What to wear on watersports holiday in Greece?

[Wigeon]

We are going on our first Neilson watersports holiday this summer and not entirely sure what to wear while doing watery activities, as we've never done anything like this before. DDs will be 10 and 7.

For the DDs, Neilson apparently supply rash vests - do you wear them over a swimming costume? Or get bikini shorts and wear them over that? Or regular shorts which you don't mind getting wet?

For me, do adults wear rash vests? And regular shorts? Or just a swimming costume? Or bikini bottoms and rash vest on top? Or an old T-shirt and shorts?

Concerned a) not to get burnt and b) not to look like idiots if everyone else is wearing one kind of thing and our family is the only one wearing another kind of things!

Advice welcome please!

For the children, rash vests with any form of swim wear is fine. They will usually have shorts on over the top that can get wet too if they go out sailing but not always (it's just more comfy)

For you, rash vests are great as they prevent the buoyancy aids rubbing and sunburn if you do bits on the water. Again whether you wear a bikini or a swimsuit underneath is up to you. Some people will wear boardies (most to be honest) too as again it's more comfy. A lot of the watersports can end up in undignified positions as a beginner so that's another reason.

For any waterakiing and wakeboarding it is very very important to wear shorts over swimwear for anyone female! Wedgies galore otherwise.

Board shorts/boardies are fast drying so more comfy during the day but many teens have been wearing the cotton style ones too. Have a look at their instagram/fb page and you'll get the idea of what people wear on the water.....no one really cares much to be honest though.

www.neilson.co.uk/beach/activities/watersports-holidays/articles/watersports-packing-guide

tells you all you need to know!

Get some neoprene shorts for the girls/you.

I’m jealous

Cool, Neilson hols are fab

Have fun

So jealous, I love a Neilson holiday!

I wore a bikini with shorts over, the type that dry quickly in a bit of sun. Just for comfort / coverage really. I then wore a t-shirt at times if I wanted to cover up a bit (I'm a ginger, so need to be a bit careful!). In the sea you'll always have a life jacket on anyway, so less of a worry.

Thanks so much for replies - this is incredibly useful! I didn’t even know boardies were a thing - we really are complete newbies. And thanks v much for the Neilson packing list - couldn’t see that in their FAQs, so that’s really helpful too.

I saw women’s board shorts often seem to be quite short (hot pant length) - do you look like a dork if you get the slightly longer mid-thigh sort? Thinking that especially when sailing, I don’t want the tops of my thighs /knees getting burnt!

I have booked one of these for the first time too Wigeon!! October half term though.

First time ever on a package holiday for us but we wanted the kids club for DD.

I am not particularly stylish but I already have mid thigh board shorts from when I lived somewhere hot and will be wearing those (subject to losing a few pounds).

I wear men's board shorts for the length and I don't think anyone has ever batted an eyelid at it. They tend to be more comfy too

We went on watersports in France last year, and it was various kinds of board shorts and tshirts/rash vests over some kind of swimming costume (mix of 1 and 2 pieces) for girls, with just swimming shorts and tshirt/rash vest for boys.

Generally both tended to wear booties/water shoes (very few had old runners instead).

Decathlon is good for that kind of thing - including the booties.
I have Mountain Warehouse board shorts for water sports with my Cub pack (Sea Cubs) which are a bit longer and I find better for sitting on boat edges. DD does a lot of sailing and wears longer ones here but did wear relatively short ones in France as it was quite warm (she has the baseline dark tan built up already between sailing and only wearing shorts to school from April to October!).
Landsend also have some nice ones (but on the more expensive side of things).

All those have good online stores as well, which can be useful if you can't get into shops.

Generally lots of outdoors sports stores will have good choices though for summer watersports nowadays.

We've done a few Nielsons, they're great btw.
For you, lots of shorts and tee shirts for tennis & cycling, with a supportive bra. I wear a tankini and rash vest for windsurfing, big bottoms though. For waterskiing I wear an old pair of shorts over a cossie.
Evenings are casual, no need for evening clothes. The first time I took smart sandals but mostly wore flip flops.