Amalfi Coast & Capri

Sailing the Amalfi Coast is as much about the shore as the sea. The coastline from Sorrento south to Salerno is a vertical landscape — terraced lemon groves, cliffside villages connected by hairpin roads, watchtowers from the Saracen era — and it is best appreciated from the water, where the scale and the colours register in a way that the road does not allow. Most charters depart from marinas around the Bay of Naples. Marina di Stabia, near Castellammare, and the smaller facilities at Sorrento are common bases. The crossing to Capri is the first natural waypoint — roughly 10 nautical miles from Sorrento, through busy ferry lanes that require vigilance. Capri's Marina Grande is crowded and expensive in summer, but the anchorage off the Faraglioni rocks, weather permitting, offers one of the Mediterranean's more memorable lunch stops. Ischia, at the northern end of the gulf, is less visited by charter yachts but more rewarding for an overnight stay. The island has thermal springs, a volcanic landscape, and the Aragonese Castle — a fortified islet connected to the town by a stone causeway. The harbour at Forio, on the west coast, provides good shelter from the prevailing south-westerly. Along the Amalfi Coast itself, anchorage options are limited. Positano has an open roadstead anchorage — tenable in calm conditions, uncomfortable in any swell. Amalfi's small harbour accommodates visiting yachts but fills quickly. The coast is better experienced as a series of day stops, anchoring for lunch and swimming, rather than overnight stays where the ground swell can make sleep elusive. Wind in the gulf follows a thermal pattern: light in the morning, building from the south-west through the afternoon to 10-15 knots, and dropping at sunset. The Tramontana, a cold northerly, arrives with weather systems and can produce rough conditions in the open gulf. Sea fog is rare but ferry wash is constant — the Naples-Capri-Sorrento triangle is one of the busiest ferry corridors in the Mediterranean. Provisioning is best done in Naples or Castellammare before departure. Marina shops are limited and expensive. Eating ashore is essential — the region's cuisine, from Neapolitan pizza to fresh seafood along the Amalfi coast, is central to the experience. Budget for marina fees and mooring charges; this is among the more expensive cruising grounds in Italy.