Is the boat tour to Shipwreck Beach worth it?

NO, it is not.
From my point of view, the boat tour to Shipwreck Beach is not worth it.

Why is the boat tour to Shipwreck beach not worth it?

Because boats are arriving non-stop and therefore the beach is overcrowded from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. And when I say overcrowded I mean you-cant-even-find-a-spot-to-ly-on-the-beach crowded. But this is not all. Swimming is almost impossible too because boats of all sizes are arriving and departing all the time which means you can’t just swim in the sea and enjoy the beach. Instead, you can only swim very close to the cliffs on the right or left side of the beach. If the sea is too wavy this might be too dangerous because the current might smash you agains the cliffs.

Luckily the stop at the beach was just 1 hour which we spent taking some pictures and trying to swim a bit.

What if I still want to do the boat tour to Navagio beach?

Then go for it. The price is very affordable. But I warned you 😉

What is the best time to take a boat tour to Navagio beach?

There are 2 options to escape the mass of tourist of Navagio beach.

go with one of the last boats (best at 6 p.m.)
Charter a private boat and go there very early in the morning or after 6 p.m.

We thought it is smart to take the first boat tour in the morning which left at 9:40 at Porto Vromi and dropped us at Navagio beach at around 10 a.m. But this was too late because some boats already arrived before us. We were hoping to be the first ones by taking the earliest boat from the closest port, but it was not enough. The beach was not super crowded yet but there were still plenty of people before us.

But what we realized when we were at Navagio beach viewpoint the day before at 6 p.m.: there were only 2 little boats at the bay and almost no people. Thus taking the latest tour might be a good option:

However, the best option to be alone at Navagio beach is to rent a private boat. They offer private boats all around the island. Here are the offers we got:

From Porto Vromi a private boat costs 150 Euros per hour. However, from here the boat takes only 20 minutes to Navagio Beach.
A way better offer we got at Agios Nikolaos in the North-east of the island. A private boat including driver was 150 Euros plus the costs of the gas for the whole day! However, the trip to Navagio beach from there takes around 3 hours.

So now you have some options and you can make your choice.

Can I swim to Navagio Beach?

Swimming to Navagio Beach or going by kayak (that would have been our preferred option) seems not to be possible.

Where do the boats to Navagio beach depart?

Boat tours are offered from all over the island. If you like to be on boat why not going from the South or East?! However, if you don’t want to spend the whole day on a boat just to get to an overcrowded beach then pick Porto Vromi. This is the closest place to Navagio beach and the travel takes around 20 minutes.

Which is the best company offering a boat tour to Shipwreck beach?

We booked with https://www.shipwreck-zakynthos.com/ and it was a good pick, the captain was great, he showed us some caves on the way to shipwreck beach and we had a swim spot at a wonderful place a bit South of Porto Vromi, look here:

Insider tip:
If you call ahead at http://www.shipwreck-zakynthos.com/en/ you will get 5 Euros discount and you will only pay 15 Euros instead of 20 Euros for the boat tour. Reserving is in general not necessary, you can just drive to Porto Vromi and take the next boat as they are departing the whole day regularly.

There are plenty of other companies and I guess the offers are similar. A trip from Agios Nikolaos seems interesting as well. It costs only 15 Euros also but the tour includes also a stop at the Blue Caves in the very North of Zakynthos. We haven’t been there but the caves look stunning.

So what is my final answer to „Is the boat tour to Shipwreck beach worth it?“

I stick to my opinion that the boat trip to Navagio beach is not worth it. You should rather go to the viewpoint and enjoy a stunning panoramic view at the beach from above, the shipwreck and the whole bay – check out my article about how to get there.

Or watch the sunset from the viewpoint – it is magical. But the boat tour itself was not worth it. I would skip it if I could turn the time back. The only good thing was the cheap price.

There are way better beaches to go in Zakynthos. Read my article about the best beaches away from the tourist crowds by clicking here. For example this one: