Italian Coast

For a nice Italian Coast cruise you can start from Ostia Marina, Porto Turistico di Roma Ostia, which is just nine kilometres from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, their point of arrival from destinations east and west. While Ostia is certainly the most convenient pick-up point for a cruise in this area as well as being a handy port for a visit to Rome, just 20 km distant, the town's real glory has faded since its pre-war heyday and, although recovery is now being helped by the new marina, it has few points of interest in itself.

Then you may continue to sail south-eastwards to sample the islands of Ponza, Ischia and Capri, before spending your days on mainland Italy's Amalfi Coast, just to the south of the Bay of Naples.

Ponza lies 60 nautical miles from Ostia - six hours away for Jasmin at her very comfortable (and highly economical) 10 knots cruising speed. If you choose this slower speed, you can add advantage that it would see you passing Ponza's coastline, famed for its beauty and rugged cliffs, in the low, warm light of the cocktail hour. Running south down Ponza's west coast, sharp crested cliffs, coloured with a multitude of pastel hues, leap almost vertically upwards from the sea, the most spectacular being topped by the Punta della Guardia lighthouse on the island's southern tip.

Anchorage in the north-west of bay of Ponza, a good distance from the harbour and its quays, but smaller craft with oar-powered tenders is desperate to be close-in to the shore. Shore-going experience reveals a totally different side to Ponza. The picturesquely narrow, stone-paved streets that surround the harbour are certainly busy with promenaders during summer but, at the same time, they are also peaceful and orderly. You hear laughter in the air, and a hum of conversation from the open-air bars at the head of the harbour. You instantly warm to Ponza's civilised tourism if you consider shopping so interesting. You can also visit sea-cliff caves near the harbour.


Ref.Showboats

The next island is Ischia which is fifty miles eastwards. You will pass the tiny, steep sided isle of Scoglio della Botte, mid-way between Ponza and Ischia. We also suggest you that diving might be good. The island of Ischia, 10 kilometres by 7 in size and one of the Mediterranean's true jewels, lies to seaward of its smaller companion Procida which, between them, guard the northern approaches to the Bay of Naples. Porto d'Ischia, the island's main harbour, is really charming with its quayside restaurants and cafés and the added romance of being the crater of a volcano that was only united with the sea in 1855.

You may also chose to anchor a couple of miles along the coast by the town of Ischia Ponte to which it is joined by beachside houses and hotels. You may use the shelter of the Castello, a tiny, steep-sided island dramatically topped by a castle (hence it's name) that was variously developed by its Byzantine, Norman, Angevin and Aragonese rulers. The Aragonese had in 1441 built a narrow causeway which survives to this day, uniting this city fortress - once home to almost 2,000 families - with the little town on the main island, at the same time creating a sheltered anchorage. The atmosphere of Ischia Ponte is quite different; more townlike, its slightly wider streets open to cars and dotted with small piazzas. A visit to the Castello is a must for any visitor to Ischia. You ca take the new lift that rises to the level of the main buildings, where the ramparts give spectacular views over the town and anchorage to the pretty vine-fringed heights of the extinct volcano, Mount Montagnone. The Castello, we were instructed, saw its peak of fame under the guardianship of Vittoria Colonna, an Italian noblewoman who, in the early 16th Century, married the Captain General of the Spanish army in Italy. While the marriage was sad - because of his military duties they spent very little time together before he died 16 years later - she made her mark as a poet and lover of the arts, befriending Michaelangelo, who is said to have lodged in a tower house on the other side of the anchorage while he attempted to win her favours. 26th July is the date, when the Castello hosts the annual festival of Sant'Anna at which the island's traditional 'ndrezzata dagger-dance is performed.

Capri lies 17 miles to the south-east of Ischia where it is positioned three miles off the tip of the Sorrentine peninsula to act as the southern sentinel of the Bay of Naples. Like many of the most popular Mediterranean harbours, pre-booking is a requisite in Capri and visits are usually limited in duration by the sheer volume of demand, but while it is possible to anchor off, this is a marina that should not be missed. There is the tiny but charming Yacht Club Capri with its little terrace.

Laying justifiable claim to be the most beautiful island of the Mediterranean, Capri is also one of its most history-laden islands. The Roman Emperor Augustus chose it as a site for a villa, the same palace from which his successor, Tiberius eventually ruled the Roman Empire between AD27 and AD 37 - a time when the island's name was linked with decadence and brutality. In the 19th-century it became a fashionable stop for aristocrats and intellectuals taking the Grand Tour of Southern Europe, when it numbered Alexandre Dumas and Oscar Wilde among its enthusiastic visitors while Gorky, Lenin and Stalin are said to have visited at one time. Many others, including the German industrialist, Friedrich Krupp, Axel Munthe and the singer Gracie Fields, built villas here. In the island you can find a concentration of the world's most exotic designer boutiques, a gathering that rivalled the world's most prestigious shopping districts - Fifth Avenue and Bond Street included.


Jasmin in Ischia


Jasmin in Capri marina

If you continue the southern shore of the Sorrentine Peninsula, you will come accross the Bocca Piccola, the strait that divides Capri from the Italian mainland, is just three miles wide. Seven miles further, Positano, one of Italy's steepest villages, spills down the mountainside, a jumble of pastel coloured dwellings and churches. It is also a major watering hole on tourism's local trail. No superyacht guest should leave Positano without a visit to Il San Pietro di Positano, a hotel that is reputed to be one of the finest in Italy. While the hotel itself - a regular haunt of the rich and famous - is thoroughly impressive, its terrace is spectacular. One of the most interesting walks along this coast follows the course of the disused road linking Positano with Amalfi, the one time capital of the region which has given its name to this precipitous shore.

Gradually Amalfi grew into one of the Mediterranean's most important centres of maritime trade, rivalling Genoa, Pisa and even Venice. But catastrophe came in 1343, with an earthquake that permanently submerged the old town beneath the sea, consigning its remnants to beautiful obscurity. Unquestionably gorgeous beneath its ring of fringing mountains, Amalfi today is more 'real' than any of other stops. The streets have shops that serve the residents rather than the needs of tourism, while there seems a purpose to the pedestrians comings and goings against a rare bustle of traffic. You can be impressed by the cathedral, that looms above one at the head of a vast flight of steps. It is reputed to be one of the most beautiful in the south of Italy, while the piazza below which it stands has a fine statue of Flavio Gioia, a famous local merchant who, it is claimed by the locals, invented the compass in the 12th-century. Indeed, it is also claimed that he started the tradition, still current today, of placing a fleur-de-lis - the symbol of the King of Naples - at the north point of the card.