sC; midsummer max temperatures would be around mid/high 30s. The humidity is very low, so it rarely feels TOO hot, even in Aug (though it is a good plan to stay out of cities and be out on the water then!)

Q: When should I choose to go?

A: It depends! On many factors... how hot/or not you like it, how much wind you're looking for, lively night life, quieter times, etc. Here's a summary of the most important criteria:

HOT or not?
If you like it hot—go for late June to early Sept. August is the hottest month—though there's almost always a cooling breeze in Aug, and the humidity is very low. But if living from morning till night in no more than a swimsuit is your idea of heaven, you'll like it mid-season!

If you're not a fan of hot weather—late April till early June or late Sept till end Oct would be a good time for you. The less you like the heat, the further towards beginning or end of season you should go. In April/early May and mid-Oct onwards, you'll be wearing long pants and probably sweatshirt in the evenings; daytimes are still definitely shorts n' t-shirts weather though. One of our SeaScape mottos is: "If you can't sail in a swimsuit (or less), you're in the wrong part of the world!"— we're not out there sailing ourselves if the weather isn't warm enough :)

Winds
Wind strength follows temperature, roughly speaking. So in April / early May, the winds are light; 15 knots or so, some days of flat calm, the occasional one or two of 20-25knots. Same in Oct - this is a lovely mellow month down in Turkey. The winds gradually pick up towards end of May, then in June, the summer winds are well established. July/Aug is traditionally meltemi time—the summer winds of 30knots or so!

When it does blow, it tends to do so for 3-5 days at a time, then we'll get a relative calm for a couple of days; and so the pattern repeats. This is only a very rough pattern; as with all things Greek, nothing ever happens on schedule! The one thing that is predictable in mid-summer, the wind will come almost always from the NW. And the other cool thing about Med sailing is that there are no tides to speak of; so we never have to worry about having to leave at a certain time to catch the tide, etc. After all, having to do anything to a timetable just wouldn't fit the culture out here... :>

So—in summary—if you're an experienced sailor and looking for some exciting sailing— or a landlubber who loves the idea too!—midseason gives you the best odds of good winds. If you're looking for something more laid-back, or uncertain of your sealegs; early and late in the season would be a good choice. In general, Turkey tends to have calmer winds than Greece; another factor to bear in mind.

Night life v. a quiet life...
One other great advantage of the Dodecanese islands is that they never get really crowded. So even in August, we never have to play sardines on the beach! But, if going out on the town and having some fun night life is important to you—come out in between June and Sept; May & Oct are fairly quiet.

Conversely, if you love to experience a place when there's few other tourists around; early and late in the season are the times to go. Oct in Turkey is especially lovely, mellow and very relaxing.