Закинтос - осторов черепах и скал Zakynthos - an island of turtles and rocks

Greece, about. Zakynthos. Best Western Zante Park 4*

The decision to travel to Zakynthos was made last summer. We have already been to Rhodes, Crete, Santorini, but Corfu and Mykonos seemed a little expensive.

So, Zakynthos, Laganas. The hardest part was getting there. Ours do not fly there, and the docking of the Greek Olympic in Athens did not suit us at all. I had to either run on the run when docking for one hour (and what if the plane is delayed? ) Or spend the night in Athens, which was not included in our plans. As a result, we were offered to fly through the Pelepones (Araxos military airfield) by Transaero charter (by the way, I’ll immediately note that there are no complaints about them at all - everything is on time! ). From Araxos by taxi (about 40 minutes - 30 euros) to the port of Kyllini - there by ferry (about an hour - 8 euros) to the port of Zakynthos, and then by taxi to Laganas (15-20 minutes - 8 euros). And here we are at the hotel. The hotel is not directly on the beach (5-7 minutes walk), but is very conveniently located from all the entertainment (bars, discos).
Laganas is generally a party place, about the same as Malia (Crete), Faliraki (Rhodes). The main people from England, Italy. There are practically none of us, which we expected. Laganas for those who want to sunbathe during the day and party all night (18-35 years old, no children).
Let's go back to the hotel. They gave a wonderful room - although some would naturally have complaints (such as a view not of the sea, the passage between the bed and the table is small - well, how do you set yourself up). Two rooms (by the way, we did not expect this, we paid for the standard). One has a large bed, a huge wardrobe with a mirror, a canopy over the bed (I don’t know what it’s called exactly, but I think the meaning is clear), three armchairs, a refrigerator with a minibar, a TV, a balcony. The second room - two sofas, a wardrobe, a TV - we used it as a warehouse. Both rooms have individually controlled air conditioners. Linen and towels were changed every other day - no complaints. Bath - two sinks, bath itself, toilet.
We only had breakfast - well, it is standard, as in all Greek hotels. I can't say anything about the rest of the food. Consciously took only breakfast, because with such a huge number of taverns, dining at the hotel is simply stupid. The pool in the hotel is quite decent and deep (max. 2.75 m. ) In the evening there was animation in the hotel, but we only went once for a Greek night - well, it's okay, decently.

The beach of Laganas is a place under special protection, as it is inhabited by sea turtles Kareta-Kareta. There are no water activities, such as bananas and scooters (forbidden). But, you can take a pedal boat or a motorboat, as well as float on a boat with a transparent bottom to the island of Marasonisi and see the sea caves of the island and turtles in the sea. Well, by the way, we liked it. The beach itself is sandy, sunbeds (2 sunbeds + umbrella, armchair - 7 euros), there are restaurants and bars. The sea is clean, but shallow, it takes a long time to go to the depth.
The island itself is small, about 400 km2. We, as always, took the car and did not contact the excursions. This time our car was a Citroen Puriel (cabrio), which cost us 300 euros for five days + extra. Casco (50 euros), you can not take it, but somehow it’s calmer with him. There are much cheaper cars, but I really wanted to ride a convertible.
So we have a car.
On the first day, our path lay in the direction of Argassi, the guide promised us the ruins of the fortress (we did not find them) and the remains of the bridge of 1805, which we safely discovered, it is on the beach. Only one question remained unresolved - where did it lead? Then we moved to the beaches of Porto Zorro, a pretty beach, almost wild, but there is a shower and a small cafe. The beach itself is sandy, the sea is quiet and transparent, as in general everywhere in Zakynthos. Very interesting flowers grow right in the sand, from where they take moisture is also a question. And the last stop on this day was Gerakos. This is a reserve.
Quite a wide strip of beach where turtles lay their eggs. At the entrance to the beach you are given a ticket, which indicates the entry time, you can’t stay on the beach for more than three hours - a large number of people can disturb the turtles. There are no entertainments, cafes, shops and souls on the beach, as there are masonry everywhere, which are blocked by special triangles. So eat - drink only outside the beach, there are several restaurants. By the way, near them you can “adopt” a turtle for a certain amount - take it under guardianship, and you will be given the appropriate certificate. After Gerakos, we hoped to see a medieval fortress on a mountain near Zakynthos in Mohal, it was already closed and we only managed to enjoy the beautiful view that comes off the mountain to the port and the capital.
Second day. We drove towards Porto Limnionas via Kilomeno and Agios Leon.

Along the way, you can see very pretty villages, churches and ancient monasteries. In Kilomeno we bought homemade olives. Porto Limnionas is a unique place, it's not even quite a beach, you go down from the mountain to the sea and you can lie on the rocks, there is no entrance to the sea as such - you need to dive. But water!! ! I have never seen such a transparent and clean place! You can swim in the caves - take masks - very interesting, beautiful landscape of the rocks around. Upstairs near the parking lot there is a restaurant where you can have a bite to eat. Further, our path lay in the opposite direction through Keri, where there is a lighthouse and a very beautiful view of the rocks and the sea. The largest Greek flag in the world is also installed there, it looks bewitching at the entrance. Well, traditionally a tavern with a beautiful view, they say that it's great to meet the sunset there, but we didn't wait, unfortunately. On the way we stopped at Agias Sostis, a resort town near our Laganas.
There is an observation deck, but there are a lot of people crowding on it, so you won’t see anything. I advise you to go a little to the right along the mountain and there is a place where you can take a picture against the background of the ship, unless, of course, you are afraid of heights, there are no barriers there.
Fourth day. In the morning we stopped in Mohali to walk around the medieval fortress. There, to be honest, little has been preserved, but still interesting. Then we drove along the neighboring coast, stopped at the beaches. Ttsivili, Alikanas, Alikas are all resort towns more suitable for families. The beaches are sandy, there are all sorts of water activities. In Alikas, you can look at the salt lakes where sea water evaporates. For the general development is also interesting. Then we went to Askos - this is a garden of stones and animals, it will be very interesting with children, although we liked it. There is a rather large area in the mountains where deer walk, you can pet and feed them.
Lots of other animals and birds. We liked the raccoons the most! It is something! Under the guidance of a park attendant, they can be hand-fed. If you go from Askos towards Skinari, you can see the lighthouse and take an excursion on small boats to the famous Blue Caves (blue caves). Small boats enter many caves, unlike large excursion ships. However, we didn't know about it. After Askos, we returned to Zakynthos to walk around the evening city, looked into one of the few surviving ancient churches, and lit candles. We walked around the port, on that day a lot of yachts moored in the port, apparently, there was some kind of regatta. The largest and most expensive, of course, turned out to be under our flag, who would doubt it! We had dinner in one of the many taverns and returned to Laganas.
Day five. We had it assigned to the Aquapark, it is located not far from Laganas, but be careful with the signs, you can slip through.

Pointers with the remaining kilometers on Zakynthos are very approximate, say, by eye. If it says 2 km, this does not mean that what you are looking for does not appear right around the corner. The water park itself is small, but they seem to be building new slides. Well, you can visit. I can’t say that there were too many people, whatever they wanted, they rode everything.
So, we gave the car and the rest of the time lay on the beach. On our beach, we booked an excursion on a boat with a transparent bottom to the islet of Marasonisi, where the Kareta-Kareta turtles also nest. The boat goes around the island, goes around it, enters the caves of the island and comes to the beach, where they give an hour of time to swim, take pictures, then sail back and watch turtles along the way! Just super! Huge turtles swim right around the boat, we had a complete delight! I highly recommend to go and see.
The next day we took a water bike, in principle, on it you can also swim to the place where there are turtles.
On the penultimate day, we booked an excursion to the Blue Caves and Ship Wreck on a ship. The tour itself was booked at the agency on the way to the beach, in general there are a lot of similar agencies in Laganas, but the prices are generally the same for everyone. We also liked it, we got a very nice boat, two-deck, semi-antique. Beautiful. There are toilets on board, there is a small bar with ice cream, water, beer, sausages. It goes from the port of Zakynthos, a bus takes you there from the hotel. The route of the ship passes Ttsivili, Alikanas, Alikos and further to the Blue Caves, there is a small stop for swimming, you can dive directly from the ship, you can go down a special ladder. And then an hour stop at the Ship Wreck. There is amazing depth there, big ships come right to the shore, although it looks like a typical beach there.
If you go from the beach into the sea, then almost immediately you find yourself with your head under water. We climbed on an abandoned ship, we liked it. It is especially interesting to look up at the rock, where you can see the observation deck where we have already been – you understand HOW high it was! Then they dived from the bow of the ship and on the way back.

I really liked Zakynthos, but primarily because of its nature, as there are few ruins and historical heritage, there were earthquakes - a huge part was destroyed. So, those who are interested in the ruins, it is rather Rhodes, Crete, etc. But you will not see such rocks and such a sea anywhere else!
About prices. In taverns in Laganas, they are about the same, the closer to the main street, the cheaper the food (but not seriously, about 1.5-2 euros less per dish than near the beach and the hotel). They feed, as elsewhere in Greece, for slaughter, a lot and sooo tasty.
I recommend a restaurant - from the hotel to the left along the road and it is the first on the right side (sorry, I don’t remember the name), the one that we didn’t like at all right in front of it. On average, we paid about 40 euros for two with wine or beer.
And the last day, the day of departure. Everything went well too. We called a taxi to the hotel in advance, we were taken to the port, we got ferry tickets on the spot without any problems, and from the ferry they found a taxi to our military airfield. Departed on time and without problems. By the way, there is a du free there, but a little more than a tent .
I would return to Zakynthos with pleasure, a beautiful and friendly island!