🏨 Zakynthos Turtle Spotting, Marathonisi Island-Keri Caves Activity

Zakynthos Turtle Spotting, Marathonisi Island-Keri Caves

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From $60.80

123 reviews (4.45)

Price varies by group size

Lowest Price Guarantee

Pricing Info: Per Person

Duration: 5 hours

Departs: Rafina, Rafina

Ticket Type: Mobile or paper ticket accepted

Free cancellation

Up to 24 hours in advance.

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Overview

On this unique tour, not only will you see the turtles swimming alongside the glass-bottom boat or passing under it, but you will also visit the very clean and shallow Kalamaki beach where the turtles lay their nests.
In addition, this is a chance to discover the natural beauty of Lagana bay’s underwater paradise, as well as take advantage of stops to swim in the (stunning) Keri caves and the (picturesque, crystal clear waters)of turtle island, plus passing through Keri Arch,(a unique rock formation)
You will have the opportunity to capture perfect photos with Cameo Island (wedding island) in the backdrop of your photos or while walking across its rope wooden bridge
Finally, get in touch with our Greek cultural heritage by visiting the award-winning Aristeon eco-olive oil press & olive museum.
• A spectacular singles, couple, or family trip
• Spot Turtles in natural habitat
• Flexible tour schedule and itinerary
• The most crystal-clear water imaginable

What's Included

Air-conditioned vehicle

All Fees and Taxes

Boat ticket to Marathonisi island

Bottled water

full insurance

Personal Map

What's Not Included

Food or drinks

optional gratuities

Towels, Flip flops, Sunscreen, Sunglasses, Hat, Snorkeling equipment.

Traveler Information

INFANT: Age: 0 - 3
CHILD: Age: 4 - 11
ADULT: Age: 12 - 99

Additional Info

Face masks provided for travellers
Face masks required for travellers in public areas
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Public transportation options are available nearby
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Specialized infant seats are available
Temperature checks for travellers upon arrival
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised

Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons
Face masks required for guides in public areas
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Paid stay-at-home policy for staff with symptoms
Regular temperature checks for staff
Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
There are no toilets at the Turtles Island. There are cafeterias at the starting point of the boat, in Laganas beach, where travelers can use the toilet or buy snacks and refreshments. You can also buy them from a mobile floating store on Turtle island.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Experience may be cancelled due to Insufficient travelers
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

What To Expect

Zakynthos Town

Your unique experience will start with a convenient pick-up from the door of your accommodation or hotel throughout the island.
Your very friendly local guide-driver will begin by giving you a free map of Zakynthos before briefing you with the details of your itinerary.

• Admission Ticket Free

National Marine Park of Zakynthos

Located on Zante's southern shores, Kalamaki is a lovely, clean beach with soft golden sand and warm waters, which has the added attraction of being a nesting site for endangered loggerhead turtles (Caretta-Caretta). You can see the turtle nests which are clearly marked with wooden frames and are easily visible. Furthermore, the knowledgeable guide with the volunteers who patrol the area to ensure their survival will tell you everything about these beautiful creatures.
The beach is hardly ever crowded, you will enjoy walking on this peaceful 5km long beach, watching the views of the mountains & turtle island, or swimming and snorkeling. it is ideal for families as the sand shelves gently into the ocean and the waters are shallow. Finally, if you're lucky, you may even spot tiny baby turtles breaking out of their shells, digging to the surface, and eventually making their way to the sea.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Laganas Beach

Leaving Kalamaki, we will drive through Laganas’ main road with its nightclubs, parties and restaurants, and local souvenir shops. Laganas is one of the liveliest resorts in Zakynthos which attracts a young and ready-to-party crowd every summer. Laganas bay is characterized as National Marine Park since the famous Caretta-Caretta has chosen it as its breeding area. Laganas beach stretches for nearly 10 km of golden sand, beautiful, shallow waters, and countless sunbeds. here we board the glass-bottom boat, the very knowledgeable local captain starts immediately to look out for the turtles, get ready with your cameras to take divine photos of them. You will also be informed when turtles are going to surface to breathe, or when they pass under the glass bottom of the boat.
Sailing around the bay, the rules of marine life are always respected for the safety of the rare endangered Loggerhead turtles.

60 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Keri Caves

The breathtaking Keri Caves are located on the south-western part of the island and are carved by time, tide and wind.
Sailing along the coastline, you can admire the white single beaches, amazing rock arches, forested hills, and views of the huge limestone cliffs that fall straight into the sea.
The professional captain is very adept not only at getting into the spectacular small-sized caves with the Glass-Bottom boat but at passing right through the famous pretty rock arch (Kamara) as well.
Once inside, the water reflects on the cave walls, and the entire scenery becomes a lovely blue-colored heaven, quite magical.
We will have 20 min. to swim just outside the entrance of a very large cave. Make sure you have some snorkeling equipment with you so you can take a look under crystal clear water and see and admire the fish swimming, Unique examples of why nature is the most beautiful thing.
You are more than welcome to enjoy the scenery from the boat if you do not wish to swim.

60 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Marathonisi

Marathonisi, (known as Turtle Island), is an exotic, green (and coincidentally) turtle-shaped island, which is not man-made, it is part of the National Marine Park of Zakynthos, as it has been a destination for the reproduction of the Loggerhead sea turtles and Monachus - Monachus sea seals.
Τhe captain will drive the boat at a slow speed, so as not to harm the turtles inside the two impressive caves while the sunlight floods in and paints the walls with an array of blue tones. then, he will head to the other side of the island for a one-hour stop at the small, golden, sandy, and clean beach where you will have the chance to swim, snorkel, or suntan. Moreover, it is very moving and an absolute joy to see the protected turtle nests which are obviously all roped for their protection.
We ask our guests to respect the regulations in order to ensure that the ancient mariners' sea turtles that inhabited our planet for over 100 million years are not disturbed.

60 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Cameo Island

Heading back, the captain will drive the boat close to the dreamlike Cameo island, (known as the wedding island) which is one of the most beautiful sites of Zakynthos. You will enjoy the views of this small idyllic paradise that is located just off the coast of Agios Sostis in the south of Zakynthos. You will also admire its lovely secluded beach which is surrounded by steep white limestone and is used as a wedding ceremony area. This picturesque scenery with the famous waving white sheets above the water is the perfect place for your photos.

• Admission Ticket Free

Aristeon Ecological Olive Press

The olive tree, its olives, and olive oil are closely tied to the Greek culture. The friendly oil experts at the award-winning, Aristeon ecological olive oil press will guide you through the outdoor olive oil museum which reveals the history of olive oil making on the island throughout the centuries. You’ll be amazed by the old methods and early wooden types of equipment, as well as by the machine-run stone mill of later years and the factory’s cutting-edge productions. You will get to understand why olive oil is the gold of the Greeks and why the extra virgin oil produced here has unique healthy characteristics! You get to taste (for free) local olives and traditional village bread with different extra virgin olive flavors (most likely lemon, orange, and garlic). You could take a sample (also for free) of eco-olive oil cosmetic products such as shampoo, soap, body cream, and face cream. You can also buy these products if you wish, in order to support local businesses

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Reviews

Wonderful trip

Jessica V, 20-10-2022

So we paid extra for pickup from our hotel. George was friendly. We did some other pickups then went to kalamaki the turtle nesting beach where we saw 2 marked nests. The beach was lovely and warm with beautiful views. Then we drove to the boat for our 3 jour boat trip to keri caves and turtle Island for a swim. We spotted a loggerhead turtle and lots of fish which was amazing. We loved the stop at the beach for a swim. Then back in the minibus to go back to our hotel (after drop offs). I would recommend this trip as the staff were knowledgeable and friendly but having looked around in Zante I now see we were massively overcharged and rhe same trip actually costs about €50 instead of the €90 I paid. So maybe better waiting and booking when you're away.

Awesome tour!

Steve, 18-10-2022

We were delayed due to heavy rain in the morning but the tour operator took us to see some cool local sights in the meantime. The boat toor also had to be cut a little short but it was great as we saw 3 turtles and got inside a sea cave.

Great tour

karenneumeyer, 13-10-2022

Great tour. Lucky to see the turtle as it was the end of the season. Would recommend. The boat tour was good , and we were picked up in a comfortable van. Got us back to the cruise on time

Beautiful tour to caves, islands and turtles

Isabell G, 04-10-2022

We really loved the turtle tour. Our Guide was very nice and gave us enough time at every stop. He told us about the turtles and the history of navagio. Our guide for the boat was also very nice to us and really tried to find some turtles for his guestes.
We would recommend it

Nice little tour to the south of the island

drogato_di_viaggio, 22-09-2022

After having done the early morning shipwreck tour with Dali Tours I was a little apprehensive of what to expect this time. We were again picked up from our hotel in a very hot minibus, like roasting. Turns out the driver had the heating on!!

After turning it down, we picked up a few other passengers and did our first stop at the beach resort of Laganas. This is where the youngsters go to party, we had a little paddle in the sea and bought a few more cheaper (than our area) tourist bits of tat. Not sure what we actually got from visiting this beach.

We then travelled on to the harbour and joined other people on a boat. This then zoomed on past the instagrammable Cameo Island (which was closed for a private wedding) and on to the boats circling a turtle that kept coming up for air. I found this bit uncomfortable, if I had realised all these boats would be hounding this one loggerhead turtle I'd have perhaps considered a different type of tour. I had imagined we would just see them as we sailed along and enjoying them from a distance.

Alas, we were only there a short while before we sailed around the coastline to Keri Caves enjoying the many scenic cliffs and caves. We anchored up for a swim off one of the beaches before the captain drove the boat in and out of various caves. We then went on to the beach we know as Turtle Island which is actually called Marathonisi. Again you have to get off the boat at the beach. This time there are shop boats selling alcohol and snacks. We bought some ice-cream at €4 a pop, which we didn't have to buy but it was so hot we needed something to cool down with. I even found a Watermelon Bacardi Breezer which tasted like I'd gone back to 1996 all over again.

We spent about an hour on the island, we didn't do much except swim in the sea, but you can walk around some of the beach edge avoiding the roped off areas where the egg nests are.

Back on the boat and we were heading back to the harbour. A quick photo stop of the famous bridge to Cameo Island and we were off to an Olive Press Museum. We were given a little tour of the factory where we were shown how olives are pressed to make oil. I did find it quite interesting. We then had a sample of the different flavoured oils that could be purchased in the shop. We bought all the flavours as they were all delicious and make great little holiday gifts. They travelled well in the suitcases as we bought them in the metal tins.

Once our museum tour was over, it was back to the hotel passing through Zakynthos Town (I think it is called that). Personally I'd have loved that to have been incorporated into the tour as it looked lovely as we dropped some passengers off.

This tour was a lot cheaper than the Shipwreck Beach and in some ways was more pleasant as it was a lot less busy on the places we visited. I would recommend this tour, but be aware that the turtle spotting was not what I expected.

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