Barracuda Reef

Barracuda Reef sits on the seaward south-west edge of the Cape Marathia / Marathias headland, the exposed corner of Zakynthos, in the reef channel just south of the two Mizithres rocks. The Marathia cliffs and shore to the north and north-east, together with the larger Mizithra rock immediately to the north, shield the site from northerly and north-easterly wind and chop, so the N-NNE-NE-NW-NNW sector is effectively blocked. The open window faces the Ionian to the south and south-west: the SE-through-SW arc is fully exposed to the dominant west-to-south-west Ionian swell and to any southerly blow. The W and WNW are only partly shadowed by the smaller Mizithra rock and the distant Keri cape, and the eastern side is partly open across the mouth of Laganas Bay. As a headland-edge reef with a drop-off it is dived in calm summer conditions; a southerly wind or a west-south-west swell builds surface waves and reinforces the current at the drop-off, and can force trips to switch to more sheltered Keri sites.