The best beaches in Procida

Ranked list

1. 1
   

   Chiaiolella Beach

   Free

   The beach that solves problems instead of creating them. It sits on the south-west coast, beside the Chiaiolella marina, between Punta Serra and the headland of Santa Margherita Vecchia: the only shore on the island where the road comes right up to the seafront and the L2 bus drops you a few metres from the sand. Shallow and safe water, dark volcanic sand, two tuff stacks separating it from the Ciraccio, the view over Vivara and Ischia in front. Behind you there are beach clubs, bars, pizzerias and restaurants: you have lunch and you are back in the water in three minutes.

   Why it made the list: Access, facilities and a shallow bottom in the same place. Wrong if you are after silence: between 11:00 and 16:00, in high season, the seafront and the sand fill up, and natural shade there is none.

2. 2
   

   Chiaia Beach

   Free

   It is the most secluded and the most sheltered bay on the island, with water that stays shallow for a good many metres before it drops: the beach Procidans point to when the talk turns to children. The price is the access. No road reaches it: either you go down the stairway from Via dei Bagni, or you take Via Pizzaco from Piazza Olmo, or you arrive by sea. On the steps the sources argue — 182 for some, 186 for others — so count on about 180 and plan accordingly. For the most part it is free, with two small beach clubs, one of which doubles as a restaurant.

   Why it made the list: Shelter and shallow water like nowhere else. Wrong with heavy luggage, with mobility problems or at 15:00 in August: the climb back up is the part people remember worst. In that case there is the boat service from the Corricella.

3. 3
   

   Ciraccio Beach

   Free

   The long open shore of the west coast, north of the Chiaiolella and separated from it by the tuff stacks. It has the road and the L2 bus like its neighbour, but far more space and far fewer people: bathers concentrate near the accesses at Vicolo Ciraccio and Via Flavio Gioia, and five minutes walking along the water’s edge is enough to find room even in August. Free stretches and equipped stretches alternate. Note that the sources dispute the claim to length between the Ciraccio and the Chiaiolella: neither can claim it without naming who says so.

   Why it made the list: The convenience of the road without the crush. Wrong on a windy afternoon: it takes the mistral in the face and the dark sand flies. No natural shade, so a parasol is not optional.

4. 4
   

   Silurenza Beach

   Free

   Immediately west of the harbour at Marina Grande, reached on foot from Via Roma with the quay behind you. It is the beach that solves two frequent situations: the half day just after landing and the two hours of waiting before the hydrofoil, when going to the other side of the island makes no sense. There is an equipped beach club with a bar-restaurant and a rock, “il cannone”, that the youngsters dive off. The sources list it as suitable for families with children.

   Why it made the list: No other beach on the island is five minutes from the ferry quay. Wrong as the destination for a whole day: it is small, it sits beside the harbour and in the middle of the day in August it is full. The type of bottom is not described by any reliable source: take a mat.

5. 5
   

   Pozzo Vecchio Beach

   Free

   The small horseshoe bay below the cemetery, closed by Punta Serra to the south and Punta Ottimo to the north, where in 1994 Massimo Troisi — Mario Ruoppolo — recited Neruda’s poems. You go down from Via Cesare Battisti by a short but steep stairway, and the C1 bus runs exactly harbour–Pozzo Vecchio–harbour. Around it there is open country and a small bar; on the sand, which is very coarse, a single beach club operates. On the spot nothing has been laid on: the bay has stayed as it was, and that is all.

   Why it made the list: It is a piece of cinema you can visit free, and it is at its best in the late afternoon. Wrong as a base for a whole day at the sea: small, uncovered, with almost no shade. Two or three hours, no more.

6. 6
   

   Lingua Beach

   Free

   At the eastern end of the Marina Grande front, reached from the continuation of Via Roma or by a stairway from Via Bartolomeo Pagano. It is the only one on the island described as a pebble beach, although one source speaks instead of very coarse sand. It looks towards the mainland and Monte di Procida, and in the last hour of light the water and the coast opposite turn pink: that is why it is worth going down. Beside it is the spiaggia dell’Asino, which appears in L’isola di Arturo by Elsa Morante.

   Why it made the list: An hour’s stop at sunset, two steps from the ferry. Wrong for almost everything else: no facilities, no shade, the harbour working alongside and a bottom that drops away at once, so much so that people spearfish there. With small children, choose something else.

At a glance

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