Navagio Beach (Shipwreck Beach)

Navagio Beach (read "Navajo") is one of the most famous beaches not only in Greece, but also in Europe, according to many popularity lists. It has earned the title "the pearl of the greenest Greek island" or "the treasure of the Ionian Islands". The beach is very photogenic thanks to its very contrasting colours and the unusual addition of a rusting shipwreck.

Navagio beach is hidden in a bay in the northwestern part of Zakynthos. Its surface is made up of coarse sand, or rather tiny white pebbles, which are washed by crystal clear and really deep turquoise sea. However, the coastline drops off quite steeply into the sea after just a few steps. Together with the massive rocks in the background, which reach a height of almost 200 m, the place offers an extraordinary spectacle.

Legend of the smuggling ship Panagiotis

The beach was originally known as Agios Georgios (St. George) Beach, but today most people know it only as Navagio Beach, or Shipwreck Beach. The beach earned this name because of a legend that tells how the mysterious shipwreck resting in the middle of the beach came to be here. The inhabitants of Zakynthos tell the story of a smuggling ship called the Panagiotis, which was carrying untaxed alcohol and cigarettes when it was caught in a storm off the island of Zakynthos around 1980. The captain of the ship, in an attempt to escape the bad weather and the Greek maritime police who spotted the ship, sailed the ship into the bay, but unfortunately he was shipwrecked. Before the Greek authorities reached the ship, the island's inhabitants reportedly fished out the ship's cargo and dried the cigarettes of many world brands. The ship's crew then reportedly claimed under questioning that they were carrying sugar and that it had dissolved after the shipwreck.

Whatever the truth, the boat in the middle of a fantastic white beach has become a symbol of the island and one of the most popular attractions in the whole of Greece. Nowadays, the boat is rusted and visitors scratch their marks on it using white pebbles.

Navagio beach as a tourist symbol of Zakynthos

A trip to Navagio Beach is one of the most popular tourist activities on Zakynthos. Access to the beach is only possible from the sea, and boat trips to Shipwreck Beach are therefore organised in large numbers. Most cruise ships and boats depart from the nearby small port of Porto Vromi, as well as from the northern tip of the island, Cape Skinari, or from the port of Agios Nikolaos (on the northeast coast of the island). On organised excursions, tourists often visit other natural beauties of Zakynthos, especially the so-called blue caves, the "sulphur" beach of Xigia and other beautiful beaches of Zakynthos. However, if you want to avoid the crowds of tourists at Navagio beach, we suggest you rather hire a boat taxi or rent a boat yourself and go to the beach very early in the morning or later in the afternoon.

The beautiful Navagio beach can also be viewed from the top of the surrounding rock walls, where perhaps the most beautiful and famous photographs of the entire bay come from. From the nearby villages of Anafonitria and Volimes, it is possible to continue by car to a small car park at the top of the cliffs, where a viewing platform has also been built. The cliff here is about 180 m high and is also used by adrenaline enthusiasts (parachuting and rope jumping).

Access to Navagio Beach is free of charge and not restricted.However, in 2018 the beach was briefly closed to the public and boat moorings were also prohibited due to the collapse of part of the cliff above the beach.There have also been attempts to restrict tourist access up on the cliffs due to fears of further possible rockfalls.

More touristic destinations of Zakynthos

Most favourite beaches of Zakynthos: Agios Nikolaos Beach (Vassilikos), Banana Beach, Gerakas Beach, Laganas Beach, Limnionas Beach (Porto Limnionas), Navagio Beach (Shipwreck Beach), Porto Zoro Beach, Tsilivi Beach

Resorts, beaches, sights or trips - clearly listed on the map of Zakynthos.