Shipwreck beach was one of those places that I’d heard about, but hadn’t quite prepared myself for how beautiful it would actually be. At around 9am on the Wednesday, after a breakfast fuelled by flaky pastries and fruit- we packed our day bags and headed down to the waters edge where we hopped on to a boat that was to take us across to the cove.
Sailing past swathes of limestone cliffs and white sand beaches, the north west side of the island is truly like nowhere else I’ve seen- with the waters being clear turquoise and a pale sky blue- which almost felt otherworldly (especially in comparison to the grey waters I’m more than accustomed to)! We were told a little about the shipwreck (which had arrived in 1983 from Glasgow smuggling illegal cigarettes) and within the hour found ourselves turning into the cove to see it proudly washed ashore.
Being only accessible by boat, we narrowly managed to miss the masses of tourists that started arriving shortly after us and were able to have a look around the shipwreck before everyone else. It’s amazing how quickly the calm beach populates as the sun comes up- and being dropped a little from the shore we able to swim in if we wanted (which is where Julia, Frances and Katherine were definitely braver than Lucy and I)!
After paddling through the clear waters and grabbing some obligatory tourist shots- we hopped back onboard before exploring the area a little more by boat- meandering into hidden caves and stopping for swims in the lushest of water (totally not pretending to be in a high-end perfume advert). I didn’t realise places so beautiful existed this side of the world and so close to home, and seeing waters so clear and beaches so white was totally mesmerising- and was the perfect start to the last full day of our holiday. As it got closer to midday, we headed back to the club for lunch and set up camp on our trusty line of seaside sun beds- before gearing up for the evenings dinner at the monastery…
x
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