Princes’ Islands Sailing Experience: A Day of Sailing, Swimming and Lunch at Anchor

Overview

Short answer: Our Princes’ Islands Sailing Experience is a full day on the Sea of Marmara: your group boards sailing yachts at a marina on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, sails out past Kınalıada and Burgazada, anchors in a sheltered bay off Heybeliada or Büyükada to swim, eats lunch on deck and sails home in the afternoon. There is an instructor on every boat, no experience is needed and groups can range from 4 to 150 people. It is the simplest way to give a team a day that feels like a holiday without leaving Istanbul.

Why sail to the Princes’ Islands?

Many visitors know the islands by slightly different names — the Princes’ Islands, the Prince Islands, or simply “the Islands” (Adalar) as Istanbulites call them. Whatever you call them, they are a small archipelago a short sail south-east of the city, and the four largest are lived on and visited every day. On land, motor vehicles are not allowed, so the islands keep a slower, older rhythm of wooden mansions, pine woods and quiet lanes. From the water, they offer something that is hard to find anywhere else in Istanbul: room to sail, clear water to swim in, and a sense of distance from the city that you reach in well under an hour.

That is why Prince Islands sailing works so well as a corporate day out. Other Istanbul sailing programmes are about the skyline — the bridges, the palaces, the Old City at sunset. Sailing to the Princes’ Islands from Istanbul is about the sea itself. Once the anchor goes down in a quiet bay, phones are put away, people swim, lunch stretches out and conversations happen that would never happen in a meeting room.

The format suits teams who have just come through a demanding quarter, newly formed teams who need to get to know each other, and regional or international colleagues visiting Istanbul who would like to see a calmer side of the city. There is no competition and no syllabus: anyone who wants to steer can steer, anyone who wants to sit on deck can do that, and anyone who wants to jump in can swim.

A typical full day on the water

Timings move with the season and the wind. A half-day version — sailing out, a bay stop and back — is also possible; in that case the yachts usually stay around Kınalıada and Burgazada, the two islands closest to the Anatolian shore.

What you see from the water

Kınalıada and Burgazada

Kınalıada, with its reddish, rocky slopes, is the first island you meet after leaving the marina, and the stretch between it and Burgazada is a good place to try the first tacks. Burgazada is smaller and quieter, a cluster of houses along the shore beneath a single green hill. On a steady breeze, this is where most participants stop holding on and start enjoying the boat.

Heybeliada

Heybeliada is the island most people photograph on the way through: historic buildings on the hilltops, pine forest running down to the sea and small bays along the coast. Depending on the wind direction, the bays around Heybeliada are among the anchorages we use most often for the swim and lunch stop.

Büyükada

Büyükada, the largest of the islands, forms the backdrop for the afternoon sail, with its hilltop mansions and the saddle between its two hills. If your team would like to spend time ashore as well, the island is the natural place to do it — see the combined day with a treasure hunt below.

Sailing to the Princes’ Islands from Istanbul: getting there

All Princes’ Islands programmes start from the Anatolian side, which puts the islands within a short sail. For groups arriving at Sabiha Gökçen Airport, or staying in hotels on the Anatolian side, the transfer to the marina is straightforward. Groups staying on the European side or arriving at Istanbul Airport cross the city by coach, and we time the pick-up to avoid peak traffic on the bridges — in Istanbul that matters more than distance. All briefings and guidance on the day are in English, and for groups coming to Turkey (Türkiye) from abroad we can arrange accommodation, airport meet-and-greet and the rest of the programme through our DMC services in Turkey.

Summer crowds, water temperature and wind

The islands are at their busiest in July and August, and above all on summer weekends, when the bays fill with private boats and the island piers are crowded with day visitors. For a corporate group, the best days are weekdays in May, June and September: the bays are quieter, the light is softer and the heat is easier to manage on deck. The sea is generally warm enough for most people to swim from mid-June; earlier in spring, the swim stop becomes a longer lunch on deck instead.

Wind decides where the day happens. The poyraz, Istanbul’s north-easterly, is the most common summer wind and brings good sailing, but it builds a chop on the northern shores of the islands — so on those days we anchor on the southern side, in the lee. When the south-westerly lodos blows, the sheltered side changes and the plan changes with it. The instructor chooses the anchorage on the morning of the sail at a decision time agreed in advance, and if conditions are not suitable for sailing the programme moves to a reserve date. That scenario is written into the quote, so there are no surprises.

A combined day: sailing and a treasure hunt on the islands

For a day that mixes land and sea, we combine the sail with our Princes’ Islands corporate treasure hunt. In a typical version the group crosses to the island in the morning and splits into teams of 5–8 for a treasure hunt through car-free streets, with clue cards or phone-based tasks, photo challenges and questions about island life. After lunch, everyone boards the yachts for an afternoon of sailing and a swim stop, and the treasure hunting scores are announced on the way back to the marina. Where the yachts collect the group depends on pier permissions on the day and is confirmed in the quote.

This combination works particularly well for groups of 30–80, where the treasure hunt mixes people across departments in the morning and the boats keep those new mixes together in the afternoon.

Safety and who can take part

• An instructor on every boat, who runs the yacht and hands out the roles.
• Life jackets for everyone and a safety briefing on board before departure; going into the water is always optional.
• A decision time and a reserve date, with the anchorage chosen by the instructor according to the wind.
• For participants prone to seasickness, a sheltered route and advice to stay on deck in the fresh air.
• No sailing or swimming experience is needed; please tell us in advance about back or knee problems, pregnancy or heart conditions.

Is this the right sailing day for your team?

Choose the Princes’ Islands if your priority is time on the water, a swim and a long lunch, with the islands as the backdrop. If your priority is the city skyline, the bridges and a sunset, our Istanbul sailing experience is the better fit. If you want to combine a morning in the historic peninsula with an afternoon sail, look at the Golden Horn sailing experience. And if you are comparing Istanbul with Turkey’s holiday coasts, the same sail–bay–swim–lunch rhythm is described on our corporate sailing adventure page, with every format compared on our corporate sailing hub.

What shapes the quote

• Number of participants and yachts (for comfort we plan 6–10 people per boat on this format)
• Full day or half day, and whether to add the treasure hunt
• Lunch menu and refreshments on board
• Hotel–marina transfers
• Photography and video
• Weekday or weekend, and a reserve date

Share these details through our quote request form and we will send an itemised proposal within 24 hours, in TRY, USD or EUR.

Benefits for companies

Frequently asked questions