Amalfi Coast

Eat · Marina del Cantone, Nerano

Lo Scoglio

The lunch we book first, every year. A family restaurant on a jetty with its own vegetable garden; the spaghetti alla Nerano and the raw seafood are the reasons. Arrive by tender; there is no other way that makes sense.

Tip. Book a table for 1.30pm and anchor in the bay first. The afternoon swim off the back of the boat is part of the meal.

Eat · Laurito beach, west of Positano

Da Adolfo

A beach shack with a red fish on its boat's mast, reached only from the water. Grilled mozzarella on lemon leaves, whole fish, white wine with peaches in it. Cash-friendly, deliberately unpolished, and one of the great lunches of the coast.

Tip. Tender in early. The tables go by 1pm in summer and they do not hold them for anyone.

Eat · Below the Faraglioni, Capri

La Fontelina

The beach club at the foot of Capri's three rocks. Lunch on the terrace, sunbeds on the rocks, and the clearest water on the island. Our tender drops us at their platform and picks us up when we call.

Tip. The club closes for the season in early October. In August the rocks are booked out; go for lunch only and swim from the yacht.

Eat · Marina Grande, Capri

Da Paolino

Dinner under a roof of lemon trees. The one Capri restaurant we send every client to, because it is exactly what they imagine Capri to be and the food holds up.

Tip. Ask for a table under the trees, not the covered section, and book before you arrive on the island.

Eat · Spiaggia Grande, Positano

Chez Black

Positano's beachfront institution since 1949. Not the best food on the coast; the best seat on it. Come at 8pm when the day trippers have left and the town is lit.

Swim and anchor · Marina del Cantone

Nerano bay, at anchor

The best overnight anchorage on the coast. Sheltered from the south-westerly, good holding, and Lo Scoglio's lights across the water. Most of our nights on this coast end here.

Tip. Arrive before 5pm in July and August. The bay fills with yachts who know the same thing.

Swim and anchor · Three islets off Positano

Li Galli

Nureyev's islands. Private ashore, public in the water. The morning swim stop between Positano and Nerano, with nobody else there before 11am.

Swim and anchor · South coast of Capri

At anchor in front of the Faraglioni

One of the iconic anchorages in yachting: the three rocks off the bow, Capri above you, and the water clear to the bottom. We take it early, before the ferries, and stay for coffee.

Tip. Open to the south. Fine for a morning; sleep at Nerano or in Marina Grande.

Swim and anchor · Punta Campanella, facing Capri

Baia di Ieranto

A protected bay run by a heritage trust, no motorised access inside the line, so the water is untouched. Anchor outside, kayak or swim in. The view is Capri, three miles across the strait.

Tip. Marine reserve rules apply. Your captain will know the line; do not let the tender cross it.

Swim and anchor · North coast of Capri

Grotta Azzurra

Worth doing once, and only after 5pm when the tour boats have stopped. Your tender takes you to the queue of rowing boats; the light inside is real and the wait, at that hour, is short.

Activities ashore · Capri town

The Piazzetta at 10pm

Capri town in the day is a queue. Capri town at night, after the last ferry, is a village square with a very good bar on each corner. Take the funicular up from Marina Grande and walk back down the lanes.

Activities ashore · Above Amalfi, 20 minutes

Ravello by car

The one half-day we always give to the land. Villa Cimbrone's terrace, Villa Rufolo's gardens, and a long lunch looking down on the coast you have been sailing. The Ravello Festival runs concerts in July and August.

Tip. Berth or anchor at Amalfi and have the crew arrange a driver from the quay. The road is not for tenders or taxis found on the day.

Swim and anchor · Sant'Angelo and Sorgeto, Ischia

Ischia's thermal water

Where we go when the coast gets loud. Ischia is bigger, greener and slower than Capri, and the hot springs run straight into the sea at Sorgeto. Anchor off Sant'Angelo, the prettiest village on the island.

Activities ashore · Between Ischia and the mainland

Procida

Marina Corricella is the fishing village people think Positano will be. Pastel houses, nets on the quay, one long lunch. Italy's Capital of Culture in 2022 and still barely visited by yachts.

Activities ashore · Bomerano to Nocelle, above Positano

Path of the Gods, early

Two and a half hours on foot along the cliff, with the whole gulf below and the yacht visible at anchor. Start at 7am with a driver to Bomerano; finish with the 1,700 steps down into Positano and a swim.