No watersports in Laganas due to the turtles, its a protected area. Go to St Nicolas Beach, great beach, great water sports.

I've been to Zante twice now and not experienced worse flies than any other hot country. There are flies but nothing out of the ordinary.

Sarah

When my daughter returns I will let you know what her opinion of the carretta beach is. Hope you enjoy your holiday when you go and thanks for that regarding dennis 11. Jacqui

Hi claudia..

The Canadian appart hotel is situated away from the main bar street.
Close to the beach 10 minute stroll down a few short streets and your there on the turtle beach of laganas. some nice tavernas nearby and shops and the main street is about the same distance in the opposite direction.

We passed it quite a few times enroute to the beach and it looked very nice.. being in the backstreets of Laganas you wont have amazing views of the island or seafront but the location will no doubt make up for that.

Flies ? cant say ive ever had a problem with flies on zante..
some people do complain about Mozzie bites so normal precautions need to be taken for them. use a repellent spray in the evenings and something for the room pluggin etc.

May should be a great time to see the turtles especially if the temperatures are good which i'm sure they should be at the end of May going into June. the female turtles come into the bay of laganas ready to lay their eggs and can be seen quite easilly basking in the sunshine and following the warm currents in the bay. you only need to be lucky and wade out to shoulder depth to see them late afternoon or hire a pedalo to go out slightly further and not so much luck neede here.

Here's one i took ealier.. May 2004 snorkelling in the bay of laganas


if you meet up with a friendly group at the apparts its worth getting together and hirring a motor boat to visit marithonissi island from the beach. costs about £45 - £60 depending on 4 or 6 people for the day.
there's 2 great beaches on the island. one wide open sandy beach which you reach first and another secluded cove around the back of the island (careful with your feet as its like walking on burning coals).
the waters around the island are so clear and the beaches are lovely.
Ask at your hotel for info and they could possibly get you a deal if they know the beach traders.. normally you get one or two people selling cold drinks and fruit on the beaches but not guaranteed so you need to take some provissions for the day but its a great day and well worth it if you meet other likeminded people.

Keep this link and look at the webcam in the laganas bay daytime.
http://www.webcam.zakinthos.de/ it looks over the island and to the far left is laganas straight over the island to the right is gerakas beach..

Two photos from a boat trip..
http://www.fort-delce.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ht-photos/marrithonissi-isl-games.jpg

http://www.fort-delce.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ht-photos/2nd-beachmarithonissi.jpg

paul..

Excellent, thanks for the help. I'm really looking forward to going now.

We've chosen Laganas as it has night life but we're hoping that by going in May it won't be as 'messy' as in season - am i correct in thinking this?

Also, it's my birthday while we're out there, any ideas for nice restaurants we could go try on that day?

looking forward to it, cheers

Could anyone reccomend a good b&b hotel in zante in a quiet resort not to far from beach and tavernas with nice beach

The Galaxy hotel is right on the beach in laganas. Although the buisiest resort in Zante, the hotel is far away not to hear a thing at night but close enough for a walk in the eveing.
Lovely hotel with Thomsons. I think they only do all inclusive now though.
Good luck!

Hi Rosie we stayed at this resort. it was great. we enjoyed it. please see link below.

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/greece/zante/laganas/poseidon-beach-hotel/

Thanks for info appreciated

Rosie

Rosie
We went to Aghios Sostis which a very small village with a few taverners and about half an hour/maybe a bit longer walk along the beach and round the corner to Laganas. Taxi cost about 7 euros
Here's one for Aghios http://www.zanteweb.gr/accommodation.a/panorama.inn/en
Nice beach but very narrow in places-Laganas alot larger in more than one way.
We went in May and found the village to have a great atmosphere.

We liked Kalamaki http://www.justzante.co.uk/kalamaki.htm click on the "Apartments & Hotels in Kalamaki" link

We stayed at the Phoenix Beach Hotel in Tsilivi last year and it was the best holiday we had ever had. It is right on the beach with a beach bar overlooking the sea which is excellent to chill out in in the evening. It's in a quiet location, 2 minutes walk from all the bars and shops etc. I would highly recommend this hotel.

Hi

We stayed at the Xenos Kamara Beach in Argassi, and had a great time, the hotel is right on the little beach (its not as bad as people make out, unless you like to lie on a big beach with rows and rows of sun loungers!), there are some great places to eat, tavernas etc and bars, but the actual resort altho busy is fairly quiet in comparison to Laganas etc

Its also easy to get to the other places, Laganas and Kalamaki close, as is Zante town (reached by little road train or cheap in taxi), courtesy bus to St Nicholas Beach (watersports and lovely place!).

The hotel itself was really nice, we went with Cosmos and there were a mix of people, ages, families, couples etc, it was very clean and located on the main beach road...had a nice pool, with steps down to the beach/sea, while the beach is small, it is clean and ideal for swimming/bathing etc

Would not hesitate in recommending it at all...

Hope you find something

Karen x

Claudia

As I posted earlier, we went last week of may and into june and altho it was busy, it wasn't overly so....this we found was much nicer as the beaches and things weren't as chaotic, bars were quieter etc

As it was we were then when Greece won Euro 2004 and it was very noisy then! lol

But i dont know if I would fancy the resorts in high season, too many people....

Hope you get to see the turtles, we had a lovely trip to see them...

Karen x

We went earlt May for 2 weeks and it was very hot!
We were just around the corner from Laganas in Aghios Sostis( look out to sea - it's on your right just past the monastary/church) little village.

No problem with flies or mosquitoes.
I think they also do wind surfing at Tsilivi.

We hired a car from Merlis rentals
http://www.justzante.co.uk/comments.asp?item_ref=779&name=Merlis%20Car%20Hire
fully comp ins no excess, delivered to the hotel and english lady- even a what to do/where to go pack in the car! Wasn't a new car and it was banana yellow but on ly cost £90 for a week! (in2003)

Loads of places to eat in Laganas including a McD's ( we met husbands cousin there) aswell as a few lively bars. In May the atmosphere was great!

Don't think there are more flies on Zakynthos than any other Greek Island but there are mosquitoes. Do take the necessary precautions i.e. plug in repellent for your room and Autan, Jungle Formula or Avon Skin So Soft Woodland etc.

Thinking of booking a holiday to Zante for 2005 but have been getting mixed reviews of its a good destination. If anyone has been and could let me know what they thought it would be much appreciated

Hi ther

been to zante three times now and have loved it everytime last time i was there i stayed in laganas me n group of mates went and loved it!!
I deffo recommend it but i would stay in laganas if you are wanting the nightlife!!

if you want to know anything else just ask

Thaks very much Rachey, that makes me feel so much better. Was worried because people have been saying there aren't alot of clubs and that we will be bored after 1 week! Also, that there is far more girls than boys which is worrying cos we're all single n on the pull!!!!! Was it like that when you were there?
Ps - is it you that I e-mailed about staying in the Sarpidon Malia this year?

hiya
yeh was me bout sarpidon me n 5 m8's booked up this august
we all loved it wen we were ther n ther was loadsa lads ther well was wen we were ther n we wer ther in last week of june!!!
suppose ppl av different opinions but i wudnt b bored after a week!!!!