Our first stop is the most southern of the 7 islands, Zakynthos. We anchored out in some of the southern bays, hung out at some of the beaches and spent a few days in the main town of Zakynthos where we tie up to the town quay that encircles the huge harbor. There is plenty of room for both ferries and yachters. However it is now August and everything has gotten more crowded as Europe takes its month of August off to explore Europe. The bay is so large, I was surprised when most of the quay got filled up with bumper-to-bumper boats.
After a couple of days we head north to Nickolaos, a very small town on the northeastern corner of the islands. This town’s claim to fame are the beautiful blue caves. Trying to out do Capri’s blue grotto, the caves are indeed a beautiful deep blue but just doesn’t have the pizzazz of the famous Capri grotto. It is a very small town with a couple of restaurants, a few hotels and boat tours all owned by the same family. I guess it pays to have land past down for a dozen generations. We still enjoyed a little touristic boat ride to the caves and a stop at some high cliffs for jumping and swimming. It is so hot here in August that you just have to be in and out of the water a couple of times a day.
On the western part of the island is the famous Shipwreck Beach. Perhaps the most photographed beach in all of Greece. Beautiful white sand meets turquoise blue water with dramatic cliffs crashing down to the bay. And right in the center is a sizable ship buried half in sand. We arrived fairly early in the morning and were the first ones in the bay. The wreck looked more like a Hollywood set with the ship smack dab in the center of the beach tilting, rusting and decaying perfectly. By the time we got our anchor set, the first of the tourist boats showed up. And then the invasion began. It made D-day look like a small operation. We took a few photos, but left when the crowds got just way out of hand. I am glad we got that first glimpse of the beach without anyone but the shipwreck, and us in the morning light.
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