The beaches of Panarea
Little sand, plenty of rock and water that changes colour at every step. Panarea's beaches are earned on foot or by boat, which is exactly why they stay the way they are.
Little sand, plenty of rock and water that changes colour at every step. Panarea's beaches are earned on foot or by boat, which is exactly why they stay the way they are.
Cala Junco is Panarea's postcard: a horseshoe bay enclosed by columns of volcanic rock, with water that shifts from green to turquoise. There is no sand but pebbles and slabs of stone, no bar and no shade: bring everything with you.
Getting there. On foot from San Pietro it takes about thirty minutes: follow the road towards Drautto, pass Cala degli Zimmari and climb the Capo Milazzese headland, where the huts of the prehistoric village are the last landmark. The final descent is a steep stairway. Otherwise come by sea, with a water taxi from the port or a rented boat.
When. Early in the morning, before the heat and the boats. With a sirocco wind the sea here gets choppy: pick a calm day.
Zimmari is Panarea's only real sandy beach: a crescent of coarse reddish sand, sheltered from the wind, with a seabed that slopes gently. It is the beach for children and lazy days, about twenty minutes on foot from San Pietro along the Drautto road. In high season there are sunbeds and umbrellas for hire and a small refreshment point.
It lies five minutes before Cala Junco: many swim at Zimmari in the morning and carry on to Junco when the sun moves round.
The wild beach of the fumaroles: hot stones, steam rising from the rock and the yellow of sulphur. You reach it from Ditella down a steep path. Watch where you put your feet: in places the fumaroles reach 100 °C.
The stone platforms below San Pietro and along the Ditella coast are the beaches of those who live here: a towel on the smooth lava, a dive into deep water and the islets in view. Rock shoes are a must.
Lisca Bianca, Bottaro, Dattilo and Basiluzzo have coves you can only reach from the sea: the underwater fumaroles where the water bubbles, the tiny beach of Le Guglie on Dattilo, the caves of Basiluzzo. Half a day by boat is enough to see them all.
And then there is the sea at home. At the Waterfront estate the private descent to the sea, with a shower on the rocks, is a few steps from Colomba, Casa Matta and Casa Mattina: you go down in your swimsuit and come back up for lunch, with no queue for an umbrella.
Six houses and villas within a private seafront estate in Panarea, steps from everything in this guide.
See the houses