With a climate as warm as Zante‘s, watersports and waterparks are an especially popular pastime – they’ll keep you cool and active, all at the same time.
Out here, you’ve got caving and boat trips on the agenda, not to mention snorkelling with loggerhead turtles, who historically love Zante’s shores for nesting. If you’re looking to cool off in this part of the Mediterranean, these water-based activities should do the trick.
The Tsilivi Waterpark, located in the Tsivili resort, is attached to a hotel, but you don’t need to be staying here to visit.
The waterpark offers your classic array of water fun, including body slides and tube slides, a bowl ride and a lazy river, plus a splash park for little water lovers. And for grown-ups, there’s a cocktail bar with happy hour. If you know you won’t be here for an entire day, purchase tickets in the afternoon and you’ll get a reduced price.
Smuggler’s Cove – otherwise known as Navagio Beach – is one of the most famous sets of shores in the world. It may be small in size, but it’s more than a little Instagram-worthy with the huge, rusty ship beached right on the sand – the remnants of the Panagiotis, a freightliner that ran aground in 1980.
The only way to reach these iconic shores is by boat, and because it’s so popular, there are a number of tour groups that’ll get you here, stopping at caves that are carved into the coastline along the way. Surrounded by sheer limestone cliffs, at Smuggler’s Cove there’s more than enough glassy blue water unfurling around the white sand edges to go around for everyone.
Zante is one of the most popular destinations in the Mediterranean for loggerhead turtles to nest, so there’s ample opportunity for you to see these shelled creatures up close.
They’re especially abundant in Laganas, and are heavily protected and monitored under local law. Many beaches are reserved especially for the loggerhead turtles to nest.
All across Zante, you’ll find a number of dive centres where you can pick up snorkelling gear before heading out into the waves. There are small coral reefs stacked up not far from the coastline that you can access directly from the beach without having to take a special driving trip. Out in the water, you’ll have the chance to see eels, starfish, octopi and the occasional loggerhead.
The Water Village is a local waterpark in Sarakinado, which is about a 20-minute drive from Laganas.
It’s home to a handful of slides including a twisty family raft slide, a high-flying body slide and racing slides, not to mention a pool, lazy river and splash park. You’ll also find a few dry activities as well, including a go-kart track and mini golf course.
The coasts of Zante are pockmarked with caves, some of the most popular of which are the Keri Caves in the southwest and the Blue Caves in the northwest, that got their name from the eerily blue colour of the water.
Both of these coastal caves are lined with large rock arches, and are only accessible by boat. Luckily there are a number of boat trips that run you there, and will let you hop off for a little swimming in the cool Mediterranean.
Because loggerhead turtles are so popular across much of Zante’s coastline, motorised watersports are prohibited in places where they’re especially prevalent, like Laganas for example. Pedaloes are an eco-friendly watersport that’ll still get you out exploring the waves but at a more leisurely pace.
If you’re lucky, you might even spot a turtle on the way.
