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Beaches, Italy · July 13, 2010

Tempting Tuesday: Cooling Off in Calabria at Giovino Beach by Cherrye Moore

This month we’re heading to the beach with a great line up of Tempting Tuesday posts by writers from around the world. I asked them to share with us their favorite beach, which is a refreshing topic during this sticky and hot time of year in southern Italy. This week Cherrye Moore from My Bella Vita is taking us to one of her favorite beaches in Catanzaro, Calabria. Looks mighty tempting to me!

Welcome, Cherrye!

________________________________________________________

 

If there is one thing I’ve fallen in love with as much as Calabria’s beaches-it is sharing those beaches with my family and friends and today I’d like to invite you come along to my favorite beach-Giovino.

Giovino is a small stretch of beach that extends past the noise and bustle of busy Catanzaro Lido in Calabria’s capital city, in a relatively new development beyond the harbor. The area has a wide beach with tan sand, features both a public beach and private lido areas and is accented by tall, blue mountains that overlook the sea.

 

Govino,_Catanzaro_Lido_Calabria

Most of the lidi in Giovino offer daily, weekly or seasonal umbrella rentals, which come with two lounging beach chairs, a colorful umbrella and a private beach area that is cleaned daily. Many Calabrians-especially those with teenagers or young children-rent an umbrella for the summer, usually next to their best friend or a close family member’s umbrella, and spend every morning at the beach.

My choice lido is Sunrise, located near the beginning of the Giovino stretch. If you are visiting Catanzaro for a day or two, you can rent your own umbrella and lounge chairs for €10-€15 a day, depending on their location on the beach.

The small, dark wood kiosk blares fun music and sells drinks, gelato and sandwiches and the owners have provided a free beach volleyball net for their beach-goers. A well-kept flower garden surrounds the entrance to the main restaurant, that serves fresh seafood by day and wood-stove pizzas at night.

The water, while still surprisingly cool for mid-July, is a refreshing retreat from the blazing Mezzogiorno sun that shines over this little part of Catanzaro. It is almost always clean and clear and the laughter of children splashing in the mini waves echoes throughout the quiet beach.

Oh, yes. Giovino beach in Catanzaro Lido is still a lesser-known, family-beach-going-kind-of-place, so if you do visit, don’t tell them I sent you. The locals, like me, want to keep it that way.

________________

Cherrye Moore is a Calabria travel consultant and freelance writer living in southern Italy. She writes about travel for MNUI.com and about living and traveling in Calabria on her own site, My Bella Vita. You can also visit her at her bed and breakfast in Catanzaro, Il Cedro.

Posted In: Beaches, Italy · Tagged: Beaches, Guest Post, Italy, Tempting Tuesday

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Comments

  1. Cherrye Moore says

    July 13, 2010 at 11:14

    Thanks so much for hosting me, Laura. I wish I was at Giovino now – dang is it hot here. 🙂

    Cherrye
    http://my-bellavita.com

    Reply
  2. Laura says

    July 13, 2010 at 12:37

    Ciao Cherrye! And I sure wish I could meet you there! 🙂

    Reply
  3. Saretta says

    July 13, 2010 at 15:56

    Sounds very nice, and the prices are quite affordable! It's not as pretty and more expensive over here in my part of Apulia.

    Reply
  4. Laura says

    July 13, 2010 at 15:59

    Ciao Saretta! I'm surprised for some reason to hear that it is more expensive over on your side. But I haven't been to Apulia before… hoping to remedy that this summer! 🙂

    Reply
  5. Bill and Carol says

    July 15, 2010 at 11:17

    Laura, nice to find Cherrye here today.
    Hey Cherrye, So funny that I'm finding all my blog writing friends at other blogs today. Just came over from Valerie's 2Baci in a Pinion Tree, where I found Laura guesting. Now here at Ciao, Amalfi, I found you guesting. Seems like everyone is virtual-vacationing….we can barely keep up with our own little blog….so complimenti!!! Anyway, hoping to catch up with Laura in September if we can get away to Vietri for a week.We're not going to make it to Calabria this time, but hopefully we'll return next year.(fingers crossed) Buon vacanza!

    Reply
  6. Laura says

    July 16, 2010 at 10:40

    Ciao Bill & Carol! Isn't fun the way we're all jumping around? 🙂 Drop me a line when you're heading this way in September. It would be fun to meet up!

    Reply
  7. nyc/caribbean ragazza says

    July 16, 2010 at 19:50

    I wish I could hop in that water right now.

    It's almost 8:00 p.m. in Rome and still very hot. Non mi piace.

    Reply
  8. Laura says

    July 21, 2010 at 12:10

    Ciao nyc/caribbean ragazza! I think the only things that like this heat are the cicadas. They're really happy this morning…. so hot!!

    Reply

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