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Navagio Shipwreck Beach, An Unknown Treasure

You may have seen the pictures stream through your Instagram feed, perhaps you even commented on their beauty or took a screen shot for travel inspiration, are you still wandering? The question, is Navagio’s famous Shiprwreck cove as beautiful as those sensational images portray? Read on…….

When I was at university I spent two long summers in-between studies working abroad in Greece, from promotional projects to bar work, I lived on both the island of Zakynthos and Crete for a few months at at time.

My first of the two summers were spent enjoying the lively nightlife scene in Zakynthos, which to us working Brits abroad was more familiarly known as Zante. The Laganas strip with it’s bright lights and hustling bar scene was to me the Vegas of Europe (Bearing in my at this point of my life I had just moved out of my very small town in the East Midlands and London’s busier scenes had not yet claimed me!).
Living and working on the small Greek island was amazing, we spent our evenings working followed by obligatory partying until the early hours and then our days sleeping off the night before 😉 I loved the boisterous and hectic atmosphere and the exciting thrill of meeting new people every single night was a bonus. I was a travelling novice at this point of my life and (ashamedly now!) it didn’t occur to me to explore the island of Zante itself, being in an exciting new relationship and living abroad for the first time, my adventures ranged entirely from bar hopping to a weekly wander down to the same exact beach.

Fast forward 11 years and I’m scrolling through my instagram feed to see my favourite travel accounts showcasing week after week a location tag that catches my attention every time. Navagio ‘Shipwreck’ Beach, Zakynthos. Enchanting blue water nestled in-between two sky scraping white cliffs with a perfectly placed babe lingering over the edge looking down in awe. As soon as I saw the first of many images that were tapped into my saved grams, I knew that I wanted to be that babe!
Yet these photos showcased this natural haven as being located in Zakynthos, how could this be? Having spent three months of my life working there how was it possible that I didn’t even know such a stunning scene existed?!
Allow me to rewind again to defend myself a little here, sending a text in another country cost more than the flight over in ‘those days’ and there was no such thing as mobile data, even connecting a mobile phone to wifi signal wasn’t yet at thing! Calling home from a phone box to confirm I was alive once every few weeks was probably the extent of my outside reach 😉 So the world of travel wasn’t fully opened up to the masses in the way that it has now. Nowadays if I travel anywhere I’ll check out blogs, social media and online lifestyle libraries to pin point all the locations I want to see, I’ll carefully map out my days and make sure I fit in all of the best bits but back then, I just kept inside the Laganas bubble.

A few weeks ago I returned to Zante, a place I’m still now getting used to calling Zakynthos. Travelling with my beach bae Inge Mae, we jumped on a budget airline and checked in to a stunning, newly opened Villa in the north of the island, with that lingering ‘inspo’ image at the forefront of our vacay goals.

Getting to the famous viewpoint is easy, we drove using our trusty google map app and as soon as we neared the location there were signs for parking, which is free of charge and as close as possible before you need to start tackling the cliff top by foot. The walk down is a little tricky so I would recommend trainers for anyone heading to the edge, I struggled in my flip flops and the rocks are far too sharp to barefoot tread.
Traveling at the very end of the season we were fortunate enough to be sharing the trail (and in turn the cliff space) with just two other people.

It was everything instagram had promised me and more! The view from the look-out was beyond stunning, the bluest water I have ever seen magnificently creeping into the tucked away cove. Towering white cliffs that scoop down in the centre to reveal another few coves behind Navagio. I’ve been fortunate enough to see some pretty amazing views whilst travelling the world but this, this view is the crowned showstopper!

After spending hours enjoying the view and the obligatory ‘dare to dangle’ posing we headed down to the marina to enjoy the magic of the beach itself.

Thinking there was no way possible to beat the view from above we drove immediately down to Agios Nikolaos Marina to hit the water. Driving down to the dock we were flagged into a car park by a gentlemen selling boat tickets to the Shipwreck Beach and Blue Caves. As we travelled in mid-october we were able to take full advantage of the end of the season prices and bagged a couple of tickets for just 12 euros each.
As soon as the boat motored off from the dock the Agean sea glistened dreamily underneath my eyes and I was reunited with THAT blue I’ve had the pleasure of already seeing twice this year when exploring in Greece’s other magical beautiful of Crete. (Read more about why you need to visit Crete here!).

Arriving to Navagio Beach was like being transported to another world entirely. It sounds dramatic but I stand by my words and know that others will conclude the same. Those blue waters we had seen just hours before above were now beneath us and the glistening white cliffs we stood on top of now towered above us.
After driving into the small opening we we jumped off the boat in quick success and wandered onto the beach to find we were the lucky few to explore the shipwreck that day. Having heard how ‘disgustingly’ busy this stretch of sand is in the summer our smug faces of being quite lonesome were firmly fixed!
The sand and shingle beach is magnificent, I’ve mentioned the mesmerisingly blue water but the entire scene is so beautiful and unlike something I’ve never seen before. As well as the dreamy sea the beach is home to a beautifully beached shipwreck, the obvious reason behind it’s famous title of ‘Shipwreck Cove’.
The huge structure that once sailed the sea adds to the whimsical and majestic nature of the beach, every view looks fresh out of a wanderlust adventure novel.

Navagio shipwreck beach navagio shipwreck beach

Swimming in the sea is so surreal looking back to the shipwreck on the shore and looking up at the enormity of the cove rocks. I’m struggling to find the words a little so hoping that my photos will help tell the tale, here’s a short video too 😉

Navagio's Shipwreck Cove – Full blogpost now up ✨ http://clutchandcarryon.com/navagio-shipwreck-beach-an-unknown-treasure/

Geplaatst door Sabrina Chakici op Maandag 30 oktober 2017

If you have ever wondered about the truth behind the gram, in the instance of Navagio ‘ShipWreck’ Beach, there’s little need for the swipe of a filter! Zakynthos is such an amazing getaway and just a few hours from the UK, in the few days I was there it stole top place for all of my short haul trips this year. I’ll be writing more about our trip, where we stayed and and what else we got up to in my next blog post, until then, I’ll leave you with the ‘piece de resistance’, after seeing the stunning scene from above, below and afar, we headed back to where it all began and watched the sunset!

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3 Comments

  1. October 31, 2017 / 8:50 am

    That has to be the most beautiful blue ever!! And your photos are just stunning!!

  2. AIMEE
    November 3, 2017 / 3:55 am

    Omg Breen, I have to go here! Pics are insane, I mean seriously WOW!

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