Zakynthos Informer Zakynthos Informer
Related Articles
Before the ship of M.V. Panagiotis ran aground on the beach in 1980, Navagio was a simple cove, battered by wind and rain in the winter, with calm blue seas in the summer. The beach was called Agios Georgios after the monastery St George Krimnon, located on the cliffs above. After the ship beached on the sand, the beach was renamed “Navagio” Beach. “Navagio” is the Greek word for “Shipwreck”. It’s also sometimes known as shipwreck beach or smugglers cove.
This international sensation in the north of the island is known by millions of tourists worldwide, and over the years some interesting and exciting things have happened, on and around the beach. Here are just a few of them.
Navagio beach and the facts you may not know!
Motocross around the shipwreck
The Motocross Champion took his bike to Navagio beach in 2017 and performed several circuits, and tricks on a temporary circuit around the shipwreck, on the beach and edging the sea. It took 23 people to construct the circuit and 1000 hours to transport 12 tons of sand required for it. Romain Febvre had a great time saying: “We as athletes are accustomed to competing on beautiful and special tracks all over the world. Nothing, however, compares with the Navagio / shipwreck beach in Greece. It’s an unbelievable spectacle, imagine driving between blue waters and a shipwreck. It was a huge challenge for all of us, especially when we had to take everything with small boats from the other side of the island.” The video is below.
Descendants of the Sun
In 2015 Navagio beach was chosen as a film location by a Korean film crew. The location was for an important scene in the show Descendants of the Sun, a popular Asian TV Drama. The cast filmed it on the beach and the shipwreck itself, for a scene that sees the two main characters Captain Shi-Jin and Dr Mo-Yeon grow and develop their romantic relationship. This has seen the island open ups its tourism to more visitors from Asia.
Slacklining!
In 2017, a group called Slacktivity attempted some highline records by setting up a “highwire/tightrope” across the bay of Navagio. Professional members of the group, Slacktivity, walked the “highwire/tightrope.” Karin Doblander almost recorded a world record. Samuel Volery set a new world record of walking 580metres! The photos were incredible, and it was an incredible feat for those who walked it, at such height.
Photo by Slacktivity
The Rockfall at Navagio
On the 13th of September 2018, the iconic peace of Navagio was shattered when a massive Rockfall occurred. A large section of rock suddenly broke away from the cliff falling onto the beach below. The rockfall, which was caught on camera, shocked both locals and tourists who were visiting the beach at the time. Despite a few injuries, the miraculous news was that no one was killed.
Base Jumping
BASE Jumping! Navagio beach has become a popular place for the extreme sport of BASE Jumping The initials B.A.S.E stands for Buildings, Antennae (referring to radio masts), Spans (bridges), and Earth (cliffs). Nowadays, it’s generally written as BASE jumping. The first BASE jumping on the island took place at Navagio Bay in 2011.
Zakynthos:- B.A.S.E jumpers at Navagio beach talk about their experience. (VIDEO)
Beautiful Weddings!
Navagio Beach has not only been visited by millions of tourists and drawn those addicted to the extreme. It’s also been a location for some iconic weddings. The large cliffs that hug the beach, accessible only by boat, have made it a perfect location for those who want somewhere iconic, yet relatively private for their special day. It may not be everyone’s idea of a perfect location, but for many, Navagio is, and has been, that perfect wedding location, and who wouldn’t want a big ship in their wedding photos, when it’s on such a beautiful island!
Photo by Costas Vernardas
Navagio in advertising
Travel magazine Weekend Weekly based in Hong Kong, in 2015. These 250,000 readerships targeted a young, high-income audience, with stunning pictures of the “Shipwreck”, the Blue Caves, the Myzithres and “Myrtos”.
Numerous other companies have used the image of Navagio in their advertising including, Google Chromecast TV advert in 2016, Mythos advertising in 2017 and TV advert for travel company “Homeaway” in 2018.
It’s amazing to see how popular Navagio has become and the draw it has, not only from tourists but from business, extreme sports and TV Producers. Now, in 2022, the shipwreck looks forward to its 42nd year welcoming tourists and posing for thousands of photos, in order to keep its international appeal alive.
