You cannot visit Sekania — and that's precisely why it's the most important beach on Zakynthos. Read why this closure is a conservation success story, not a disappointment.
Sekania Beach — The Most Important Beach You Cannot Visit
Sekania is unlike any other beach on Zakynthos. It’s not the most beautiful, the most dramatic, or the most accessible. But it may be the most important beach in the entire Mediterranean — and the reason you cannot visit it is precisely the reason it holds that distinction.
Sekania Beach is permanently closed to all visitors, at all times, for all reasons. There are no exceptions for researchers, photographers, or curious swimmers. The water offshore is also restricted during nesting season. This is not a bureaucratic inconvenience. It is the cornerstone of one of the most successful marine turtle conservation programmes in Europe.
The Numbers
Sekania receives the highest density of loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting of any beach in the Mediterranean. In a typical season, 700-1000 nests are recorded on this single beach — a stretch barely 500 metres long. By comparison, nearby Gerakas might see 40-60 nests in a good year. Sekania is the epicentre.
Females return to the beach where they hatched — sometimes after 30 years at sea — to lay their own eggs. A single female may nest 3-4 times in a season, laying around 110 eggs each time. Roughly one in a thousand hatchlings will survive to adulthood. The maths of survival for Caretta caretta is brutal, which is why the protection of nesting beaches is so critical.
Why Total Closure?
The NMPZ (National Marine Park of Zakynthos) was established in 1999 after decades of research demonstrated that human presence on nesting beaches — even apparently minor disturbances like footsteps, light, and noise — significantly reduces nesting success. Female turtles that encounter disturbance often abort their nesting attempt and return to the sea without laying. Multiple failed attempts exhaust the female and reduce seasonal productivity.
At Sekania, the decision was made to remove human presence entirely rather than attempt to manage it. The result: nesting success rates here are the highest recorded in the region. The beach has no sunbeds, no tourists, no boats within a specified zone — just turtles, doing what they have done on this coastline for millions of years.
How to Support the Turtles
You can’t visit Sekania, but you can contribute meaningfully to turtle conservation on Zakynthos:
- Respect all NMPZ beach rules on Gerakas, Dafni, and Kalamaki — these beaches host the nests you can visit
- Join a licensed turtle watching tour (from Zakynthos Town, run by ARCHELON and licensed operators) — proceeds support monitoring
- Donate to ARCHELON (the Greek Sea Turtle Protection Society), which monitors Sekania and all NMPZ beaches each season
- Report illegal activity — boats approaching restricted zones, lights on protected beaches at night, or damaged nest markers
The Lesson of Sekania
In a world where “access for all” is treated as an unqualified good, Sekania is a reminder that sometimes the best human contribution to nature is deliberate restraint. The beach thrives precisely because we stay away. That is not a failure of conservation — it is its highest expression.
Some places exist for us to wonder at from a distance. Sekania is one of them.
