Parga

Located in one of the busiest areas on the west coast of Ionian Greece, Parga has been a popular tourist destination in recent years and is enjoying increasing favor. And, as is often the case in Greece … it has no ports.
Certainly the geographical characteristics of the place would not, shall we say, have made it easy, since the bay in which Parga is located is shallow, only moderately sheltered and offers no natural sheltering of significant importance.

Nonetheless, it is very popular in the warm season with boaters of all sorts. The reason is quickly stated: Parga is a small town that is extremely touristy, offers anything and everything to those who want to enjoy a bit of social life, and is set in a respectable natural setting, with beaches and sea to die for; secondly, the bay is located in a “hot” spot, halfway between Corfu and Lefkas, and is therefore an excellent port of call or starting point for those who intend to sail to the islands of the archipelago in front.

As mentioned, however, it is not one of the “luckiest” bays. It completely lacks facilities, except for a tiny service marina consisting almost exclusively of a (practical) breakwater and a long pier in front of the village, which, however, is absolutely forbidden to boaters.

So where to go? There are two options. In fact, Parga overlooks a modestly sized bay consisting of two different inlets: one, larger, Ormos Valtou, is located to the west and offers only discrete shelter and some interesting mooring options; the other, located just east of the town, is a small and pleasant cove that is, however, virtually inaccessible from June to late September.

And the main problem of Parga Bay, however, is the wind: the bay is open to the south and for southerly winds it offers practically no shelter, except for the breakwater mentioned earlier, which in any case does not offer complete shelter. It must be said, however, that for the prevailing winds in this sea area, those from the northwest, the baiua offers a fair amount of shelter.

Getting to Parga poses no particular problems. Just be careful, if you come from the west, at the cape that marks the western end of the bay: pass at least a distance of 100 meters from the shore, there are many rocky outcrops.

Once you reach the bay, you can head immediately to the western part where you will have two options. Either drop anchor in the bay, where the bottom is sandy and 5 to 7 meters deep and where you will have a fair amount of shelter from the north and northwest winds (but there is still always some current at night), or look for a place inside the breakwater at the western end of the bay; here the depth is about 4 meters and you can moor stern to the dock (sand and kelp bottom). Places are few, but good.

If your boat permits, you can anchor directly on the beach in front of the breakwater: anchor the stern and then bring the bow anchor ashore. In summer, most boaters choose this solution, being able to, since inside the breakwater the shelter is perfect and a quiet night is assured.
Whatever solution you adopt, there are taxi-boats that can take you to Parga and repot you back to the boat, also by appointment.

Third option, the least feasible, is to head to the small cove east of the village and pier mentioned earlier; out of season, one or two boats will fit, the bottom is sandy and 4-5 meters deep.

What to do in Parga. As mentioned earlier, social life or almost: cocktail bars, taverns, restaurants, and souvenir stores abound. The Venetian castle that dominates the promontory to the west of the town is worth a visit, not least for the view from up there.

As services, in Parga in the village you find all that a town of just over 2,500 inhabitants can offer, and nothing more. For specialized nautical services, it is not the right place