Solomos Museum - (Places to Visit in Zante)

Alan C           

The Solomos museum was okay as museums go, but I think it's really aimed at Greek visitors. Almost all the captions are in Greek and a lot of the paintings and artefacts (from what I could gather) seem to relate to Greek politics and politicians, whom I suspect most non-Greek visitors wouldn't really know about. Still, it's worth a look if you're in Zakynthos town and it does contain the grave of Dionysos Solomos. To their credit, both this and the Zakynthos/Byzantine museum seem to be aimed at preserving history and have very little in the way of merchandise -maybe just a few postcards and a couple of books. Similar things in Britain would have a whole shop full of souvenirs.

St Nickolas Beach Diving School - (Diving in Zante)

Alan C           

I had a fantastic time with the St. Nicholas beach diving school whilst on holiday in early September and I’d really recommend them. I’d done a ‘try a dive’ session before a couple of years ago in Cyprus. I’d say this one was better though. The instruction was very thorough, but they also put a lot of emphasis on just enjoying the dive. I found the instructors and staff all really helpful and friendly. The sea was literally teeming with fish, particularly while we were feeding them and the underwater environment was quite spectacular and clear.

The first dive was 49 Euros, but I also did a second, which they let you do for 35. They said you can come back at any time in your holiday to do a second dive, but I decided to do it that day, because I probably wouldn’t be back at St. Nicholas beach (one thing to be aware of is that there is a free bus service to St. Nicholas beach, but it doesn’t return until after 5. I didn’t really spot any taxis or anything nearby, so once you go, you are there for the day. Having said that, there’s plenty to do as well as Scuba –other Watersports, bars etc and it’s a really scenic beach). Because I was the only person who did the second dive at that time, I got to go one-to-one with the instructor. Managed to see loads more fish (some of them pretty colourful) and he also showed me an Octopus.

Overall, I’d really recommend this.