WITH 4,536 MILES/7,300 KM OF COASTLINE, gorgeous lakes, and all those enchanting islands, Italy has opportunities amundo for boating adventures. Getting out on the water gives you a chance to change your perspective and take in the landscape like an old-time explorer. Rentals of everything from canoes to 40hp boats can be arranged without a license, but if you’d rather not boat on your own, there are plenty of locals available who will take you around—stopping at choice spots for swimming, fishing, and snorkeling. You can even take a barchetto (old-fashioned gondola-style boat) ride down the Arno River in Florence, which comes with prosecco for sunset excursions (www.viator.com).
Here’s a few primo boating ideas:
Row Venice (www.rowvenice.org)
One of the most extraordinary experiences to be had in Venice is to take a lesson to learn how to row like a gondolier. I’m still amazed when I look at the photo that was snapped of me, standing on the stern of the boat, oar in hand, rocking with the current in the sunset light of the lagoon…
Row Venice is the organization that offers such an adventure. It was created by a team of women, among them Nan McElroy, an American who fell in love with Venice and now lives near the dock in Cannaregio where we started our lesson. The boat used is called a batellina code de gambero, shrimp’s tail, because of its curved shape. It’s just like what you see in the eighteenth-century paintings of Canaletto.
The lesson begins with a demo, but learning comes more as you row along. First there is gliding through back waterways, flanked by lines of laundry, and boats delivering groceries, getting an insider’s look at Venetian life, as Nan calls out to her neighbors who wave from their windows. Then you’re out in the lagoon, a speck in the splendid expanse, with glorious palazzos in the distance.
Lessons are offered all year long, are great for families, and especially wonderful at sunset. For an added treat, there’s an option to take a cichetti row, stopping at various bacari (wine bars).
Kayak Tours in Italy
My Californian friend Barbara Kossy recommends kayaking trips to Sardinia, Sicily, and the island of Elba.
On these leisurely tours, travelers get to explore a different part of the coast by kayak each day. “It’s a great social experience,” Barbara said, “not only within the group, but lots of times we’re joined by kayakers from Italy and other parts of the world as we go along.” There’s also fun to be had swimming, at group dinners, exploring enchanting small towns, and hiking through olive groves, vineyards, and, on the Sicily trip, around Mount Etna.
Best of all, you get to experience the island as the locals do. Leading the trips are expert guides, such as Gaudenzio Coltelli who grew up on Elba and knows every inch of the island, (www.seakayakitaly.it), or Francesco Petralia, a Sicilian volcanologist, who adds dramatic entertainment along the way as he tells stories of ancient myths (www.seakayaksicily.com), and Claudio Desiati on the northern coast of Sardinia (www.sardiniandiscoveries.com), who along with sharing his great passion for his native island, is highly praised for customizing trips for all levels of experience.
Ponza, Lazio
The remote island of Ponza, aka the Roman Capri, has its share of spicy, dark history: Homer wrote that Circe lived here and seduced Odysseus to stay for a year, Pontius Pilot bred moray eels in the island’s caves, and it was a place of exile for naughty empresses and Fascists, including Mussolini.
It’s heaven for boating, with a coastline that’s an enticing mix of chalk-white cliffs, emerald grottoes, and mysterious tunnels, surrounded by clear, deep turquoise waters. Rock formations make each of its beaches unique, and most can only be reached by boat. It’s easy to hop a small ferry from the harbor to get around, or to rent a boat from DivaLuna (www.divaluna.com) and explore as you wish.
Except for weekends in July and August, when it gets mobbed with tourists, Ponza is the perfect spot for an idyllic getaway—at least three days. The harbor town has a wonderful mix of restaurants, bars, and gelaterias. It’s also great for hiking in the hills to the Antiche Cantine Migliaccio winery (www.antichecantinemigliaccio.it), or Ponza’s cemetery—a terraced complex of mausoleums and chapels, set on the rocks, that’s one of the most beautiful cemeteries in Italy.
To Get There: Take a ferry from the coastal towns of Formia, Anzio, or Terracina. Travel times range from 50 minutes to 2-1/2 hours, depending on departure point and type of ferry (www.laziomar.it).
Golden Day: In Ponza, take an excursion from the harbor with Cooperativa Barcaioli (www.barcaioliponza.it) that circles the island, with a swimming break at the beach on the island of Palmarola. The boat captain doubles as chef, and serves a delicious pasta lunch on board. Stay at Piccolo Hotel Luisa (www.piccolohoteluisa.it), an adorable family run 3-star, with spacious rooms and balconies.