Navagio Beach

Beach

Beach · Zakynthos, Greece 37.8596°N 20.6249°E

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Navagio Beach

Time needed

Up to an hourLookout, with summer queue

Cost

FreeNo fee at the viewpoint

Effort

Under 5 min walkCar park to lookout

Season

Boats in summerMost stop by end October

Access

Gravel car parkPaved road up to it

Landing

Can you still go on Navagio Beach?

No. Boats stay offshore, so the ship is photographed from the deck rather than the sand, and the cliff-top viewpoint at Anafonitria gives a high view of the cove.

Viewpoint

How do you get to the Navagio viewpoint?

By car. The viewing platform stands on the north-west cliff above the village of Anafonitria, about 40 minutes' drive from Zakynthos Town and 25 minutes from Tsilivi.

Blue Caves

Can you combine Navagio with the Blue Caves?

Yes. Most boat tours pair the two. Boats from Agios Nikolaos call at the Blue Caves at Cape Skinari first, then run south to Navagio.

Stand on the clifftop platform above Anafonitria and look down on the Panagiotis, a rusting freighter on the sand of a small cove walled in by cliffs.

What makes it special

Navagio means shipwreck in Greek, and the cove takes its name from the freighter Panagiotis on its sand. The ship lies in a small bay on the north-west coast, and after more than 40 years in the open its hull is rusting away.

The Panagiotis ran aground in bad weather on 2 October 1980, on its way to Italy with a cargo of smuggled cigarettes from Turkey. It has stayed on the beach ever since, and the wreck is the reason the cove is famous.

The cliffs above the sand keep falling, and the Earthquake Planning and Protection Organisation (OASP) judged the bay unsafe for landings. So the Panagiotis is now seen only from a distance, either from a boat in the water or from the cliff edge high above it.

Visiting

Boat trips stop offshore while you look in at the ship and take photographs from the deck. Some then stop at sea caves and swim spots on the way back to port.

For the view from above, drive up to Anafonitria and walk to the viewing platform from where you park, with the Panagiotis straight below. In summer there is a queue for a place on the platform.

You can fit both views into one day, with a morning boat and the lookout in the afternoon.

Tips

Bring swimwear and an underwater camera on the boat.

This Ionian coast is usually calm, so boat trips to the cove run on most days and the sea is often flat. If you are prone to seasickness, the short crossing from Porto Vromi keeps your time on the water to a minimum.

Know before you goAs of November 2026, the decision published in the Government Gazette in May 2026 barred landing on the beach and swimming in the cove through 31 October 2026, and kept boats at least 50 metres off the shore. The authorities review the closure twice a year after inspecting the cliff, so check the current rules before you book a boat.Fines apply to anyone who breaks these rules. Stay on the platform at the lookout: the open cliff top was closed after tourists fell, and the platform was rebuilt set back from the edge.