The Aeolian Islands

by James Fulcher

Our trip

Four of us, two couples with two snorkellers and two non-snorkellers, went to the Aeolian islands in mid-September 2007. Our trip was organised by Sicilian Experience (Italia nel Mondo UK Ltd). We tacked a week in a hotel on Lipari, the main Aeolian island, on to a week’s tour of mainland Sicily to see the sights there. After racing round Sicily it was great to be in such a beautiful, interesting, and relaxing place for a whole week.

The hotel we stayed in was the Giardino Sul Mare, which we found excellent. Location was superb, on top of the cliffs with wonderful views out over the sea and to the port of Lipari. And there were steps down to the sea so that you could actually snorkel off from the hotel. There were also good places to sit under parasols and enjoy the view, and a pool. Only five minutes or so to walk into the town or the port for good bars, shops and restaurants.

Snorkelling

Our best snorkelling was in fact from the hotel steps! The water was very clear, with occasional flotsam coming from the port when it was busy but this was not really a problem. You also had to watch out for the wake from the hydrofoils leaving the port. This was no coral reef but there were still lots of fish to see, shoals of large and small fish, brightly coloured territorial fish guarding their rocks, camouflaged fish hiding in crevices. Also sea urchins, sponges, starfish, and at least one octopus. A few small jelly-fish too with stingers trailing out behind but you could at least see them and avoid them. Once I thought I saw two young swordfish but they went off fast and I didn’t get close enough to be sure.

The other snorkelling was on boat trips. There were excellent boat trips to other islands. Lots of different trips, of varying lengths and on different sized boats with varying facilities. Also lots of touts but it was best to do some walking and asking around at the boat company offices to find trips that really suited you.

We went on one trip to Stromboli via Panarea to see Stromboli erupting at night. Not to be missed and we had excellent pizzas on Stromboli, at a pizzeria with fine views out over the sea as the sun set. The swimming/snorkelling stop was at Cala Junco on Panarea, a beautiful bay where all the boats stop and with good snorkelling. Would love to have spent more time there but the stop was only for twenty minutes or so.

Our other all-day trip was from Lipari to Salina, around Salina, and back along the west coast of Lipari. Another wonderful trip. The islands are beautiful and the coastal scenery is fantastic. Had four swimming stops but unfortunately only one (on the west coast of Lipari) was really good for snorkelling, as the boat was generally moored too far from likely coves and rocks. Stops were also too short for much exploration.




You can see the problem with the boat trips from a snorkelling point of view. Another possibility was to go out with the diving outfit--La Gorgonia (see Alison Boler‘s report). They were only five minutes from our hotel. I e-mailed them before we arrived and they replied that we could go out with them but when I called in they said there were not enough people around in September to justify a trip. Another possibility would be to hire a small boat to go on a trip round to the west coast of Lipari, which looked great for snorkelling. Would only take about twenty minutes to get round there and we did see from our hotel lots of small boats setting off on family trips of this kind. Yet another way of doing it would be to hire a scooter and find your way round to the west coast beaches.

My feeling was that there was a huge potential for snorkelling in these islands, if only one could get to good snorkelling places more easily. Ours was a holiday with some snorkelling rather than a snorkelling holiday but a younger, more energetic, more committed group of snorkellers could exploit this potential more than we did. We certainly enjoyed the snorkelling we did and absolutely loved the islands, which each had their individual charms. For descriptions see Alison’s excellent account. We certainly want to go back!

When to go

September was a really good time to be there. Water was warm and no wet suits needed. Weather was good and it wasn’t too hot. There were still tourists around and some tour groups were being led about but it was not overcrowded. There were still lots of boat trips. July and August are by all accounts too hot and too crowded. Earlier in the year would no doubt be nice (see Alison’s report). October could well be good but places might be shutting down, though I got the feeling that the holiday season was getting longer.

Getting there

The main way of getting there is by hydrofoil/ferry from Milazzo on the north coast of Sicily proper. During the high season ferries go from Palermo or from Naples. We got to Milazzo by car (organised rather badly by the local Sicilian Experience rep) from Giardini Naxos, where our Sicily tour finished. You could fly into Palermo and then take the train along the coast to Milazzo, maybe stopping off in Cefalu, which is interesting and beautiful. The islands are remote but this is part of their charm and long may they remain so!


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