CAPTAIN VANGELIS REPORT FOR ZANTE CRUISE

Shipwreck beach is well known all over the world and year by year becomes more popular. I know that for some of you it is a dream to visit, to swim and to stay the longest time at this beach. I have done this cruise for more than 20 years and the only care I have is all the guests have a good time, enjoy the cruise and especially come back safe. I will try to describe informatively the data for this cruise. The first thing to note is that calm sea at Skala means calm sea for Ithaca and Fiskardo cruise, but not for Zante cruise. The currents and the swell of the open sea makes the boat roll differently than the surface waves do and this is what makes some passengers sensitive to seasickness and to become seasick. For so many years we have never had seasick guests on Ithaca or Fiskardo cruises but we have some on the cruise to Zante. 

The ship wreck beach is at a bay facing the open Mediterranean Sea where the local currents and the swell sometimes don’t allow us to land the boat, to disembark and to follow our schedule. That can happen even with good weather reports and we don’t know it before arrival at the beach and see it visually. In this case the only thing we can do is to stay on the bay just getting photos for some minutes only and leaving before most of the passengers become seasick.

And now the usual question and complaint “why not stay longer “when the sea is calm? The situation at shipwreck beach is best described using Photographs, the first two above. We depart the beach at 1045 hrs. before the big boats arrive. There are 7 big boats each with capacity up to 500 passengers arriving at the beach from 1045 till 1130hrs. The ship wreck beach is a beach about 150meters long. Where to stay and where to swim with 7 big boats there, about 20 smaller professional boats going and coming all the time and a lot of small and big private yachts?.

I am sorry to say that things and safety standards year by year are getting worse. Nothing is more important to me than your safety. That is why I am in a hurry to depart before the big traffic starts. There are some boats from Zante town departing from the beach at 1000 hrs. when we arrive there. Our next stops are 30 min next to the blue caves for swimming and 2 hrs. for swimming and lunch at Alykes. We should stay longer but we look for the balance. The guests diving and swimming (usually less than 40% of the total) who want to stay longer the time passes very fast for them but for the non-swimmers the time passes slowly and they feel bored just looking. We have another reason to leave Zante no later than 1400 hrs. the time where almost every afternoon the channel between Kefalonia and Zante will become rough. We have done this cruise so many years now, we know the problems and we try for the best.
NIRIIS is a very suitable boat for this difficult cruise. It is fast, which means less time rolling and more stability. Especially because of Zante cruise we equipped NIRIIS, with stabilizers making it a more comfortable cruise. But still when we see children we advise the parents to choose another cruise, the same for the expectant mothers. We always guarantee that you will come back safe, but we don’t guarantee that we will stop for swimming at the ship wreck beach or that you will not get seasick. Now you know everything about this cruise. The choice is yours.

Sincerely yours
Cpt Vangelis