Mykonos to Hydra
Helicopter Charter

About 40 to 50 minutes on a twin-engine helicopter depending on the wind. The sector is 90 nautical miles due west from the Mykonos airport pad across the open Aegean and into the Saronic Gulf, to the helipad on the islet of Kivotos off Hydra's north-west coast, then three minutes by water taxi into the harbour.

Yes. Hydra to Mykonos is the same crossing flown east, with the water taxi out to Kivotos first and the helicopter waiting on the islet. It is often the leg that moves a week from the Saronic back to the Cyclades for the jet out of Mykonos, and the desk quotes it with the outbound or on its own, inside daylight at both ends.

From the helicopter pad at Mykonos Airport if a jet has just dropped you, inside the forty minutes the aircraft has on the ground. From a beach club or hotel pad at Ornos, Kalo Livadi or Scorpios if you are already on Mykonos, once the venue has approved the lift. For a sector this long the desk prefers the morning lift from either.

Not on Hydra itself. The helipad is on Kivotos, an uninhabited rocky islet off the Bay of Molos on the north-west coast, and a water taxi takes you into Hydra harbour in about three minutes. The desk books the water taxi and a porter with the flight. The only landing in the town is the playing field, reserved for emergency services.

No direct ferry. By sea it is the high-speed ferry from Mykonos into Piraeus, about four hours, then a change of port and a catamaran back out to Hydra of an hour and five minutes to an hour and forty, with the bags carried through Piraeus in between. Most of a day against forty-five minutes by helicopter.

Sometimes. The direct helicopter is about forty-five minutes across open water on a twin-engine type. When the meltemi is strong in the Cyclades, or when the party is larger than one cabin, the desk flies a jet or turboprop from Mykonos into Athens and a short helicopter from the Athens apron across the Saronic to Kivotos, and it quotes both shapes so you can choose.

A twin-engine H145, H135 or AW109 class for six to eight, with two engines for a crossing that is open water almost end to end and the fuel for a headwind. The desk does not put a single-engine helicopter on this sector; for a couple with light bags it looks at the Athens routing instead and quotes the shape that fits.

Yes, inside daylight, though the helicopter cannot wait on Kivotos for the day. It repositions to the mainland while you are on the island and comes back to the islet for the pickup, with the water taxi timed to meet it. The desk prices the day as the pair of legs with the positioning, and plans the return with a margin before sunset.

The twin-engine helicopter by the hour on the longest sector of the Mykonos desk, whether it is one way or a day trip with positioning, the Kivotos landing with the water taxi and porter, any beach club fee on Mykonos, and the dates against July and August and the Hydra weekends. We tell you what the quote covers before you book.

No. Helicopters on the Greek islands operate sunrise to sunset, and Hydra is the furthest west the Mykonos desk flies, so the last lift leaves Mykonos earlier than it would for Santorini or Paros. A late airline arrival can miss it; tell the desk your arrival time and it plans around it, with the Athens routing or a night on Mykonos as the fallback.

Luggage for six to eight on a twin-engine helicopter, by weight rather than by bag count, and on this sector the weight also has to leave room for fuel against a headwind. Give the desk accurate passenger and bag weights and it confirms the allowance. Remember the bags then go into a water taxi and up the harbour steps by porter or donkey.

Four to six weeks in July and August, when the twin-engine helicopters out of Mykonos are spoken for and the Friday and Sunday lifts of the Hydra weekend go first, and the Mykonos drop-off slot for the jet can only be requested 14 days out. A few days is comfortable in the shoulder months, with the Aegean weather deciding the day.