Why Meganisi
There are islands in the Ionian that exist in permanent proximity to a more famous neighbour — close enough to share the same sailing waters and the same quality of Ionian light, yet distant enough in character and in atmosphere to be an entirely different experience. Meganisi is this kind of island. Lying barely three nautical miles east of Lefkada, the nearest and most accessible of the satellite islands that surround the Nydri anchorage, Meganisi is a small island of 21 square kilometres of wooded hills and extraordinary natural harbours that offers, in the three villages of Vathi, Spartochori, and Katomeri and in its extraordinary coastline of sea caves, turquoise bays, and sailing anchorages of exceptional quality, a Ionian island experience of great intimacy, great natural beauty, and great authentic warmth.
The island is one of the most popular sailing destinations in the Ionian — not because of any single celebrated feature or famous landmark, but because of the extraordinary combination of sheltered anchorages of excellent quality, villages of genuine traditional character and excellent tavernas, a coastline of great natural variety and great natural beauty, and the particular quality of welcome that an island this small and this genuinely community-minded offers to the sailors and visitors who come to it with the right disposition. Vathi — the island’s main harbour, a deeply enclosed bay of extraordinary calm and extraordinary beauty, its turquoise water surrounded by wooded hills and lined with the waterfront tavernas and traditional houses of the village — is one of the finest and most completely satisfying small harbour anchorages in the entire Ionian Sea, its quality of natural shelter and natural beauty making it a destination that the sailors who discover it consistently return to, year after year, with a loyalty and an enthusiasm entirely characteristic of the best places in the sailing world.
The sea caves of Meganisi — particularly the cave of Papanikolis on the island’s southwestern coast, a cave of extraordinary dimensions whose interior was used as a hiding place by the Greek submarine Papanikolis during the Second World War, and whose enormous arched entrance and vast, lit interior constitute one of the most dramatic natural features in the Ionian islands — are among the finest boat exploration destinations in the northern Ionian. The cave is accessible by small boat from the Vathi anchorage and provides an experience of natural scale and natural drama that consistently and justifiably astonishes visitors encountering it for the first time.
What to Do and What to See
Vathi — The Perfect Harbour
Vathi is the soul of Meganisi — a deeply enclosed harbour of extraordinary natural beauty, its calm turquoise water surrounded by the wooded hills of the island’s interior and the traditional village houses of its waterfront in a composition of such complete Ionian natural and architectural perfection that arriving here by boat, rounding the last headland and having the full harbour open before you in its entirety, is one of the finest single harbour approaches in the Ionian Sea. The tavernas of the Vathi waterfront serve the finest fresh fish and the most genuinely welcoming hospitality on the island, and an evening at anchor in Vathi — the water perfectly calm, the village lit above the reflections, the surrounding hills dark against the sky — is one of the most completely satisfying sailing experiences in the northern Ionian.
Spartochori and Katomeri
The village of Spartochori, perched on a ridge above the Vathi bay with views of the surrounding sea of extraordinary beauty, is a traditional Ionian village of great architectural character and great community warmth — its white houses and church campanile and the extraordinary views from its central square composing a picture of island village life of genuine authenticity and genuine pleasure. Katomeri, in the island’s interior, is quieter and more agricultural in character, its surrounding olive groves and vineyards producing local oil and wine of good quality.
The Cave of Papanikolis
On the southwestern coast of Meganisi, the cave of Papanikolis is one of the most extraordinary natural features in the Ionian islands — a vast sea cave of great dimensions, its enormous arched entrance visible from the sea at a considerable distance, its interior extending deep into the limestone cliff in a chamber of great natural beauty lit by the turquoise light reflected from the water below. The cave takes its name from the Greek submarine that sheltered here during the Italian-German occupation of the Ionian in the Second World War, and the combination of the cave’s extraordinary natural dimensions with its historical association gives it a quality of narrative and natural interest entirely characteristic of Meganisi at its most completely itself.
Why Choose Meganisi
Meganisi is the island for the sailing visitor in the northern Ionian who wants the finest anchorage in the Lefkada group at Vathi, the most dramatic sea cave in the Ionian at Papanikolis, and the most genuinely authentic and most genuinely warm small island experience in the northern Ionian — all in a destination of modest size and extraordinary completeness that rewards a two-night stay with a quality and a variety of island experience disproportionate to its small dimensions and its quiet international profile.
