Although being an established holiday destination, Corfu still manages to keep a few secrets up its sleeve. The major spike of tourism in the nineties caused the magnificent island to burst at its seams. Nowadays, cruise ships still dock for a day-trip to Corfu town, where they flood the old town, but life slows down quickly further inland. The capital of caves welcomes visitors with a great cuisine, mighty views and friendly locals.
Life beneath – Go Diving
Corfu offers over 30 excellent dive sites with an abundant variety of settings and marine life. We got the pleasure to team up with Achilleon Diving Center in Paleokastritsa in the north-west part of the island. Paleokastritsa is probably the most beautiful and famous area in Corfu for scuba diving.
Situated on the West coast the area is full of spectacular caverns and caves, interesting shipwrecks, walls and reefs, where certified divers can find barracudas, groupers, jacks, moray eels, common dentex, several types of sea bream, crayfish, octopus, nudibranch, cuttle fish, squid and a lot of other kinds of fish and invertebrates. Depending on the wind direction, water temperatures can range between 17-25°C. The crystal clear water and the visibility up to 30 meters makes the diving unique.
Eventually, we spent 4 days of exploring dive sites and never got tired of the marvel the area has to offer. We ended up visiting some renown dive sites Colovri, Monastery, Donald’s Place and the Hole of Ha. Achilleon is staffed with awesome professionals and funny characters. They take great care of their equipment, which provides you comfort and confidence when suiting up. Newbies are also welcomed and coached to their PADI Courses with great enthusiasm and care. Check out their website for more pictures and background on all the diving sites.
Check out this video one of our diving buddies Oleg made during Summer!
Calm & Hidden beaches
Thanks to our Corfu friend Spiros, we got tipped on some great daytrips of which I’ll share a few. The beaches in the southeast of the island are long and sandy, like deserts. Halikounas beach is part of a protected area that includes a small sealake closeby. Have a drink in the cosy Tayo beach bar.
Rent a boat at Paleokastritsa and explore the numerous isolated little beaches in the area, only reachable by boat. Make sure you stop by La Grotta, an authentic bar right on the rocks with an interstellar Instagram-appeal.
If you want to relax in the Northwest, consider going to Barbati and lie down on the white pebble beach or drink a refreshing cocktail at Bahia Mare beach bar. Pay a visit to Kassiopi, which used to be a traditional fishermen village, but still manages to keep some of its atmosphere.
Last but not least: Porto Timoni, probably one of the most beautiful landscapes on Corfu: You can take a taxi boat from Agios Georgios Pagon to reach Porto Timoni but I suggest to drive to Afionas and walk from there. The 30 minute walk takes you to a few breathtaking vistas of the beach down there. Avoid flip-flops on this rocky path and bring your own water snacks as there are no bars at the tiny hidden beach.
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