WRECK BAY ON ZAKYNTHOS

I read in a magazine that Wreck bay on Zakynthos, was one of the most photographed places in Ionian. Strangely enough, Rod Heikell just briefly mentioned the bay in his Ionian Cruising guide. The reason for that might be that it normally is a exposed location on the NW corner of Zakynthos, with prevailing wind from the same direction. Luckily enough we had a weather pattern with wind from south. We wanted to arrive early, in case the NW wind started blowing at noon. We departed Agios Nikolaos at 6:00 AM. This is the first stop if coming from the north. Agios Nikolaos is a friendly place with 3-4 tavernas on the beach.

Agios Nikolaos

It is only 8 Nm from Agios Nikolaos around the North tip of Zakynthos. We arrived at sunrise and were greeted with a wonderful view of the beach with the wreck.

Arriving at Wreck Bay

Wrecks Bay in Morning light

The stranded ship, M/V Panagiotis had been used for smuggling cigarettes and stranded on the beach in 1983. She ended up perfectly centred on the beach standing on her keel.

M/V Panagiotis used for cigarette smuggling

Wreck bay can only be reached by boat or bungee jumping from the high cliffs. It is also a famous place for base jumping. Have a look at the this Youtube clip. With 200 m height, you have only some seconds until you have to pull your parachute. In 2012 there was a fatal accident with a base jumper. In the binocular we did see 2 people that were sleeping on the beach. They had four cameras set up on tripods, and we thought they were shooting postcards pictures. We later learned that it was a documentary about bungee jumping. When we looked up we did see the platforms 200 m up. Not my kind of adventure!