Navagio Beach – Baie du Naufrage

Navagio is located in Zakynthos, an island in the Ionian Sea, off the east coast of the Peloponnese in Greece. To be more precise, the beach is located in the northwestern part of this island, near the village of Anafonitria. It is surrounded by colossal cliffs of white limestone on one side and crystal blue waters on the other. In this sense, this is what makes it accessible only by boat.

The funny thing is that there is a good chance that you have seen pictures of this place because it is perhaps the most photographed place in the whole country, and of course, it is the most great tourist attraction of Zakynthos which attracts thousands of visitors each summer.

Above the beach there is a place that offers an amazing view of the white cliffs and the endless and bewitching turquoise sea. The handle itself is very deep, which allows the boats to dock. Keep in mind on arrival that if you are not a swimmer, you will need to stay close to the shore. Thus, the beach has a width of about 500 meters and a length of about 50 meters. In addition, the water is quite salty, more salty than the water of the seaside resorts of Zante.

Navagio Beach – Baie du Naufrage

Navagio Shipwreck History

The simple beauty of this beach is the old rusty ship that sits in its white sand, which has earned Navagio the nicknames of Shipwreck Beach and Smuggler’s Cove, a popular story about how the boat got there.

On October 1, 1980, the Greek authorities were informed that a cargo carrier named Panayiotis was smuggling cigarettes. This illegal delivery would come from Turkey and it would be an order placed by the Italian mafia. To escape the law, Panayiotis was trapped in the shallow waters of Navagio. In addition, the crew fled the scene, leaving the boat on the beach. Islanders are rumored to have benefited from the cargo, and no tobacco products have been sold on the island for the next four years.

As entertaining as it may be, this story is not true. Charalambos Kompthekras, the captain of Panayiotis, spoke about what really happened in a documentary. In this one, where he said that the accident was due to bad weather and a mechanical breakdown

How to get to Navagio beach?

Now that you have become familiar with the history and the splendours of the beach, let’s move on to the means of reaching it. Most towns and resorts are located to the south while Navagio is to the northwest. There are several ways to get there, each one is different in terms of price, time and mode of transport.

The beach itself is only accessible by boat. Transportation will take you to cities, ports and the viewing platform on the cliffs that overlook the beach. Places where you can find a boat for Navagio are:

• the port of Zakynthos Town,
• the port of Agios Nikolaos, Skinari
• Porto Vromi.

Travel to Navagio Beach in Greece

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