wonderful experience. Hired a small boat from the guy at Vrathi. Don't tell him you are going outside his 'safe area' and into the 'open sea' - he does not want to know!Yes, great for swimming. Wonderful place, and great secluded and deserted sandy coves on the way.
I went there with a big boat, so we didn't expect to enter the cave....but it's a strange feeling when you enter there....the water has so many colours.....it's beautiful.
We visited here as part of the Ionian Islands cruise and was worth the stop just to see how big it is and the history of it, very interesting.
Papanikolis Cave is a very popular tourist attraction. It is a relatively deep cave that a small dinghy can enter. Rumored to be a hiding place for boats seeding refuge from the Nazis during WWII, it is a fascinating cave to enter and in which you can swim or paddle. Larger than meets the eye, I would encourage anyone who wants the experience of swimming in a cave to definitely put Papanikolis Cave on their list of activities while sailing the Ionian Sea.
Try going with a small boat, or even a kayak. The cave is big enough to accommodate a larger vessel, but the feeling is completely different.
You usuallly get to see this with one of the tour ships, which are big and crowded, so you usually juat get a few minutes of glimpsing the cave trying to look over somebody else's shoulders.The cave itself looks awesome, but I'd rate it 5 stars if you could visit individually.
Taken here on the daily cruise boats. Would not have wanted to miss this experience as this is where the Submarine lay hidden from the enemy during World War Two.
Papanikolis Cave was part of the day cruise we took with the Makedonia Palace (see review). Apart from the history related to it, I didn’t find it very interesting.
We went in the cave in a medium sized boat, where you can jump off and swim in the beautiful surroundings. It's an amazing sight. Truly worth the visit. We loved it.
The cave is really nice mostly because of its story of the submarine that was hiding in it - worth seeing from a cruise