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The tourist season has started and there are a lot of questions as to when and if tourists can approach one of the most famous beaches in the world, Zakynthos’ Shipwreck cove as most know it or Navagio.
As we know a ban by the Port Police was put into action after the landslide and so far, the Zakynthos Port Authority has prohibited access of any kind by any boat on Shipwreck beach, due to the danger of landslides which still remains.
We also know that a scientific and technical committee of geologists and natural disaster management experts lead by Mr Lekkas, examined the cliff face and the area around it to ensure a plan for the safety of tourists if the beach area were to open, at the moment the plan has been delivered to the authorities concerned for its approval and we are unsure of when or if the approval will be soon.
Zakynthos Informer got in touch with a few tourist companies, to see if their tours to the beach were going ahead as planned, it seemed that people within the business were not sure if the safety plan the scientific and technical committee had designed for the area had actually been approved. Reports over the last few weeks were; that visitors were allowed on the beach but within certain restrictions zones, there were even cases that some had ventured onto the beach as there was no sign of authorities to actually stop or confirm the bans. Zakynthos Informer decided to get in contact with the Port Authority and it was confirmed that their ban is still in use and that the beach area is totally off limits. We remind you of the ban which was reported on our site on the 26th of February, 2019 as stated within the Government’s gazette :-
The prohibition of approaching and mooring of all motorized or non-motorized floating vessels and the prohibition of bathing at Ormos Navagio area in Zakynthos for the period starting from March 1st, 2019 until such time as the (q) and (r) relevant and institutionally competent to eradicate the risk due to the natural phenomenon (t) concerned.
The offenders of this decision, irrespective of the joint criminal or civil liability, are subject to administrative sanctions in accordance with Article 157 of the Judicial Code. 187/73 (Government’s Gazette 261 A / 73) as in force.
From the entry into force of this Agreement, any other Decision that conflicts with it and / or addresses matters governed by it shall be abolished.
The ban was put in place until the Port Authorities could get a notification from other Government Authorities that the area was safe enough for those wishing to visit. At the moment that notification has not been approved.
After speaking with the Port Authorities; it became clear that at the moment there is no change to the above restrictions, for now it seems that some tour companies are taking the risk and have been taking tourists out to the beach as there were no Authority to tell them otherwise, whilst others were told to move on and that the ship could only be seen from a distance. It also seems that until there is an approval on the study and that the restriction zones take place we will hear stories of whether some got to go and others did not, or that you will hear that today it is open tomorrow it is not, we may even hear of fines being issued because some did not adhere to the above ban. After speaking with some tour companies the answer to the question “Did you get to go to the shipwreck?” was “we did but we could only see it from a distance”, if you want to play it safe, looking at the shipwreck from above still has not had its problems and as far as boat trips; don’t get disappointed if you don’t get to land your feet on shipwreck cove.
As we all know that the shipwreck generates income to our Island and has been voted many times a top destination world wide, obviously the fact that the beach is closed has caused alarm for all; as far as the visitation restrictions, we hope that the approval of the proposed plan will be put into action as soon as possible, at least to stop the rumours and let those who earn a living from the shipwreck find some sort of peace and our visitors to see what has become Zakynthos’ landmark in a safe and enjoyable environment.
