Navagio (Shipwreck) Beach and the Blue Caves, Zakynthos (Zante), Greece

The cove of Navagio (Shipwreck) Beach with the shipwrecked MV Panagiotis buried in the sand parallel to the water; note how few people are on the beach early in the morning when we arrived (see below!); Zakynthos (Zante), Greece

 

We left early in the morning from Zakynthos Town to drive to the northern end of Zakynthos Island to then board a boat for a ride to Navagioh, also know as Shipwreck Beach – so named after MV Panagiotis foundered there and ended up deep in the sand, parallel to the water, after a huge storm in 1980.  The story is that the ship was a smugglers ship and that the true owners have never been identified nor have they come forward to claim the wreck.  Supposedly local sailors looted the boat and stole the contraband goods (primarily cigarettes) which were then hidden in homes across the island before eventually being sold off.  Thus the beach is locally called Smugglers Beach.  The shipwreck has a broken hull, enabling exploration of a lot of the ship while walking on the sand.  The beach is the most photographed site on the island of Zakynthos.

 

The shipwrecked MV Panagiotis buried in the sand, viewed from the beach, Navagio (Shipwreck) Beach, Zakynthos (Zante), Greece

 

It was very strange to walk around the shipwrecked MV Panagiotis and see the anchor chains in sand, along with the bow and the rest of the ship, Navagio (Shipwreck) Beach, Zakynthos (Zante), Greece

 

The rudder of MV Panagiotis buried in the sand looks like a geometric abstract design, Navagio (Shipwreck) Beach, Zakynthos (Zante), Greece

 

As we left mid-morning, there were already many 100’s of people on the beach; by mid-afternoon there are typically up to 2,500 people on the beach and the cove is jammed with boats, Navagio (Shipwreck) Beach, Zakynthos (Zante), Greece

 

As we cruised along and partially inside the so-called “Blue Caves”, it was easy to see why the caves are so named; Cape Komouto, Zakynthos (Zante), Greece

 

After having a chance to swim in the cove at Navagio (Shipwreck) Beach (we also explored one of the caves there while swimming), we re-boarded our boat to cruise about 20 minutes south to the famous Blue Caves, so named for the unearthly shade of turquoise blue color of the water inside the deeper caves, a result of refracted light from sea and sky.

 

The color of the Ionian Sea changes color along the caves and arches of the shore, Cape Komouto, Zakynthos (Zante), Greece

 

This series of arches lined up perfectly for an opportune photograph, Cape Komouto, Zakynthos (Zante), Greece