Hi there I was wondering if anyone could help me please.  I'm going to Greek Island hoping to Mykonos, Paros, Ios and Santorini in June / July and I was wanting to take my Mavic Pro with me, however, I have some concerns.  After reading multiple articles and forums different places say different information including about only being able to fly within 50m of yourself if you don't have permission from the authorities whereas others say its fine to fly up to 120m high.  Could anyone please give me a definite answer please as I am questioning now whether its worth the hassle.  Also if anyone knows of an app for iPhone for Greece Drone Flying I'd greatly appreciate it!  Thanks again!

https://embassy-finder.com/greece_in_london_united-kingdomhttp://www.ypa.gr/en/HCAA_UAS_FLT_request_editable.pdf

Good day! We appreciate your time inquiring this information to us. However, to have a better answer in regards to your concern, we highly recommend checking this link: https://www.easa.europa.eu/easa-and-you/civil-drones-rpas or contact EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) for further questions. Thank you for your understanding.

Flew my Mavic in all those places last year!  BTW I think Greece is one of the best places to fly.  Greece as you may know, is not very 'organized', same goes with info on their drone regs.  Generally speaking the 50m flight radius for any flight may do you ok.  There are so many areas in Greece including all the locations you mention, where you will be FAR away from any airports or people so you can enjoy you Mavic fully.   Be careful in Santorini....some locals can fret a bit about you flying in or near the many centers (Oia and Thera) so be very courteous there and avoid flying over or near people (I know it will be tempting!).  Fly over the caldera edge so that you flights are away from people and not making nose for anyone.  There are a few signs on Santorini (Oia specifically) that say UAVs are prohibited.  These are nonsense and are just put there by people that download the "No Fly Zone" signs.  However, be very courteous and don't fly in the dense areas - there is much open space there anywhere but main OIa or Thera.  A great spot is down by the docks at water level at Amoudy Bay...you can get all the landscape you want THERE without flying over crowds.  Be careful with Mavic in Greece as it tends to be a bit windy there...but I flew MANY hours there and can tell you that the Mavic is a champ even in windy conditions; head your wind/flight warnings.  You will have no problem with flying on the other islands.  Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

FYI, I should mention to keep all your flights while in Santorini to relatively close to ground level...what I mean is don't fly 50m up when you are at the top of caldera level....there are many heli flights on that island and THE GREEKS do not obey their own laws for min flight altitudes for helis...so make sure you do!  FYI I attemped to get a flight permit from the greek aviation authority and it wasn't worth it...they don't know how or what to do (even if it is on their website, they don't have the coordination to do this), so just be reasonable in all your flights.  

randy.sauder Posted at 2018-6-5 09:30
Flew my Mavic in all those places last year!  BTW I think Greece is one of the best places to fly.  Greece as you may know, is not very 'organized', same goes with info on their drone regs.  Generally speaking the 50m flight radius for any flight may do you ok.  There are so many areas in Greece including all the locations you mention, where you will be FAR away from any airports or people so you can enjoy you Mavic fully.   Be careful in Santorini....some locals can fret a bit about you flying in or near the many centers (Oia and Thera) so be very courteous there and avoid flying over or near people (I know it will be tempting!).  Fly over the caldera edge so that you flights are away from people and not making nose for anyone.  There are a few signs on Santorini (Oia specifically) that say UAVs are prohibited.  These are nonsense and are just put there by people that download the "No Fly Zone" signs.  However, be very courteous and don't fly in the dense areas - there is much open space there anywhere but main OIa or Thera.  A great spot is down by the docks at water level at Amoudy Bay...you can get all the landscape you want THERE without flying over crowds.  Be careful with Mavic in Greece as it tends to be a bit windy there...but I flew MANY hours there and can tell you that the Mavic is a champ even in windy conditions; head your wind/flight warnings.  You will have no problem with flying on the other islands.  Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you very much for your response, I feel like I have the confidence and understanding to take my drone away.  If you've posted on public social media I'd love to see what you've captured.  Super excited to get out there myself, only ten days to go!

Santorini is lovely. Spotted a couple of Mavics there last year as plenty of weddings occur there. Wish I’d have taken mine to be honest. Just a little common sense and courtesy when flying needed.

troyharveyphoto Posted at 2018-6-6 10:57
Thank you very much for your response, I feel like I have the confidence and understanding to take my drone away.  If you've posted on public social media I'd love to see what you've captured.  Super excited to get out there myself, only ten days to go!

Oh I almost forgot....this is one bit of advice that YOU MUST use: when flying in greece you absolutely should use a ND filter on your camera.  You will need a min of ND16 - all the time and I highly recommend using an ND32.  Greece is very sunny and the majority of the landscape as you know is white-washed stone houses.  These buildings reflect a TON of light and the only way to get great exposure in your pics and vids is with an ND16- nothing less. I did not have a 32 at the time and this would have been perfect so you have zero highlights blown out.  Shoot in manual exposure with a shutter of 1/60 locked in.  You will get super-smooth and bright vid with lots of dynamic range with the ND32; with a ND16 you sometimes will need to change to 1/100 or 1/120 so you don't wash out your highlights.  Trust me on this   I bought one of those 'sunshade' hoods before Greece and never used it once (they get in the way of your vids and a ND16 will be perfect for 80% of the time and the 32 for say noon-time vids or when heading into sun.  Also, highly recommend extended legs/landing gear legs as most of your landings will be rocky or sand.  Enjoy!!!!  Share me a link to a vid sometime.  

randy.sauder Posted at 2018-6-7 08:37
Oh I almost forgot....this is one bit of advice that YOU MUST use: when flying in greece you absolutely should use a ND filter on your camera.  You will need a min of ND16 - all the time and I highly recommend using an ND32.  Greece is very sunny and the majority of the landscape as you know is white-washed stone houses.  These buildings reflect a TON of light and the only way to get great exposure in your pics and vids is with an ND16- nothing less. I did not have a 32 at the time and this would have been perfect so you have zero highlights blown out.  Shoot in manual exposure with a shutter of 1/60 locked in.  You will get super-smooth and bright vid with lots of dynamic range with the ND32; with a ND16 you sometimes will need to change to 1/100 or 1/120 so you don't wash out your highlights.  Trust me on this   I bought one of those 'sunshade' hoods before Greece and never used it once (they get in the way of your vids and a ND16 will be perfect for 80% of the time and the 32 for say noon-time vids or when heading into sun.  Also, highly recommend extended legs/landing gear legs as most of your landings will be rocky or sand.  Enjoy!!!!  Share me a link to a vid sometime.

Thank you very much, I'm going to try and order some of those ND Filters before I travel!

troyharveyphoto Posted at 2018-6-7 09:58
Thank you very much, I'm going to try and order some of those ND Filters before I travel!

Quite honestly the best thing for any Mavic is a ND16 and a 32 (anything under 16 is pretty useless IMO)..  Polarized would be ideal for when there is lots of water in your shots, but these require a bit of practice to use (to get/keep the orientation correctly so that the polarization even works).  ND filters are just slip-on and forget.  Make sure you get a quality one (like Polar Pro) b/c there are some cheap ones out there that cause your gimbal to freak out but this issue may not exist anymore (check the product reviews beforehand to ensure they don't).  Enjoy!

troyharveyphoto Posted at 2018-6-7 09:58
Thank you very much, I'm going to try and order some of those ND Filters before I travel!

I know this is an old post, but how was the trip? Did you flew your drone at the island? How did it went?