It’s a beautiful day, the sky is clear and there’s a light southerly wind. The calm sea with its thousands of morning reflections confirms that I’ve made the right choice… today we’re going on a dinghy!
With a rented boat on a day like today, where the weather conditions allow it, you can visit the Argentario coast and Giglio Island, even with a boat without a licence (at the end of the article I will give you all the contact details for the Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole rentals).

The day will be long, so my friends and I will organise ourselves perfectly! Breakfast at the Bar Ritorno, which is exactly opposite the embarkation point for the rented boats, and a supply of “provisions”! “Schiaccia, focaccia and pizza” at Panificio Alocci, not far away, and sliced meats and cheeses at Maremma Bona, both historic local shops. I live in Porto Santo Stefano, but my friends are visiting… so I want them to discover not only the beauty of the promontory but also the local flavours and specialities… and you can’t go wrong at Alocci and Maremma Bona!

Loaded as if we were going to sail for weeks, we set sail on our adventure!
We leave the harbour, Porto Vecchio (and admire the big, magnificent boats on the quayside), Punta Lividonia and head straight for the Giglio island! Crossing the channel is always beautiful, the proximity of the Argentario promontory, Giglio and Giannutri means you can always navigate by sight… and this gives peace of mind even to the less experienced (like us!).

We head for Giglio Porto, although we have no intention of going down, but I want to show my friends this wonderful village of small, colourful houses, set, like a drawing, between the rocks and the vegetation. Forty minutes and we’re on the coast! We enjoy it all, sailing slowly, admiring the fantastic rocks that here have a completely different shape to those on the Argentario and the wonderful gradations of colours in the water.

Chatting (we are three women on board) and laughing a lot, we arrived at the famous Campese stack! We get as close as we can and decide it’s time for our first stop! We drop anchor in Cala del Gesso, immediately behind the stack, and dive in with fins and mask! Here, as on the Argentario, snorkeling is highly recommended!
In no hurry (but without stopping!), after a snack, we resume our slow navigation.

There isn’t a cove that isn’t worthy of a photo… we pass Punta di Mezzo Franco and head for Cala Dell’Allume, passing slowly under the coast, between other boats, and then we proceed. I really want to surprise my friends, so I head for Cala del Corvo with its beautiful little cave!

I chose to visit the western side of the island because you can only admire it from the sea, it’s wilder… a bit like me! And on this calm day, everything is possible!

We enjoy a hearty lunch and set off again! We pass Punta di Caper Rosso and the image of the Argentario stands out in front of us again! We reluctantly say goodbye to Giglio and head straight for Punta Avvoltore. While I’m there, I take them to see the Grotta Azzurra and the Grotta di Cala dei Santi, which are very close to each other… My friends are amazed by such beauty!

We go slowly, admiring the coastline, its peaks and its inevitable towers… Cala Purgatorio… le Cannelle and a stop and swim at Isola Rossa, just in front of Cala Mar Morto. Here the stop is enriched by a fantastic extra… snack with bread and sea urchins!

The sun begins to set, and even though when I’m at sea I’d like never to return, I start thinking about getting back. Slowly we pass Sassi Verdi, La Maddalena, Capo d’Omo, Cala Piccola… the thousands of colours of the sun umbrellas in Cala del Gesso, Argentarola and Cala Moresca and pass Punta di Cala Grande… which we find crowded with boats.

We are ready to return to port… reluctantly! A wonderful day to admire what you can’t see from land and to let the sea regenerate you!

Our eyes and hearts are full of incredible beauty and after refuelling and the delivery of the boat we decide to continue the day! Shopping and dinner! One thing I love about seaside resorts is that you can go to dinner “dressed up” or “as you are” (I obviously prefer the latter!).

Rejoined by our respective husbands (banned from the day for the occasion) we tell them about the amazing day and show them the photos and let ourselves be wowed by Graziano Ballerano’s dishes at la Vecchia Pesa, a restaurant right opposite the port.

INFO

For boat rentals in Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole see Argentario dal Mare
For Shops see Shopping
For Restaurants and Bars see Food & Wine

Have fun and… see you next time with “Argentario Experience”. Ebe Montresor.

Want more information or want to share your experience? Write us! info@argentariolifestyle.it