Zakynthos, Ionian, Greece

Keri Caves

The Keri Caves are a chain of sea caves, arches and swim-throughs carved into the white limestone cliffs of Cape Keri, at the southwestern tip of Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea. The site is reached by boat from Limni Keriou and the standard dive plan circles the cape's outer headland, dropping along a stepped wall to a sandy interface at around 24 metres before working back along the cave entrances at 8 to 14 metres. The largest caverns extend approximately 25 metres into the rock, well within the cavern-zone definition, with the interiors lit by entrance light and supporting communities of red sponges, yellow cluster anemones and bryozoans. Outside the caves the reef hosts dusky grouper, Mediterranean moray, common octopus, ornate wrasse, painted comber, two-banded sea bream and seasonal schools of barracuda. The Ionian visibility regularly exceeds 30 metres in summer and the sheltered geometry of Cape Keri keeps surface conditions calm even when the open sea is rough.