Pop into this Greek pop-up and even teens will thank you!
NOT until the midweek quiz night did we finally understand why the Peligoni Club is one of the Med’s hottest destinations for families with teenagers.
It’s a pop-up, seasonal watersports club-cum-teenage hangout on the Greek island of Zakynthos (or Zante as it is also known).
You pay a fixed fee, then for the rest of your holiday (in one of the club’s nearby villas), you can use all the equipment you like — dinghies, catamarans, sailboards — and have endless lessons from the enthusiastic young British instructors.
Why a pop-up? Because at the end of the summer they take down all the wooden pontoons and structures leaving the rocky shore to be lashed by the winter storms.
For the first few days, we antisocial Delingpoles remained somewhat resistant to the club’s charms.
My wife was perfectly happy jumping into the clear Ionian sea while the teenagers, a boy, 18, and girl, 16, were far too preoccupied lounging all day by the infinity pool at our secluded villa to want to take the epic journey (five minutes in our hire car) to an alien place where they might risk being judged by fellow teens. And then there was Boris, our private leatherback turtle.
Usually, you only see these rare and magnificent creatures by their breeding ground at the bottom end of the island. But this one popped up every day in our bay and we could hardly bear to leave him.
eventually, though, I had to put my foot down. ‘I’ve paid for our Peligoni membership so you are jolly well going to enjoy the facilities whether you like it or not!’ I insisted.
First excursion was a morning outing in one of the club’s big motorlaunches to what is probably Zante’s most famous destination, Shipwreck Beach. Bang in the middle — flanked by imposing cliffs from
which BASE jumpers like to hurl themselves, sometimes fatally — is the hulk of a rusting container ship which washed up there in an Eighties storm.
GEt there first thing , as we did, and it’s a marvel: turquoise- blue sea; dazzling white sand; and the red- ochre ship with its giant anchor chain at the prow provides an irresistible photo opportunity. After we had broken the ice and made friends, we fell comfortably into Peligoni’s bustle.
I polished my rusty windsurf - ing technique while our son and daughter loved their one-to-one sailing lessons — and admitted they regretted not starting earlier in the week.
the highlight, though, was that quiz night, but the lads in charge pitched the questions at just the right level so everyone, young and old, in the inevitably super-competitive family teams could contribute.
One round was a scavenger hunt where you earned points for foraging various items, including a pink piece of clothing. My son enterprisingly persuaded one desperate-to-win dad on a neighbouring table to fork out €10 for the loan of his pink underwear.
Another round depended on how many retweets you could get on t witter. W ith 40,000 followers, I won easily — it was the first time I managed to persuade my wife that all those hours on social media had not been totally wasted.
What we loved about P eligoni was the way it got the balance right for all of us.
this was perfectly captured by the moment on quiz night when our daughter ordered her first- ever alcoholic cocktail from the bar ( as P eligoni permits you to do at 16 with your parents’ permission).
the charming young barman who, a year or so ago was probably here with his parents, looked her in the eye and said kindly but firmly: ‘Yes. But that’s the last I’m going to serve you this evening.’