A day trip by boat around Paxos and Antipaxos is a must do on your holiday if you’re in that part of Greece. We hired a boat in Gaios old port and sped straight over to Vrika beach on the neighbouring island of Antipaxos. There is another beach nearby which is supposed to be just as beautiful but we were happy enough on Vrika. The amazingly clear blue sea and bright white sand hits you as soon as you arrive. It looked and felt more like the Carribean, and its one of them moments where you just know you’re stood in one of the world’s most beautiful places.
We anchored our boat about 40m out at sea (be careful of anchoring, apparently you’re not supposed to as there are electricity lines running under the seabed, but we didn’t realise this till afterwards and plenty of other boats seemed to be doing it), then we swam in to the shore. The water is calm but it is deep so do not attempt to carry too much stuff over your head.
When you get to the shore the sand is super soft and the beach super clean. There are two taverna’s on the beach but the one on the right (Spiros Taverna) had a Greek flag flying high and an open BBQ at the front where a whole Octopus was hanging above the flames, so I knew that was the Taverna for us.
We had a coffee and ordered our food then headed off for a swim, there is a little rocky outcrop on the right hand side which is perfect for diving off and for snorkelling, again we couldn’t believe how clear the water was. We got back to Spiros’ and ate King Prawns and Calamari washed down with a couple of Pints of drought Mythos, the food was good and with the coffee’s it all came to about 50euros which aint cheap but aint extortionate either.
From there we swam back out to our boat, which was more of a struggle this time because our belly’s were full of food and beer, so I’d suggest leaving it at least an hour before swimming back to your boat.
We then travelled back to Paxos, joining it at the west coast, where the blue caves are, about 20 minutes or so along the coast (depending on the speed of your boat, ours was the smallest engine they had!) The blue caves are a beautiful spot for swimming, you can anchor about 15-20 metres away and just dive off and into the crystal waters. There were a few other boats there but not so many as to spoil the atmosphere of it all.
You can swim directly into the first cave, which then gets a bit rocky as you head up and into the second cave, which is spectacular when viewed from inside, the bright blue sky coming in from the gap above and the calm waters below. We swam through that cave and came back around again to the boat.
We headed back along the coast to loop around back to Gaios, passing the Tripitos Arch on the way back. Some people have said you can pass under it with a boat and some have said you can’t, I wasn’t sure so to be safe we just slowly passed it, it really is impressive. 10 minutes after that we were arriving back into Gaios harbour, where our boat hook up Makis casually brought us back to dry land. It was an amazing day and something we will always remember.
There are more beaches to discover on both Paxos and Antipaxos, and you could see a lot in a day if you set off early and put your foot down.
With regards to driving the boat, it was the first time I had done it and it was tricky to be honest, but worth it. Make sure you get the hire company to give you a proper rundown of everything, and don’t set off until you are comfortable that you know what you’re doing. Also be aware of the weather, it can change daily so ask the hire company are they expecting any high winds (if they are they may suggest you stay around the west coast of Paxos when it gets windy)
Also, you can do the trip as part of a tour, so you know you’re in safe hands and you will be taken on a bigger boat with a Captain around a few of the sights. Or, lastly, they have sea taxis which go direct from Gaios to the beaches of Antipaxos.
We hope you enjoyed our video and and if you’re in two minds about doing this trip, don’t be! It really is a beautiful part of the world and the perfect way to see it. If you have done the trip yourself or have any questions, hit us up in the comments.
Негізгі бет Paxos to Antipaxos Boat Trip with East 15 Films (Corfu)
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