I have been to many amazing beaches in my life. Thailand, New Zealand, Costa Rica and Mexico are at the top of my "favourite beach" list. And Italy, of course, with its turquoise sea and white sand or rocky beaches in Liguria, Puglia, Sardinia or Sicily. To be honest, the beaches of Procida are not that beautiful. Still, they have a secret, a special atmosphere, which is hard to explain. I list below some of the advantages of Procidan beaches.

Fisherman next door: your apartment in Procida

As an advocate of slow travel, I always recommend staying longer in one place and making sure the amount you spend on accommodation stays with the local community. In Procida this is quite easy, as most hotels and apartments are owned and run by local people. Although you can find wonderful hotels and B&Bs on the island, and I am happy to book them for you, on this page I am offering apartments where you can really live like a local with that cute old lady or the bearded fisherman next door.

While some long staircases and uphill streets might make you short of breath, the island of Procida is actually very flat, with the highest peak only 91 meters above sea level. That’s where the fortified village of Terra Murata was built. It’s the oldest settlement of Procida, a historical and cultural center, still inhabited. You can walk up there, but if you don’t like going uphill, just take bus C2 from Marina Grande.

Marina Chiaiolella

After arriving at Procida and settling into our apartment, we first headed to the marina with the name that is impossible to pronounce. Chiaiolella harbour is located at the southern end of the island, just opposite from Marina Grande, the main port of Procida.

We were enjoying the everyday pleasures of island life and swimming in the warm waters of Chiaia beach so much, that it was only on our 4th day that we made it to the most photographed part of Procida, Marina Corricella. It’s kind of funny that while the photo of Corricella can be seen quite often, used on the cover of Italian guide books or to advertise Italian language courses, Procida is still a well-kept secret, most people outside of Italy have no idea where it is. Unlike its sister islands in the Bay of Naples, glamorous Capri and green Ischia, Procida is still under the radar of most tourists.