Located on the north west side of Zakynthos island is a famous beach. If you’ve ever been on TripAdvisor, you’ll know which beach I’m talking about. I’m talking about non other than Navagio beach, also known as shipwreck beach. Navagio beach is one of the most photographed beaches in the world and for good reason. A white sand beach inside a cove protected by limestone cliffs, crystal clear blue water, and an abandoned shipwreck come together to create a picturesque scene. I’ll show you how to get great photos of Navagio beach
Getting the Best Photos of Navagio Beach
When I first got here, I wasn’t even sure if I was in the right spot. My GPS said I was at Navagio but I couldn’t find it. The cliff is so steep that I didn’t even see the shipwreck. I launched my drone to find where the beach was and positioned myself accordingly to take photos.
The best time of the day to take photos of Navagio beach is high noon. As you can see from the photo above, if you go before this, the beach will be in shadow. There’s a little metal platform that sticks right off the cliff for you to take photos on but there are better spots. Standing from the platform, look to the right and you’ll see a lookout point which is a 5 minute walk. There should be a path you can easily find if you start heading in that direction. If you’re scared of heights like I am just walk a bit away from the cliff and you’ll be fine.
The angle from the cliff isn’t perfect though. You have to inch towards the edge of the cliff to take photos. I got as close as I comfortably felt and used live view on my DSLR and held the camera over my head to take the photos. Walking along the cliff to the lookout point will give you different viewpoints. Pick your favorite one and click away. Don’t forget to look in the direction away from Navagio, there’s a great coast line to photograph here too. One of my favorite shots from here is shown below.
Which Lens to Use
The photo above was taken at 24mm on a full frame DSLR body, you can see it wasn’t wide enough. I didn’t get the tip of the peninsula like I had wanted. I could have take a few photos and stitched a panorama together, but being afraid of heights I wanted to take the photos quickly and edge away from the cliff.
The longest lens I had on me was 105mm, it wasn’t long enough to fill my frame with the ship and beach. I think it’s better to stick to the wider end and frame as much of the scene as you can.
Flying a Drone over Shipwreck Beach
First off, make sure you’re flying according to the drone laws in Greece. You can find their drone laws here. I found that no matter how nice the day was, it was always windy up there. My DJI mavic pro was constantly giving me high wind warnings. Make sure you return to home with plenty of battery life left in case you have to battle the winds to get back.
Since it was just the beginning of the season there were no other tourists so I felt safe to fly. There is a gravel area in front of the parking lot you can launch from if you don’t mind dirt take offs, or you’re going to have to hand launch. I took off and landed from the gravel, it wasn’t that bad.
If you’re using your drone for video and shooting in high noon, an ND filter is going to be important. You need an ND filter to slow the shutter speed down so you don’t get a wobbly effect on your video known as jello. Your ideal shutter speed is 1/frame rate. Even with my ND16 filter it wasn’t enough but better than nothing.
I hope my tips and experience have helped you get some great photos of Navagio beach. If you have any more tips to share don’t be afraid to leave a comment. If you want to see the rest of my guide to Zakynthos you can find it here
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