A Day at Santa Croce Beach

Laura Thayer
See & Do
Most Beautiful Beaches of the Amalfi Coast

– My favorite beach on the Amalfi Coast – Santa Croce

Anyone who has spent time on the Amalfi Coast or lived here has a favorite beach. The beautiful beaches and tiny little coves that dot the coastline certainly can make that a hard decision. While I have quite a few that would be contenders, there’s only one that could be called my favorite – the Santa Croce beach. Located just a short boat ride west of Amalfi, it’s isolated enough to feel far away from the world, but still relatively quick and easy to reach.

Most Beautiful Beach on the Amalfi Coast

– Arriving at the Santa Croce beach not far from Amalfi

There are two restaurants with beach access at Santa Croce–Ristorante da Teresa and Ristorante Santa Croce–and they both offer boat service back and forth from Amalfi if you are dining at the restaurant or renting a sunbed for the day. For a small fee, there’s also a separate boat service to Santa Croce if you’d just like to throw down a towel on the free part of the beach (beware … very large stones!) or want to get to the beach on a larger boat. There’s a ramp on the front of the boat that drops down to the beach.

How to reach Santa Croce Beach Amalfi Coast

– The boat service to Santa Croce for a small fee

We’ve always gone to Ristorante da Teresa, which you can spot from the sea with its bright orange umbrellas. They have a covered dining patio for relaxing meals overlooking the sea, or you can eat on the beach as well.

Beautiful Amalfi Coast Beach

– The view of the beach from Ristorante da Teresa

I’m in love with the orange umbrellas and their shocking color against the clear blue sky. I could lay and look at them all day long. (Yep, I’ve tested that.) Deep down in my soul I must have a thing for complementary colors.

Amalfi Coast Best Beach

– I could look at this view all day

Oh, and I definitely have a thing for beach picnics at Santa Croce, especially when they involve fried calamari with a dose of freshly squeezed Amalfi Coast lemon, insalata di mare and a most divine parmigiana made with zucchini instead of eggplant. And the summer essential – refreshing white wine with slices of sweet peaches.

Where to Eat on the Amalfi Coast

– Lunch on the beach from Ristorante da Teresa

What better way to finish off a beach picnic than with fresh fruit? Ristorante Da Teresa also does excellent panini and the restaurant is out of this world for fresh fish. Even if you’re not a beach person, you can enjoy the boat ride to the restaurant and dine overlooking the sea.

Amalfi Coast Travel Picnic Beach

– The perfect beach dessert

The beach at Santa Croce is not for the faint of heart as it’s quite rocky. Adventurously rocky. I love exploring and climbing over the rocks along the beach, perhaps even more than swimming in the water. It opens to the most beautiful views of impossibly blue pools sparkling in the sunshine. Look closely and there are tiny crabs crawling over the same rocks and lots of other little things to discover.

Amalfi Coast Travel Santa Croce Beach Rocks

– This is what I love

 

Amalfi Coast Travel Beautiful Beach Blue Water

– Mesmerizing scenes

 

Amalfi Coast Travel Most Beautiful Beach

– Dreamy sea views at Santa Croce

After a bit of climbing and swimming, it’s back to the sunbed to enjoy a view like the one below. This is good for the soul. Very good! It has been a rare experience over this busy summer and with my recent trip back to America. But when it’s rare it’s even sweeter somehow.

Amalfi Coast Travel Beautiful Beach Summer

– A much needed day at the beach

First Summer Swim in Amalfi

Laura Thayer
See & Do

Amalfi Coast Best Beaches Harbor

Summer has arrived on the Amalfi Coast! The first half of June has been unusually warm, which has the beaches busy and sunbathers happy. Dig out the flip flops, swimsuits and towels. It’s time for the beach! I didn’t make it to the beach until last weekend, a tad behind many of the locals and a lot of the tourists. But there’s a right time for everything, and that time was last Sunday. The sky was clear, the sun was hot and there was a slight breeze from the sea – the perfect beach day!

Mesmerizing Blue Sea in Amalfi

Since we hadn’t been in the sun much yet we just wanted to take a quick swim and get that first sun without burning. (Well, me burning. My husband tans in about 32 seconds and doesn’t burn.) We had planned to go to the larger Marina Grande beach, but were stopped in our tracks by the clear, tranquil water at the port. There weren’t very many people either. We found a spot for our towels right by the edge of the water and the view was lovely. The mast of one sailboat soared above all the other boats moored in the harbor.

Sailboat on the Amalfi Coast

Since the temperatures just warmed up a couple of weeks ago the sea is still pretty chilly. I was able to wade in quite a bit, but chose not to make the full plunge. The little girl that ran into the water with a big splash only to pop up a moment later and scream, “Aaaaaah it’s freezing save meeeeeee” wasn’t particularly encouraging either.

Beautiful Rocky Beach on the Amalfi Coast

So I attended to my normal beach activity of watching the waves rush through the rocks, enjoying the sun sparkling on the sea and taking photos. While I’m not an overly cautious person, I do appreciate the fact that to date no one has had to save me from any of those activities.

Ciao Amalfi Coast Travel Beach Amalfi Flag

That was followed by a particularly noble attempt to lay in the sunshine and do nothing. I’m way out of practice there, so that lasted about 5 minutes before I remembered I had grabbed a magazine on the way out of the house. Yes, Elizabeth Gilbert to the rescue! This is a magazine that I bought in America last November. I guess I’m a little behind on my pleasure reading, but I enjoyed the interview. The cover matched my towel and swimsuit. That’s how I accessorize for the beach, yes siree!

Ciao Amalfi Coast Travel Summer Beach Reading

The small beach where we stopped in Amalfi is right in the port and is a free beach, which means you can just throw your towel down. It’s a popular beach with families, especially with very young kids or babies, since the access to the beach is down a gentle slop, the water is calm and the swimming area is small. Now that school is out for most kids this beach will be pretty crazy soon. But last weekend it was perfect for our first swim of the summer!

Family Friendly Beach on the Amalfi Coast

 

A Summer Swim at Santa Croce

Laura Thayer
See & Do
Amalfi Coast Travel Santa Croce Beach Amalfi

Arriving by boat to the tiny Santa Croce beach west of Amalfi

The waves splash against the side of the small boat as it turns toward shore and the brilliant orange umbrellas at the Santa Croce beach. Somewhere in the mountains soaring above the Amalfi Coast road twists and turns its way through Vettica, a hamlet of Amalfi, and closer by the buoys bounce up and down in the waves. This little rocky cove is a piece of heaven on the Amalfi Coast – miles away from all the hubbub in Amalfi just a short boat ride away. I know I’ve written about Santa Croce beach several times here on Ciao Amalfi, but it’s just one of those spots that calls to me again and again. And when you step off the boat and are greeted with this view, how could you not be smitten?

Amalfi Coast Travel Santa Croce Beach Clear Water

Stepping off the boat to quite a view!

The clear water and and rocky beach are two of the reasons this is such a remarkable spot. The restaurants just steps from the water serving fresh fish and Amalfi Coast dishes complete the perfect setting. When we go we take the restaurant boat shuttle for the Ristorante Da Teresa, which departs from the Amalfi harbor near the Hotel Bussola. The boat brings you right to a small pier between the rocks where you can easily debark and find a sun bed nearby. Tip: If you want a bed along the water’s edge, head to Santa Croce earlier in the morning!

Amalfi Coast Travel Santa Croce Beach Ristorante Da Teresa

The landing for the boats from Ristorante Da Teresa

But the view from the second row is pretty darn nice, too. I’ve always been fond of the color orange, and it makes such a striking view against the back drop of the blue sky and sea. This is a view that soothes the soul and relaxes the muscles.

Amalfi Coast Travel Santa Croce Beach Umbrella

Settling in for an afternoon at the beach

Looking west from the beach you can spot the Arco Naturale, a natural arch, that is a popular spot for swimmers and rock climbers who scramble up and dive off the top. Not me, naturally. I’m the one sitting on the sun bed taking photos.

Amalfi Coast Travel Santa Croce Beach Arco Naturale

Looking toward the Arco Naturale from Santa Croce

If you don’t want to take one of the restaurant shuttle boats, there’s a boat service that connects Amalfi with Santa Croce and the nearby Duoglio beach. Every once in awhile the peace is interrupted by the boat ladder flopping down onto the pebbly beach and and the crew calling out the next departure times for Amalfi.

Amalfi Coast Travel Santa Croce Beach Boat

The boat service from Amalfi to Santa Croce

We enjoy going with the Ristorante Da Teresa boat service because we’re always so tempted by the delicious scents wafting out from the restaurant that we either take a break from the sun to enjoy lunch on their gorgeous terrace or have sandwiches or fried calamari right down on the beach. Oh … and don’t forget the local white wine with slices of fresh peaches. Really, this is something you don’t want to miss!

Santa Croce Ristorante Da Teresa

Looking from the Ristorante Da Teresa to the beach

This year in addition to the large, covered dining area there is a new spot (above) with tables and umbrellas that looks like the perfect spot for enjoying a panino or coffee. Nearby the stairs leading down to the beach caught my eye … that’s what you call a stairway to paradise!

Santa Croce Steps

The stairway to paradise

There’s a moment when I just can’t stand it anymore and I grab my camera and go for a stroll to take photos. This is beach where you’ll definitely want to make sure you have flip flops or beach shoes of some kind, because the stones are large and hot after baking in the sun all day.

Amalfi Coast Travel Santa Croce Beach Swimming

A tricky but very rewarding swimming spot

Getting into the water can also be a bit challenging with the stones and rocky beach, but once you do it’s well worth the effort. Sometimes it’s easiest to just get as close to the water as you can, stash your flip flops somewhere nearby where the waves won’t wash them away and just do an oh so elegant … splash! Don’t worry, that’s pretty much what the locals do, too.

Amalfi Coast Travel Santa Croce Beach View

A dreamy view at Santa Croce

Before leaving I had to catch just one more image of the rocky beach and an orange umbrella framing a perfect view of a white sailboat. What did I say? Yes, definitely a slice of heaven!

Primo Bagno

Laura Thayer
See & Do
Ciao Amalfi Coast Travel First Swim Summer Beach

Heading to the beach in Amalfi for the first swim of the season!

 

Ciao Amalfi Coast Travel First Swim Summer Beach

Heading to the beach in Amalfi for the first swim of the season!

This spring has been an odd one on the Amalfi Coast with many days of rain and surprising chilly weather. When the weather finally got the messsagio that it was time for summer, the beaches went from empty to busy practically overnight. Everyone was eager for the primo bagno … or first swim. I’m not up to cold water temps so my first swim didn’t happen until a couple of weeks ago at the beginning of June.

Ciao Amalfi Coast Travel First Swim June Clear Water

Temptingly clear but cool water in Amalfi

The water was quite chilly like it usually is in April or May, but that also meant it was still as beautiful and clear as it is in early spring. Just look at that turquoise!

Ciao Amalfi Coast Travel Blog Sea Amalfi

Looking down at the sea and rocks in Amalfi

I must admit that I enjoyed the sunshine more than the swim since the water was still too cool for me to really enjoy. Just look at the boy wading into the sea in the photo below and his body language pretty much expresses just how chilly the water felt.

Ciao Amalfi Coast Travel First Swim June Cold Water

Hot hot sun and cold water …

Either side of the Marina Grande beach in Amalfi has a free area where you can just throw down your towel. Or in between there are several places to choose from for a sun bed and umbrella if you’re staying longer and want to be more comfortable. Seeing as it was my first swim … and sun … we didn’t stay long.

Ciao Amalfi Coast Travel Blog Marina Grande Beach

Amalfi’s Marina Grande Beach

The recent scorching temps have warmed the water up quite a bit and it finally looks and feels like summer around here. The beach season has begun!

Ready for the Beach

Laura Thayer
Amalfi Coast Seasons

Amalfi Coast Marina Grande Beach Ready for Summer

Yesterday afternoon I looked down and saw that the Marina Grande beach in Amalfi had been prepared for the summer with its pebbles neatly raked back into place and a freshly painted blue walkway leading down to the sea. It was fun catching the geometric pattern of the rocks, because it certainly won’t last long with the weather warming up. I caught a bit of late afternoon sun on the beach, but the swimming will have to wait a little longer as the water is still too chilly for me. But I did enjoy walking along the shore and then warming up my toes in the sunshine!

At the Beach in Amalfi Italy

It was beautiful watching the evening light, a group of young boys playing in the water and a vibrant red boat with a young crew team out practicing. Oh, yes, and a white sailboat. Perfection!

Evening on the Beach in Amalfi