Nautical Excursions Not to Be Missed
- Try a unique experience
- Visit the most beautiful beaches
- Discover the tanneries
Marzamemi seen from the sea: a unique experience
Marzamemi is a small hamlet of Pachino, in the province of Syracuse, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
The beauty of Marzamemi has been described by many artists, writers and poets, but to fully appreciate its magnificence, one must see it from the sea.
Departing from the historic small port of Marzamemi, “LA BALATA,” about a mile northeast direction, at a depth of 5 meters, above a rocky seabed, are lying marble columns dating back to the third century A.D., in particular, we find a large column, about 6 meters long with a diameter of 1.80 meters, 3 columns of 4 meters and three capitals, is the result of a shipwreck is presumed to be of a Roman ship, which carried about 160 tons, including amphorae and columns.
The best way to admire these underwater vestiges, surely is an underwater vision boat, which has been taking tourists on this fascinating excursion for several years.
For more information and to book boat excursions visit sikeliasail.co.uk.
Beaches in the Val di Noto Area
The beaches of Marzamemi are among the most beautiful in Sicily.
San Lorenzo beach, for example, is about 3 km long and is characterized by fine, golden sand.
Carratois beach, on the other hand, is smaller but just as picturesque.
Both beaches are easily accessible from the sea and offer the opportunity for a refreshing swim or swim.
Also in this direction, the Vendicari Oriented Nature Reserve offers a spectacle not to be missed; the reserve’s extensive kilometers of coastline offer crystal-clear waters in Caribbean colors, a protected area that covers about 1,500 hectares.
Here you can admire breathtaking landscapes, pristine beaches and rare animal species such as the pink flamingo.
Also at the reserve there is the possibility of boat trips, clearly respecting the legal distances from the coast, being precisely a nature reserve.
One of the most exciting excursion is in a southerly direction from Marzamemi, towards the island of Capo Passero, admiring the beach of Morghella already glimpsing the island of Capo Passero, the whole island has some really fantastic spots for snorkeling, such as: i ruttazzi (the grottacce), the northern point of the island just below the Spanish fort where there are several small caves with a decreasing seabed and where you can admire different qualities of fish including damsel, wrasse, castanets,octopus, dog worm and as a historical find an ancient anchor positioned just below the lighthouse of the fort.
Continuing on we find theIsland of Currents, so called because of the presence of many sea currents and it is here that the Ionian Sea and the Sicilian Channel meet, the bay of the Island is characterized by sand dunes and the seabed is purely sandy, except for the wreck that we find right in the middle of the bay about 50 meters from the coast, it is a Maltese merchant ship, wrecked about 30 years ago due to a fire on board, about a mile, from the coast we have the presence of a shoal of about 4 meters with a truly unique seabed.
We are in the Sicilian Channel and continuing, we find Punta delle Formiche, which is so called because the outcropping rocks, seen from a distance resemble ants, adjacent to the latter we find the Grotte dei Sospiri, so called because the gurgling of the water resembles a sigh.
This area is also named Tanneries, precisely because of the presence of ancient tanneries dug into the rock.
A characteristic feature of this stretch is the presence of white clay, where mud naturally forms.
Passing the long beach of Granelle, about 5 km, we encounter Porto Ulisse and Punta Castellazzo, which together with Punta Cirica are the head of the snorkeling line.
Between Porto Ulisse and Cirica are two reefs: Iannazzo and Iannazzieddu are two must-see snorkeling spots.
