Today’s blog is the last focusing on Sivota itself; tomorrow I will start writing about where we went once we rented a car.
A little way out of the village, past the town beach, is the Torre A Mare water park at Sivota; nothing massive, just somewhere you can go for a good day/morning/afternoon out.
They have 3 waterslides and a very nice, large swimming pool. If you only want to swim in the pool, its about 3€ or 8€ if you want to also use the waterslides (prices per person). There is also a bar which serves drinks and snacks for lunch. You get a good view back across to Sivota and the harbour.
Dad and Corrie enjoyed the waterslides (Dad kept getting stuck on one); Mum and I only swam in the pool. The pool is a good size, very pleasant to swim in. There are some sunbeds too so you can sit and read for a bit if you want.
We spent the afternoon there on Saturday (11. August); given the time of year, it wasn’t as busy as we were expecting. My only real criticism is that they have their music on very loud, and it tends to be the ‘dance’ tracks (I probably wouldn’t mind so much if it was the more traditional Greek music).
Renting a Boat
Out in the bay around Sivota are lots of small (uninhabited) islands, and from the harbour there are many boat rental places so you can go and explore the islands and their beaches yourself.
In high season it is best to book in advance; you can do so at the Isabella Tours office. We were unable to at first – trying to book on Saturday for a boat on Wednesday – everything was booked! But on Wednesday morning one of the girls who works in the Mourtemeno Hotel (can’t remember her name, we only really spoke to Χρήσος) knocked on our door to say there was a phone call from Isabella Tours.
We went downstairs to speak to them; they phones Isabella Tours back, explained (in very fast Greek) ‘Basso, Καλημέρα. Τι κάνεις; You wanted to talk to the family who were looking for a boat for this afternoon? The wife and the son are here now. I will give the telephone to the wife, you can talk to her now‘. I was quite pleased that I understood most of what she said – it was extremely fast Greek! I am pleased to say that this year I have noticed that I am picking up more than I could in previous years; I can not only hold a conversation, but now I can listen in to other Greek conversations – and I did so, at the beach, in the tavernas and at the airport!
Anyway… there had been a cancellation so there was a boat available for us if we still wanted it. So we took it. This was on Wednesday – 15. August – one of Greece’s biggest religious holidays of the year – and it was also our last day in Greece. August 15. is the Panagia* – the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is a public holiday in Greece (and also neighbouring Italy as well as many other countries in Europe).
We rented the boat from ΔΕΛΦΙΝΙ – next to the supermarket (on the right hand side as you look out to sea), and had the boat from 2pm to 6pm – it cost about 30€ for the boat, plus petrol (I think we used 4 litres, at 2€ per litre) – 38€ in total, which we paid when we got back.
We visited 2 beaches that afternoon – one on the island of Ag. Nikolaos – which was quite nice. The water’s very clear, there were a couple of beaches we could swim to as we stayed in (relatively) deep water so that Dad and Corrie could dive in, and there weren’t too many other boats there.
It is at this beach when Dad asked Corrie to throw the anchor over the side so we could stop for a swim… Corrie did so, and then with a look of horror on her face, asked whether she was meant to have held on to the other end or tied it to the boat. Luckily there was a small buoy on the end, so she dived in to retrieve the missing anchor and tied it on to the boat. It was hilarious the way she turned round after seeing the whole thing disappear in to the water!
We stayed here for about an hour and half, diving in off the boat (no beach needed here – there’s shade from the sun on the boat), before we moved on to one of the beaches on Mourtemeno island; the island which has Bella Vraka beach on it. This was quite nice too, a little smaller perhaps and I think a little busier, perhaps because it was closer to the harbour.
I enjoyed our day on the boat – its very enjoyable to go out on to Sivota’s islands on your own in a little boat for an afternoon. Highly recommended.
I’ve updated the map to show the beaches we went to on the boat. The pissina (πισίνα – swimming pool) beach we were at last year is also marked.
View Sivota 2012 – Σύβοτα 2012 in a larger map
On the blog tomorrow: Our journey to the ancient site of Kassope.
Right… I’m off to bed.
Good night.
FH.
* The island opposite Parga is named ‘Panagia’ after the Virgin Mary, and I heard it was noisy in Parga on Wednesday night as all the Greeks were doing something to mark the occasion).
Slides – a good day out, but worth pointing out that it is also just above Zeri Beach, so if some of the family want a quiet time, you can just walk down a few steps and be on a very pleasant pebbly beach, with on one side of the jetty at least, no sunbeds. If you keep your wristband on, you can go in and out all day.
Depending on the age of the families – there is a small pool/slide area suitable for young children, and four big slides – one gentle twisty one, and three quick steep ones (two of which are side by side an exactly the same – so you can race each other down etc, but as Fred says – if you’re not interested in those just pay the lower amount for the pool/sunbeds – you can still access all areas, just not actually use the slides. Nothing like the big water parks eg on Corfu, but a pleasant change, good pool and amazing views back towards the village.