Hard to reach but a magnificent beach!
Trip Start
May 30, 2010
1
31
60
Trip End
Ongoing
Dafni Beach, Ionian Islands, Greece
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Dafni Beach is in the Zakynthos National Marine Park which was been founded in 1999 with the main purpose of defending the turtles. Every summer the turtles come back to the beaches of Laganas Bay to nest in the soft sand. They come ashore at night so humans have been banned from the nesting beaches from dusk to dawn. Fortunately the nests are marked by volunteers to protect them during the day for the 3 weeks it takes the eggs to hatch. The baby turtles emerge at night and head for the sea but their survival rate is incredibly low at just 1%. This is due to numerous factors including human intrusion, temperatures and natural predators.
Dafni Beach has gorgeous sand and crystal clear water that was just perfect! Thankfully it is reached only by a terrible dirt road or it would be overrun with visitors. There were just 4 tavernas with pretty outdoor dining areas overlooking the bay but no other development at all. The tavernas offered free sunbeds on the hard sand behind the beach to protect the soft sandy areas for the turtles.
As soon as I arrived at 11 am I hit the water since I wanted to swim the 2 km to the island of Pelouzo and get back to catch the only bus (from the main road 3km away at 3:30). Boats (although there were a couple of violators) are banned from this section of the bay making swimming less stressful. The calm, clear waters were fairly shallow most of the way to the attractive, uninhabited island. I saw small fish but no turtles this swim. On the island I walked around a couple of the beaches thinking they probably had not seen a human in a long time.
The northern part of the island was very rocky so I slowly swam around it looking for interesting critters. The first new creature I saw was a moray eel! It looked like a flat snake and was about a foot long. I didn't know anything about it until later when I checked it on Wikipedia but apparently they are pretty common in the waters here. A little further on I spotted (it was easy considering how intense the color) an amazing reddish orange starfish. It was so brilliantly colored in a sea that was otherwise pretty monochrome - spectacular. It wasn't long after that discovery that I spotted an even larger starfish that was dark red, even purplish. Again, just intense color and such a beautiful creature! It's too bad there aren't more of them. I loved discovering new sea life so these sightings made the long swim even better.
I did lay out on one of the big rocks on Pelouzo to take what I thought was a brief doze. On the swim back I kept having trouble with water getting in my goggles and the goggles fogging up. I could have swam right past a turtle and probably not seen it. I was very frustrated at the issues but had no trouble making it back safely to shore. I quickly checked my watch to see how much time I had before the bus left. Yikes, it was already 3:30 and that was the time for the bus (but 3kms away!). I guess the swim took a lot longer than I thought (or maybe it was my nap).
I relaxed in the shade on my free sunbed enjoying the perfect surroundings. I was trying to think of beaches that were any better but there are so many factors to consider (a perfect beach might be easier to get to, for example). I strolled along the shore relishing the absolutely ideal sand after having been on nothing but pebbles for so long. Eventually I had one of the tavernas call a taxi for me since that was the only alternative to get back (short of trying to find someone else going the same place which I didn't want to bother with; the language barrier would have been a major problem).
Dafni Beach was definitely a great choice although my taxi driver said there were even better beaches on the island and gave me his picks which I'll try to see. Spotting the eel and starfish were thrills as was completing the long swim without feeling wiped out. I wish Dafni Beach were easier to get to in some ways but, on the other hand, I think it best to keep it away from the tourists and leave it for the turtles.
