The sea of Syracuse,
like you've never seen it before.

Loop route · returning to Ortigia

Ortigia & the Sea Caves

An island within the island, the beating heart of Syracuse for almost three thousand years: Ortigia is best explored from the water, between its two harbours, its legends, and the caves carved by the sea along the northern coast.

We set sail from Riva Nazario Sauro and skirt the outline of Ortigia: Castello Maniace, the fortress built by Frederick II of Swabia that has watched over the island's tip since 1232, and the walls that enclose twenty-seven centuries of history, from the Corinthian settlers who founded Syracuse here in 734 BC to the Aragonese. We pass in front of the Fountain of Arethusa, the only spring in Europe where papyrus grows wild, tied to the myth of the nymph chased across the sea by the river-god Alpheus.

Once past the castle, the coast turns wild: white limestone cliffs carved with caves and coves, once a refuge for fishermen and smugglers. We take the boat into the widest caverns, where light filters through the emerald water and paints reflections on the rock walls, before stopping to snorkel in the most hidden inlets, far from the city's gaze.

A short but intense tour, perfect for discovering Syracuse from a perspective no walk on land could ever offer — myth, history and crystal-clear water, right on our doorstep.

History, nature and crystal-clear water

Marzamemi & Vendicari

An excursion through two of the most authentic souls of south-eastern Sicily, between fishing villages, nature reserves and sunken treasures.

We set sail from Riva Nazario Sauro, in Syracuse, bound for Marzamemi, a village of Arab origin whose name means "anchorage of the turtledoves": here, the historic eighteenth-century tuna fishery, commissioned by the Princes of Villadorata, still stands with its columns silhouetted against the sky like a modern Greek temple. Facing the village, turquoise waters embrace the two islets of Isola Grande and Isola Piccola.

Offshore, a dive into history: the sunken Roman Columns, remains of a 3rd-century AD shipwreck resting 7 metres deep among beds of Posidonia, visible even with just a mask and snorkel. We continue towards the evocative Grotta dei Sospiri (Cave of Sighs), named after the whispering of the water inside it, navigable with a swimming stop, before reaching Isola delle Correnti: the southernmost point of Sicily, where the Ionian and the Mediterranean meet in a unique play of currents and colours.

From here the coast opens onto the Vendicari Nature Reserve, one of the wildest and most unspoiled coastlines in Europe: secluded coves, the old nineteenth-century tuna fishery seen from the sea, untouched beaches like Calamosche, and a sea that shifts in colour with every mile. A natural oasis far from the crowds, home to over 250 species of migratory birds.

A single tour that combines archaeology, legend, protected nature and some of the clearest waters in all of Sicily — our most complete excursion.

The fjord and the stone turtle

Brucoli & Arcile Bay

A stretch of coast that looks as though it belongs to another sea entirely: we depart from Riva Nazario Sauro, in Syracuse, bound for Brucoli, a peninsula village set within a genuine fjord carved into the rock by the Porcaria stream, between sheer limestone walls and caves inhabited since the Neolithic era. From the water we admire the majestic Castello della Regina, a 15th-century Aragonese fortress that dominates the tip of the peninsula, and sail past the Brucoli lighthouse, today an elegant boutique hotel — the perfect setting for a sunset aperitivo.

Continuing along the Saracena-Castelluccio coast, among coves and volcanic cliffs, we reach Arcile Bay: waters that shift from deep blue to turquoise, seabeds of Posidonia oceanica, and the famous Scoglio della Tartaruga (Turtle Rock), an isolated boulder with an unmistakable silhouette, surrounded by caves and inlets perfect for snorkeling. A wild, isolated coastline, still unspoiled — where time seems to have stood still since the Neolithic age.