Responsible Travel Policy Aims
Wildside NEPA is a privately owned, Greek licensed, sailing charter company that combines activities with its sailing excursions. Located in Kos, we are at the heart of arguably the best sailing available in the Aegean.
To complement the sailing we pursue activities such as kitesurfari charters, rock climbing, kite boarding, wind surfing, scuba diving, cycling,hiking or more leisurely pursuits such as photography, Greek taverna cooking, cultural explorations. We refer to these as our guest’s “wildside” We involve our guests in the art of learning to sail or sailing (as much as they like) and we provide support activities such as sea kayaks, sea doos, snorkelling equipment etc for their pleasure.
Trips are organised around our clients needs be it for the whole family or those who are pursuing active sports with their time on our yacht or catamaran. Our strong corporate belief is that while sailing should be enjoyable customer safety is our highest concern. To this end carry more than is required under Greek law regarding safety equipment
Our aim is to provide good value, private sailing excursions that are fun and informative and designed to meet our client’s objectives. These objectives are set not only by people of different ages and family situations but our clients come from a wide diversity of national backgrounds. Thus, Wildside is flexible, accommodating and able to adapt any trip based on these requirements.
Wildside expects and achieves the highest professional skill (both as sailors and in guest relations) from our skippers. We strive to ensure every customer leaves satisfied and as a goodwill ambassador for both Greek sailing and Wildside.
The essence of our charters is to sail and as such we are environmentally friendly using natural power where we can (solar and wind). Our charters put our guests in touch with nature – the wind, the sea, the beach and the bays. We impart knowledge on both how to sail and provide insights into the local islands and their natural attractions and features.
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Economic responsibility
All employees and associates are local people. We source the food for our BBQs for day trips from a local Kos restaurant, skippers we employ are Greek, hostess on longer trips Greek and our associates are local Kos hotels, travel agents, and tour operators. Our business support (accounting, creative and PR, legal, etc) is provided by local Kos professionals. We are part of Kos Info (the local island marketing network).
We offer local residents cheap (and in some cases free) sailing excursions both to create awareness of sailing and the need for safety and to support the local community. We have taken local sea scouts for free sailing lessons. This offer has been made to local schools from 2011 onwards.
The boats are moored in Kos Marina so all repair and maintenance is done locally
Our partners are local Kos businesses and outside of Kos Island we have ‘associations’ with local restaurants (Pserimos, Marathi), scooter rentals and climbing groups (Kalymnos), car hire and local guide (Nisyyros)
Environmental responsibility
Kos Marina (and we are part of this) has introduced extensive recycling at the Marina. At sea all rubbish is bagged for dumping on return. We make no impact on national parks or wildlife as we are mainly at sea
As we are promoting sailing adventures we use our engines only if no wind. We have solar power and wind power to run our batteries, a water purifier system on the primary multi-day trip boat `s well as LED lighting. This will end the need for one of the biggest negative impacts on the sea – plastic bottles! Water conservation is a mantra we preach.
We are now sourcing environmentally friendly powders and detergents and our boats, under charter Greek charter law, meet tough environmental standards.
We also operate a small RIB (rigid inflatable boat) which is diesel powered similar to our dinghies to support the sailing activities eg transport for scuba divers and quick access to rock climbing locations
Social responsibility – e.g. details of: preserving local culture, visits to local projects, etc
Respecting the sea and the coast is paramount in our business ethos. Our trips to Nisyros are all linked to visits to local sites (volcano, tour shops etc), our trip to Pserimos harbour involves lunch at our partner-restaurant who provides locally grown organic produce.
Most of our trips are to bays and beaches where we moor (people want to experience Greek islands outside of the towns and tourist centres) and then we make visits to local towns and tavernas.
To complement our outdoor activities we have begun ‘cultural’ excursions with our sailing. They involve visiting local tavernas for Greek cooking lessons, visiting a traditional olive press, attending Greek dancing, maybe a trip to a vineyard etc – across five or 6 islands during our week charters
Our day trips simply offer a very enjoyable but limited sailing experience for those with at most one day to spare on their vacation. Our on-board BBQs are effective and efficient ways to have lunch and leave no impact whatsoever.
