Apr 27 – Amalfi Coast Cruise

Today we had a taxi pick us up to take us down to the Marina Grande where we will be catching our cruise of the Amalfi Coast.  We were early for our cruise so wandered a bit and took a few photos.

We eventually boarded a small boat with seven others (4 from New Jersey and 5 from Australia) for our cruise along the Amalfi Coast.

Photos of Sorrento as we left the harbor.

We could see our hotel from the water.

On the way out of the Bay of Naples the pilot, Luigi, brought us up to a small waterfall…

and a very small grotto (too small for us to go inside).

Near the end of the peninsula was the Punta Del Capo, Roman ruins.  Seemed to be a popular fishing spot.

As we rounded the cape there was a Roman Watch tower.  We saw a number of watch towers all along the cruise.  The square towers are Roman; the round ones Medieval. 

And the day was so clear we had good views of the island of Capri, 9 miles away.

It was a clear day with blue skies and blue water so we had good views of the cliffs that line this section of the coast.

We crept into a small inlet that had fishermen’s houses…

and sailed up to the three Li Galli Islands, one of which was owned by the world-famous ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev.  It is now owned by a major Italian hotelier and you can stay here if you want.  But it is only booked three weeks out of the year.  It can accommodate 12 guests, and comes with staff includes staff, catering and a yacht.  The price is approximately $240,000 for a week.  

The other islands of this small archipelago and some other rock islands.

The boat was pretty small and half of the group needed to sit on the front deck.  The pilot gave some narration of what we were seeing...and spent a lot of time in this position talking to the folks up front. 

Photos from all along the coastline. 

The islands are near Positano, and we saw this little gem as we sailed by.  Our first stop wasin Amalfi, which was particularly spectacular from the water. 

We had enough time for lunch and a little exploring. 

We did see the cathedral there but didn’t go in.

The streets were lined with souvenir shops and small eateries.  And were pretty packed with tourists…and it isn’t even high season yet.  However, we did find out later that it was a four day weekend so the Italians were out in force for a holiday.

We could see very small jellyfish in the very clear waters.

From there we sailed back to Positano, again, beautiful from the water. 

We had time explore.  

It was even more packed than Amalfi.  Lots of souvenir shops and restaurants.

The beach was split between open swimming and a private section with lounge chairs and blue and white umbrellas. 

Near Positano was the villa that formerly belonged to the actress Sophia Loren.

On the way back we had a stop for some swimming.  We didn’t go in but most of the rest of the group did.

We also had a stop at the Emerald Grotto.  The color was such an intense green.  Magical.

And there were tons of fish at the entrance.  Not sure but the pilots might have been throwing out fish food.

High on a nearby cliff was this small statue of the Virgin Mary.

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More Amalfi Cruise
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We were back in Sorrento about 5:00 and decided to have dinner at one of the harbor restaurants.  Then we caught a taxi back to the hotel.  A beautiful day.