Navagio Beach, Zakynthos, Greece

Shipwreck at Navagio. Source: Ghost of Kuji

     Navagio Beach, also known as "Smuggler's Cove", is a small beach cove on the northwest shore of the Greek island of Zakynthos.  An all too typical example of the beauty of the Greek island's beaches, the white sand on Navagio beach is surrounded only by limestone cliffs and crystal clear water .  For the most part it looks exactly how you would expect a Mediterranean beach to look, unless you know Greek.  In which case you would know that the word Navagio is the phonetic spelling of the Greek word ναυαγιο, which literally translates to "shipwreck".  The cove was so-named because of the remains of the ship Panagiotis which ran aground at this spot some time in the early1980's and was left to become a permanent part of the picturesque landscape.  All together, the shipwreck makes this location a beautiful blend of pristine nature and legend that can only be found in a handful of spots in the world.

So, we know why it's called Navagio Beach, but why is it also referred to by many as "Smuggler's Cove"?  This is where the story gets more interesting.  Although there are conflicting reports as to when the wreck actually happened (some say 1980, other's believe it was in '82 or '83), most agree that the ship was carrying a load of black-market cigarettes from Turkey when the Greek Navy began pursuing it to investigate.  At some point the ship ran into stormy weather causing it to run aground on Zakynthos, where the crew abandoned the wreck in order to evade the Greek Navy's pursuit.  Some versions of the story even go so far as to suggest the illegal cigarettes were be transported on behalf of the Italian mafia, giving this tall tale an almost mythical touch.  However, there are also those (mostly the locals of the island) who believe that the ship did not wreck there at all and was instead placed there by the Greek Ministry of Tourism.

Navagio Beach from cliffs above. Source: Anna Oates

If the ship was indeed placed at Navagio Beach by the Greek government it has definitely been a successful experiment.  Despite its relatively remote location Smuggler's Cove attracts thousands of visitors each year, mostly during the peak tourist months of May through August.  To visit the shipwreck at Navagio Beach one would most likely need to take one of the water taxi tours from Porto Vromi.  These boats take tourists around to many of the Greek caves on the northwest coast of Zakynthos and allow you to spend as much time as you want at Navagio Beach before catching a different boat back to the port.  Alternatively, if you don't want to venture out of the water you can make the journey via motor vehicle to the top of one of the cliffs overlooking the cove to get an amazing view of the beach, cliffs, water and shipwreck all in one.

In the end, the natural beauty of Navagio Beach combined with the story behind the shipwreck put this location pretty high up on the list of things I want to see.  And with a location that is relatively near other great places to check out, I think I will make this one a priority.

First Post

Welcome to my comprehensive list of things I want to see!

A couple years ago I started sending myself an email every time I heard of or read about a place somewhere in the world that I wanted to visit.  With each email I would tell myself that someday I would organize all of them into a list so that I would have my own not-so-traditional bucket list of things I want to see.  This blog is me finally coming through on that promise.  From this day forward it will serve as not only a list of unique places I want to visit, but also a documentary of my travels when I am finally able to check each one off at some point in the distant future.

So, what's on the list?  Nearly all of the things I want to see come with an interesting story.  I love reading the history behind places and things, especially those that are less than well-known.  You won't find any posts about the Pantheon or the Great Wall of China, but the stories behind the things on my list are just as fascinating.

And while the primary purpose of this blog is to serve as a long term to-do list for myself, I hope that there are others out there with the same sense of adventure that will find the places I write about just as intriguing.