It is the second loop of the island on the market, and the difference from the other one is not in the route but in the details. It lasts two hours, costs from 42 EUR a head and on GetYourGuide it has 5.0 out of 5 from 87 reviews. Like the other, it is flagged among the best loved.
The two things that set it apart are the guide on board in Italian, English and French — stated, not guessed — and the departure from the Lido La Lingua, with access to changing rooms and showers. It sounds like nothing: try getting back on a hydrofoil after two hours with salt all over you and then we can talk about it.
The guide, and why it changes the tour
On most of the boats at Procida there is a skipper who drives and nothing else. Here there is a guide who talks, in three languages. The difference shows on the east side of the island, where you pass below Terra Murata and below Palazzo d’Avalos: without somebody explaining what you are looking at, that stays a big building on a cliff. With the explanation it becomes what it is, which is a prison of the kingdom closed in 1988 after a hundred and forty years in use.
The same goes for Vivara, which from the water you see whole: without context it is a green islet; with context it is a thirty-six-hectare reserve, uninhabited, with a Bronze Age settlement excavated since the 1970s.
If you are Italian and the commentary does not interest you, this feature is worth nothing to you and you may as well consider the trip with underwater photos, which for three euros more gives you the photographs underwater. Honestly, the choice is between those two things.
Changing rooms and showers: the detail that counts
The departure is from the Lido La Lingua, at Marina Grande, and access to the beach club’s changing rooms and showers is included. Anyone coming for the day from Naples will see straight away why I am highlighting it: after two hours on a boat you are wet, salty and you have a hydrofoil to catch. A freshwater shower and a changing room sort out the end of the day.
The Lingua beach, right next door, is small and pebbly, with a seabed that drops away quickly. It is not a beach for a day at the sea — I say so plainly on its own page — but as a base for setting off in a boat it is perfect: you are at the eastern end of the harbour front, a few minutes from the landing.
With children
The tour states life-saving equipment for children on board. It is something you should always ask about, on any boat, and finding it written on the listing saves you the conversation on the quay with the child already in a swimsuit.
Two hours are the right length for primary-school age: enough for two swims, not enough to get bored. The stops are short. If you are after a full day with children, the more sensible format is hire without a licence, where you decide the timings, or a day at the Chiaiolella beach, which has shallow water and direct road access. The page on Procida with children lines up the options.
Snorkelling gear is not stated as included in this product. If you need it, bring it or choose the tour that includes it: it is the kind of difference worth checking on the listing before you pay.
The aperitivo on board
The listing states that an aperitivo on board can be arranged. Watch how that reads: can be arranged means it has to be agreed and, presumably, paid for separately. It is not included in the 42 EUR. I have no verified price for that supplement and I am not inventing one: ask the operator.
If an aperitivo on a boat is the reason you are looking at this page, there is a product built for exactly that: the sunset aperitivo boat trip, two hours, from 50 EUR, with a drink and homemade snacks. It is a different thing and at that point you may as well take it for what it is.
When to go, and what the sea does
The useful season runs roughly from May to September. May, June and September are the three months in which this coast is at its best: clear water, less crowded boats, no queue at the quay. The page on when to visit Procida goes into it month by month.
On the sea, the local rule is simple and never changes: the morning is calm, in the afternoon the wind gets up on the west side. It is the same mistral that sends the sand flying on the Ciraccio. With a swell running, a two-hour loop becomes uncomfortable, especially with children on board.
If the sea is rough the tours are cancelled or rescheduled: that is standard practice everywhere, and the exact conditions are on the product listing. If you have only one day on the island, book for the morning and keep the afternoon as your margin, not the other way round.
Is it worth it?
Yes. Five out of five from 87 reviews is an excellent rating, even if the base is smaller than that of the other loop, which has 396 reviews. With numbers like these, in any case, we are not talking about a new or uncertain product.
Which tour is right for you comes down to three questions. Do you need the underwater photos? Then the other trip. Do you need a guide who talks and a shower at the end? Then this one. Do you need a full day rather than two hours? Then neither of them: look at hire.
A final note on the order of things. The boat loop and the visit to Vivara do not overlap: from the water you see the shape of the islet, from inside you walk through the scrub with a guide for two and a half hours. Anyone with two full days does both, and the Chiaiolella–Vivara walk completes the picture from land.
