Boat trip from Aragonese Castle to Sant’Angelo

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Boat trip from the Aragonese Castle to Sant’Angelo

Boat tour of the island of Ischia along the jagged and natural coastline.

The island of Ischia, for the most part urbanized in the northern sector, is still very natural in the south. Most of the streets are situated on the coast to the north of the island, leaving the green peak of the Epomeo untouched, they go back half way to the south, and show the natural beauty of the jagged coasts and the crystalline sea. The southern side starting from the Aragonese castle ,up to the isthmus of Sant’Angelo is a spectacle of nature and is accessible almost exclusively by sea, ideal for a boat trip!

The present discussion wants to give only an idea of ​​the wonders that can be found and can be admired by circulating the island along the coast, from a boat.

As far back as 1959, the writer from Ischia, Giovangiuseppe Cervera, wrote about the wonders of the island of Ischia, celebrating its extreme beauty and describing with pictures and drawings its perimeter jagged and washed with crystal clear waters. Like some gems on a crown, then he represented and named all the various rocks and emerging stones, the caves that make those places so special to compare them to the satellites of a wonderful planet.

Our intent is to retrace those places today and experience those moments lived by the Neapolitan writer. An old friend of mine, who met Giovangiuseppe, tells me that, on his little boat, with a diary and a rudimentary camera, he went all along the island.

1st section (sea-seaside tour)

In a first part of the boat trip to the promenade (seaside-seaside tour), we will leave from the bay of Sant’Anna by the Aragonese castle to the east, to get to the peninsula of Sant’Angelo to the south.

1 Aragonese Castle and Sant’Anna bay from Via Soronzano

2Fishing and Aragonese Castle

3 Sant’Anna bay with Aragonese Castle and wharf

4 Aragonese bridge

In the bay of Sant’Anna you can still breathe that sea air and smell seaweed and rosemary that grows at the foot of the Aragonese castle.

As you can see from the photos, the bay of Sant’Anna, with the homonymous church, has recently been affected by archaeological excavations that have unearthe remains of Roman origin, of the ancient port of the island, which can be visited with guides , from specially equipped boats.

5 Archeological area with Sant’Anna church

6 Michelangelo’s tower and archeological area

7 Tre pizzi rock

8 The pope’s chair

The boat trip continues with a visit to the rocks of Sant’Anna, in the bay they appear like giants that immerse themselves in those limpid and transparent waters. Their shapes sculpted by atmospheric agents inspired their names: The three lace, the Pope’s chair ….

9 Cartaromana bay

10 Cartaromana’s hot springs

11 Sea horse cave of Cartaromana

12 Castle and Vivara

At the bottom of the bay, after the rocks of Sant’Anna and the embattled tower of Michelangelo, there is the beach of Cartaromana with its springs of thermal water. The natural waters are collected in pools carved into the stones, which flow in the hours of low tide, at a level higher than the sea from the rocky ridge of sulphurous and ferruginous origin. Water is excellent for spa treatments and mud is used for facial masks.

13 Pisciazza Peak

Cave of the magician and cave of the lovers

14 Magician cave

Once you pass Pisciazza peak  you arrive at a fairly high and rocky ridge where, after a small inlet you can see the access to the Magician’s cave, if you enter with a small boat you can catch a glimpse of the light that penetrates from the top to the telescope.

15 Preta chiana

16 Access to the lovers’ cave

17 Alla grotta degli innamorati

The first inlet is located in the area of Preta Chiana, (Flat rock) where the Cave of the Lovers gets access. The bifurcated access is barely visible during the hours of high tide and crossed a short stretch in the tunnel, you get to a natural concavity that is surprisingly illuminated by the light that crosses the sea floor. The “Grotta Azzurra” effect, just entered, is assured and you can also see your body lit in half immersed in water. This wonder is available to the visitor and only begs him to leave it as it is.

18 San Pancrazio bay, swimming in harmony with nature

19 San Pancrazio transparencies

20 Transparencies San Pancrazio

21 San Pancrazio coast

The bay of San Pancrazio, is an inlet in the high and rocky ridge, which extends for about two hundred meters, with a sandy bottom, where once there was a restaurant that is currently in ruins. The transparency of its waters welcomes vessels from all over the island and from the nearby coast by boat.

22 Fiocco at San Pancrazio peak

23 San Pancrazio peak, rudimentary lighthouse

The promontory extends to the south, where you can see a sort of stone obelisk, that was a rudimentary lighthouse. When the fishermen or local sailors left the island and the weather was inclement, for the return, often at night, the unfortunate wives went to light a fire behind that structure that served as a reference point for the fearless Ischitans.

24 Felice and the Sgarrupata

25 Crespa stone

26 Capogrosso with Sant’Angelo

After passing San Pancrazio peak in the locality “under the church”,  you can enter the long cove of Felice, which begins with the Scarrupata (municpality of Barano), (where you can see large boulders fallen from the ridge, therefore ruined).

At the center of the inlet we find first a typical restaurant, where you can see a group of rocks emerging from the shape and the characteristic name “crespa stone” that give the idea of waves of a rippled sea. The ridge of Capo Grosso, with the tip of the “Lady”, is the background of Portella’s creek with its warm waters outcropping.

Maronti and Sant’Angelo

27 Maronti Olmitello cave

28 Maronti Cava Scura

29 Maronti Fumarole

30 Sant’Angelo, fishermen village

Behind the Capo Grosso we can see the Maronti bay, which begins with the “petrelle”  area and continues for about two kilometers of beach until you get to Sant’Angelo. The first inlet you can see is the Olmitello cave with the Acquara area. Approssimately in the center of the bay there is Cava Scura with its famous baths, carved into the volcanic rock of Roman origin. At the end of the bay you can catch a glimpse of the Fumaroles, which are well demarcated near the beach and allow them to cook some food with their steam.

The splendid panorama, which concludes our tour, by boat trip, ends with the natural isthmus of Sant’Angelo adorned with the characteristic fishermen’s houses.

Inhoming Srl

For information and boat trips, please call +39 3713455013