Travelogue | Charter a boat on Zakynthos Island to explore Keri Caves
Charter a boat on Zakynthos Island to explore Keri Caves. When thinking of a holiday in Greece, what comes to mind first? The Acropolis of Athens or Santorini? If you ask locals or Europeans, they would say that the most beautiful scenery of Greece is hidden in the seven islands of the Ionian archipelago. Perhaps you have never heard of the Ionian Islands, but did you know that these seven small islands have a more pleasant climate than the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, with lush and verdant vegetation? Among these seven pearls, the most shining one is Zakynthos Island, which is the second most sought-after Greek island after Santorini.
The first stop on Zakynthos starts from Keri in the southeast corner of the island. At Limni Keri Harbour, under the pretext of 'letting mom enjoy', I chartered a small boat for 3 hours at 120 euros. Our captain was a handsome Greek young man with limited English skills. As the boat set sail, the wind from the Ionian Sea blew in our faces, and the troubles brought by the failed car rental dissipated with the splashing waves.
Riding the waves was truly exhilarating, not to mention the thrill of the boat speeding around the cape and encountering the stunning view of the blue sea water against the white cliffs. Let's call this thick and vivid sea water 'Ionian Blue'.
The bottom of the cliffs has been eroded by the sea to form many caves. The captain steered the boat slowly towards them, and the sunlight turned the sea water at the entrance of the caves into dazzling jewel blue. The boat entered several larger caves, where the water shimmered, the color reminiscent of blue ink just diluted in water.
Although there are named attractions in the Keri area, I only remembered the most distinctive one, the sea arch 'Keri Caves'. These barren cliffs left a deep impression.
Joyful music drifted from a large boat outside the caves. Those Westerners, after sunbathing on the deck, plunged into the azure blue. Actually, I envied the freedom of renting a boat and driving it myself, exploring the coastline of the island, floating on the water, and enjoying a relaxed vacation vibe. Anyway, enjoying the moment is in keeping with the atmosphere of Zakynthos, even my old mother was infected by the sunshine and the blue sea, feeling young and energetic.
Our boat finally arrived at Marathonissi Island. This island, shaped like a turtle and also known as Turtle Island~~'Turtle Island', is indeed the nesting and habitat of the endangered 'Caretta caretta' turtles. There are about 1,300 turtles living on Zakynthos. There is a beach on the northwest corner of Marathonissi Island, where I hoped to find baby turtles. This idea was too naive. The turtle nests are fenced off and off-limits, as they come from across the ocean in May and start laying eggs in July, and now is a critical protection period. Even if we could get close, the baby turtles would have hidden away under the scorching sun. No turtles found, so I took pictures of the vacationing Westerners, although I'm not a fan of noisy beaches. To show off at the end. Apart from my mother, I might have been the most conservatively dressed person on the beach of Marathonissi Island that day.