The Keri Caves by Speed Boat. It is all Greek to me 7. Zante 2015.

It has taken some time , but this is my final post on my recent trip to Zante, Greece. I have already posted-

It is all Greek to me 1 – Zante Dawn

It is all Greek to me 2 – Jump in the Pool

It is all Greek to me 3 – Banana Beach

It is all Greek to me 4 – Pedalos and Planes

It is all Greek to me 5 – Things we saw in the Sea

It is all Greek to me 6 -Things we saw on the Reef

It was a great holiday, as you can see from the posts above, but I have left the best until last Keri Caves.

One of the best ways you can see Keri Caves in Zante is by chartering a speedboat. We chartered two, one with a local pilot so we knew where to go, and one piloted by Mark Crimmings from our party (or as the official pilot called him Kapetanios Bretania).

I was on the official pilot’s boat. He knew the caves so well, zooming in and then back throttling so that we stopped inches from the cave walls.

It was really thrilling and the caves are fantastic.

The water is so blue against the white rocks.

We anchored up on a shingle bank and explored those blue bays a bit more. The water is really salty which gives you great buoyancy but makes it difficult to dive deep because of the pressure of that denser water.

Here I am, doing the Nirvana Nevermind cover again…

…and Sharon giving the thumbs up.

We did actually see some fish after we finished messing around.

A load of the Saddled Seabream we saw in the earlier post. They seem little bothered by us splashing by.

We only had a short dip as there was still a lot to see on our boat trip.

You can get up really close to the cave walls with these small speed boats.

Plenty of caves to explore…

…and sunny sea to sail…

…nipping in and out of the Keri Caves.

From the Keri Caves it was then a short speedboat trip to Turtle Island. It even looks like a turtle!

Once on Turtle Island, landing is a bit of a challenge, but we got there in the end.

Forget the Caretta Caretta turtles on Turtle Island, it has a floating ice-cream van!

The obligatory beach selfie.

Some arty driftwood shots.

I guess everything bleaches white in this sun eventually.

Sightseeing done it was time to return our speedboats to their moorings and wave goodbye to our guide.

What a great way to end the DimExcuses Greek Odyssey with such a fantastic boat trip.  So there it is my final photos from Zante, Greece, basically it was all Greek to me, DimExcuses.

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Things we saw on the reef. It is all Greek to me 6. Zante 2015.

Continuing with my photos from my recent trip to Zante Greece, and the last post showing what we saw in the sea, here is what we saw once we discover the reef on the tip of Kalamaki Beach. Below I think is a Peacock Wrasse.

Here is a Goby and his friend. You can see these back home rock pooling at Pobbles Bay, Gower.

Another Peacock Wrasse. These fish would literally be all Greek to me, but again I am using Rob Jones’ “Mediterranean Species for Divers, Fisherman & Snorkelers”. That is not a typo it does say fisherman not fishermen, lost in translation I think.

I think this tranquil Wrasse didn’t know what to make of me.

Or Sharon for that matter.

Next we spotted these two. A striped Grund on the left and possibly a Brown Wrasse on the right.

Here they are from another angle.

Joined by another Striped Grund.

Can you spot the Striped Sea Bream in this one. Quite good at camouflage this species.

Here is a better look at them.

There was no shortage of these or the various Wrasses.

This reef was plentiful with small fish.

Another Peacock Wrasse (Thalassoma Pavo according to Rob’s guide).

I think this plain little chap is a Common Sea Bream (Pagrus Pagrus).

But where there is small fish the bigger fish can’t be far behind. Which is wear I made this most significant spot of the trip, a Thornback Ray.

I saw him, he saw me…but wasn’t sure if I saw him so tried to blend into the seaweed.

He was very wary of me, and me wary of him as he was a ray, but he didn’t seem aggressive and we parted company friends after these photos.

Finally swimming back in from the reef you see some more small fish in the shallows sifting through the sand and gravel.  Generally brave little Striped Sea Bream that don’t seem wary of all the human swimmers at all.

So that is what we saw on the reef and with the help of this guide it is not all Greek to me for once. Which leaves just one set of photos from Zante to post, the speed boat trip, DimExcuses.

Things we saw in the sea. It is all Greek to me 5. Zante 2015

I still have four sets of photos to share from my recent trip to Zante, Greece, as part of my its all Greek to me series. I promised you some underwater wildlife in my last post. So this is a collection of fish I managed to photograph while snorkeling. Once I get through these photos it will be back to beaches and bulldogs as normal.

These fish species definitely are all Greek to me, but luckily I have borrowed Bridgend Countryside Management Officer Rob Jones’ Mediterranean Species Guide which tells me above are Saddled Seabream. I photographed some of us humans too. #UnderwaterSelfie

Lewis had an underwater selfie stick, what is the world coming to?

Anyway, back to the wildlife. Quite a shoal here.

Off they go…

…they must have seen Lewis…

…or me! Quite impression of the Nirvana Nevermind Baby.

But don’t worry there are plenty more fish in the sea, this time baby Barracuda by the surface.

This is a black-tailed Wrasse I think.

Great clear shot of a Saddled Seabream.

Quite happy in the diffused sea sunlight.

Some sort of Wrasse below.

Any identification help will be welcomed.

A small Hermit Crab coming out to say hello.

A black tailed something, again it is all Greek to me.

This guy is a bit more distinctive, a striped Seabream I think.

Oh and a lesser spotted Lewis!

So that is what we saw in the sea. A few days later we found a reef and my next post will be what we saw there, and I promise you some even more interesting species, DimExcuses.

 

Pedalos and planes. It is all Greek to me 4. Zante 2015

I am still getting through my photos from Zante, Greece.  You can read these earlier posts by clicking the links below:

It is all Greek to me 1, Zante Dawn.

It is all Greek to me 2, Jump in the pool.

It is all Greek to me 3, Banana Beach.

I still have a load of photos to go. These are taken on Kalamaki Beach when we hired some pedalos.

As mentioned in the Zante Dawn post, this beach is just before where the planes land, so you often see them flying overhead.

It is quite surreal as you pedal about and dive in the water to see the planes soaring over you so close.

I wonder if they could look down and see us snorkeling by our pedallo?

Snorkeling here is great fun, but you won’t see much in this bay at this time of year, unless you come down really early and catch the turtles hatching.

I am sure in this photo Sharon is trying to run me over with the pedalo. It makes for one of my most unusual selfies! That look on my face is all about being twice out of my depth and the camera I am holding doesn’t float!

Sharon insisted on a pedalo with a sun shade, probably wise in this sun.

We let the kids with us roast in the sun.

Snorkeling done and all pedaled out, it was time to try out the beach bar on Kalamaki Beach…

…and catch one last plane shot.

This Mediterranean life was starting to suit me.

Next we went and snorkeled in some more wildlife populated parts of the coast, but that is a whole different post that I will upload soon, DimExcuses.

 

Banana Beach, Greece, DimExcuses Beach Guide. It is all Greek to me 3. Zante 2015.

This is my third post in my it is all Greek to me series, documenting my recent time on the Ionian island Zakynthos otherwise known as Zante, Greece. You can read posts one (Dawn Rocks) and two (Jump in the Pool) here.

Banana Beach is the first international beach to feature in my DimExcuses beach guides.

Banana Beach is to the north of the island in a traditionally Greek village called Vassilikos. You need to get the free bus that collects from the tourist centers of Kalamaki and Laganas, which then takes you on a secluded road cutting through a pine forest before taking you straight to Casa Playa, the large beach bar that dominates Banana Beach.

Banana Beach is 12 kilometers from the airport and 10 kilometers from Zante Town. It is a blue flag standard beach, described as having “golden silky sand that is certain to deliver that relaxing paradise you’ve been dreaming about” by Casa Playa Beach Bar.

They don’t exaggerate, it is fantastic, total luxury. The bars plays the best blissed out Ibiza tunes over the boardwalk keeping your feet off the hot white sand. You can then rent a sunbed under a straw sunshade as you order cocktails via waiter service. Or you could just go the whole hog and get a four poster double sunbed!

The sea is the closest the Mediterranean comes to surf with a tiny swell making bathing fun. Banana Beach is water sports central and you can end up doing all sorts of crazy things tied to the back of a speed boat. We risked spinal injury in a big rubber ring, but walked away laughing.

The water is very clear on the whole of Zante, but it was even clearer at Banana Beach.

This Beach is all about the luxury laze. It is a far cry from the wind swept Gower walks Molly, Sharon and I usually get up to, though Sharon wasn’t complaining.

Casa Playa is the perfect dream bar, and provides showers and toilets, so no need to worry about any alfresco rest stops.  I could stay there all day and time flies when you are relaxing, but the return bus pick up is 4 pm.

I could get used to this luxury lifestyle.

Danielle I think was starting to call it her spiritual home.

I love the orange sunbeds under the straw sunshades.

I loved this beach and its Casa Playa beach bar.

Pure chilled out luxury. It was the real highlight of our trip, which was literally all Greek to me, DimExcuses.

Jump in the Pool! Zante 2015. It is all Greek to me 2.

So there I was in the middle of the Mediterranean. I had seen the sunrise on the beach (It is all Greek to me 1), and I was signed up for two weeks sun & snorkeling with friends in Zante, Greece.

We were staying in Hotel Denny’s Inn, which was a great Hotel, with a nice restaurant, lovely bar, fantastic staff, but most importantly an awesome pool.

The pool was essential as temperatures were rising to 35C in the shade. It was suggested ‘in that case you should try and stay out of the shade’.

A cooling dip was needed on the hour every hour, and this pool even had a deep end (As demonstrated by Lewis here). You don’t see that in UK hotel pools much anymore.

I was amazed by these little birds that were always dipping in the water and pottering around us at the edge of the pool.

They had plans to eat the insects that had plans to eat me, so welcome pool buddies.

More nature and tourism together.

I also saw a lot of bats at night, unusually close to the sea, probably due to the unlimited mosquito food source.

Our party was a little less tranquil around the pool.

With the lads making the most of Denny’s Inn keeping the pool stocked up with inflatables.

Charge!

Sharon and I took a shades on underwater selfie amidst the shenanigans.

It was a lovely pool and a good base for the rest of my Greece adventures, where I saw more wildlife than just the pool birds…

I have some more Zante posts to come, but basically it is all Greek to me, DimExcuses.

Dawn Rocks! Zante, 2015. It is all Greek to me 1.

So there I was, deep in the Mediterranean enjoying the morning sunrise and examining the geology. The #Mentro21 project to surf 21 times this year was going so well a month ago, and then I developed a large abscess under my arm (go to @DimExcuses twitter for the gory detail). A trip to A&E and some emergency surgery under a general aesthetic, I was left with a big hole under my arm that would need weeks of healing, and definitely no surfing (DimSurfing).

So it was rather lucky that we were set for two weeks R&R in Zante, Greece, for our friends Nic and Mark to renew their wedding vows.

Sun, sand and cocktails by the pool was just what the doctor ordered.

We stayed in Kalamaki, right by Zakynthos airport, where the planes land close over the beach. Really close over the beach.

I could watch the in flight movie as this one passed.

Sunrises and planes aside, the reason I was on the beach was because people had been telling me about a glass like rock formation in the bay. I was brought a piece back and identified it as Muscovite Mica. Mica is usually the little reflective bits that but the sparkle in Granite Worktops.

To see it in a large crystal outcrop would be quite interesting for a Geologist like me. Note the water bottle for scale, always a Geologist.

There were some other striking rock formations…

…and also the shear awe that people can be so ignorant to the hazard of this potential rockfall. I saw some people lying under it for shade!

The Zante coast is so very picturesque.

It really does have a bit of an edge on Wales in terms of sun and warm weather, and has a rather awesome sideline in turtle conservation.  They fence the nests off like this to protect the hatch-lings.

Great to see nature and tourism developing side by side, the tagline for these pedalos was ‘Rent a Pedalo, see a Turtle’.

A great morning and a good start to the holiday.  I have four more posts from Zante, and it is all Greek to me, DimExcuses.