Six rooms on a private Aegean island… weekly stays run from Sunday check-in to Saturday check-out, from mid-April to mid-October
Between mainland Greece and Evia, in the northern Aegean, lies a small, little-known island. The privately owned island, north-east of Athens, has hosted yoga retreats since 2013. It is Silver Island Yoga.
It stands out among Europe’s wellness retreats for several reasons: two sisters transformed the land where their family lived into a retreat; the entire island runs on solar power and rainwater; and each group is limited to the capacity of six rooms.
From family island to retreat
Silver Island Yoga was founded by sisters Claire Christie and Lissa Christie. The official website says they began with the idea of turning the island where their family lived into a self-sufficient meditation space that would not harm the natural environment. They began operating the retreat in 2013.
The island has an old olive farm, which is still managed organically. A small church dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian also remains. The site still bears traces of its past as a place where people lived, rather than a newly built resort adapted for tourism.
60 acres of olive woodland and a lighthouse
The island covers about 60 acres. Gentle hills and small valleys run across it, with ancient olive groves, cypress trees and wildflowers. The Aegean surrounds it on every side.
The layout is simple: an open-air yoga shala, the main house, bedrooms and bathrooms, a beach, a lighthouse and Sunset Rock, where guests meditate while watching the sunset. There are six rooms in all. Most can be arranged as either twins or doubles, and guests can choose between a single room, sharing with another participant or booking an entire room.
Retreats run only on a weekly basis, with check-in on Sunday and departure on Saturday. The operating season runs from mid-April to mid-October.
Two yoga sessions a day and long afternoons
The day begins with morning yoga. Sessions take place not indoors but in an open-air shala overlooking the sea. The official website says it combines several styles to suit everyone from beginners to experienced practitioners.
Breakfast follows the morning session. During the day, guests have time to walk around the island, swim in the sea or simply rest. A church bell signals lunchtime. The afternoon is left open as, in the official website’s words, "a lazy afternoon of complete relaxation". A second yoga session takes place as the sun begins to dip. The afternoon class is slower than the morning session and closer to meditation.
This is different from an intensive course built around a tightly packed schedule. Silence is not imposed as a discipline, and the time between the two daily classes is deliberately left open. People new to yoga and meditation can take part.
Island life powered by solar energy and rainwater
Island life depends entirely on its own facilities. Electricity for lighting comes from solar-power equipment on the island. Water is collected and stored during the winter, then used throughout the season.
The bathrooms are stocked with biodegradable products. The official website also sets out a policy of recycling and prioritising locally produced goods.
All three daily meals are vegetarian. They use organic local ingredients prepared in the Mediterranean style. The retreat says it can cater for vegan, gluten-free and lactose-free diets.
A retreat that is not expanding
Six rooms is very small by accommodation-industry standards. From an operator’s perspective, it is also a structure that makes it difficult to increase revenue. Silver Island Yoga’s decision to leave the island as it is, rather than add rooms, appears to reflect its founding aim of turning the family’s land into a space that would not damage nature.
The conditions of meeting its own water and electricity needs are also tied to its size. With a system that relies on rainwater collected during the winter and solar power for lighting, increasing the number of guests would mean bringing in resources from outside the island.
Healing News previously profiled Alpenretreat, at the foot of the Austrian Alps. European retreats divide broadly between large wellness resorts and small independent spaces, and Silver Island Yoga belongs to the latter group. Rather than relying on lavish facilities, it lowers the density of the space by limiting the number of people staying there.
Who is it for?
It suits travellers who can set aside a full week and prefer a smaller group to a crowded resort. With only six rooms, each retreat session has a limited number of guests.
There are conditions to check before going, however. As it is a private island, coming and going during the stay is not straightforward, and guests should not expect the same conveniences as at an urban hotel because the electricity and water supplies rely on the island’s own facilities. The limited operating season, from mid-April to mid-October, must also be considered when planning a trip.
Guidance is provided in English.
Getting there
[Image: Orei harbour and small boat in northern Evia — press image from the Greek National Tourism Organisation (visitgreece.gr), Unsplash search for "Oreoi Evia harbour boat"]
The official website recommends the following route. First, fly into Athens International Airport (Eleftherios Venizelos). Participants then travel across the mainland together before taking a water taxi from Orei in northern Evia to the island. Because the final leg is by boat, arrival times must be coordinated with the retreat organisers.
Planning the trip from South Korea
After travelling from South Korea to Athens, guests must head north across the mainland again and take a boat from Orei, meaning almost two days at either end of the trip will be spent travelling. Because stays run weekly from Sunday check-in to Saturday departure, joining midway through or leaving early is difficult. When planning a holiday, travellers should allow at least 10 days, including the six-night retreat and travel days.
As the season is limited to mid-April to mid-October, travellers hoping to avoid the summer high season could first look at sessions in April and May or September and October. The time difference between Greece and South Korea varies depending on whether summer daylight saving time is in effect, so it is advisable to check before departure.
Prices and enquiries
Prices are set per person according to room type, on an all-inclusive basis covering accommodation, meals and yoga classes. During this reporting, it was not possible to access the official website’s pricing page, so the specific amount could not be confirmed. Exact prices and booking conditions should be checked directly on the official website.
Official website: https://www.silverislandyoga.com/
Bookings and enquiries: the contact form on the official website
Operating season: mid-April to mid-October, weekly stays from Sunday to Saturday
Greece is known as a country of islands and sea, but it has rarely been presented in South Korea as a destination for meditation and yoga. By keeping to a single island rather than expanding its scale, this retreat illustrates another direction for wellness travel in Europe.