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Riviera dei Ciclopi Tour: Explore Ulysses’ Caves & Cyclops’ Islands
4.9
113 Ratings
Catania
Discover Riviera dei Ciclopi: sail, swim, and explore Ulysses’ Caves, Acicastello Castle, and Cyclops’ Islands. Enjoy lunch and learn sailing basics.
Discover Riviera dei Ciclopi: sail, swim, and explore Ulysses’ Caves, Acicastello Castle, and Cyclops’ Islands. Enjoy lunch and learn sailing basics.
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
-
Castello Normanno - Welcome aboard!
After meeting the skipper, you’ll board a boat featuring three double cabins (one available during the excursion), a bathroom with a shower and an external shower, a kitchen, and a refrigerator.
These caves were formed in a stunning lava cliff overlooking the sea. The colors of the backdrops are breathtaking,…
- Castello Normanno - Welcome aboard!
After meeting the skipper, you’ll board a boat featuring three double cabins (one available during the excursion), a bathroom with a shower and an external shower, a kitchen, and a refrigerator.
These caves were formed in a stunning lava cliff overlooking the sea. The colors of the backdrops are breathtaking, ranging from dark blue to green to light blue.
Marvel at the Medieval Castle
While sailing towards Acitrezza, you’ll pass beneath the medieval castle of Acicastello. The view of the castle by the sea is spectacular. You can observe the distinctive “pillow lavas” found under the castle, formed by the rapid cooling of submarine eruptions.
- Acitrezza - Once docked at the port of Aci Trezza, you’ll have about an hour of free time to spend as you wish (this time is not included in the daily charter and is your responsibility).
For example, you could take a walking tour of the charming fishing village of Acitrezza. Alternatively, you could hire a pedalo (included in the price) or use a transport service on a small fishing boat to Lachea Island, the heart of the reserve, where you can snorkel with equipment provided by us.
Back on the boat, we will serve you lunch (included in the price): appetizer, first fish course (may vary depending on the availability of the catch of the day), fresh seasonal fruit, water, and white wine Doc.
*It is possible to request a vegetarian or vegan menu. For any other dietary requirements (gluten-free, vegan diet, etc.), please let us know when booking.
Return to the port is expected around 6 PM.
What's Included
- Water
- Lunch
- White Wine
- Water
- Lunch
- White Wine
What's Not Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Transportation to/from attractions
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Transportation to/from attractions
Additional Information
A full day excursion discovering the “Riviera dei Ciclopi”. During this relaxing day you will admire the Ulysses’ Caves in the landscape, the Medieval Castle in Acicastello and the naturalistic area of Acitrezza and mythologic Cyclops’ Islands. While navigating, you will learn the basics of sailing and some curiosities and legends about our land. During…
A full day excursion discovering the “Riviera dei Ciclopi”. During this relaxing day you will admire the Ulysses’ Caves in the landscape, the Medieval Castle in Acicastello and the naturalistic area of Acitrezza and mythologic Cyclops’ Islands. While navigating, you will learn the basics of sailing and some curiosities and legends about our land. During the day you will have the possibility to swim and we will offer you also lunch.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- For children from 0 to 3 years hold 10 euro of discount on the price per person
- For children from 3 to 10 years hold 5 euro of discount on the price per person
- May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- A minimum of 3 or 2 (depending on the period) people per booking is required
Location
CAFFÈ DEL PORTO
Via Cardinale Dusmet
The guests can meet our crew just outside the bar "-Caffè del Porto" inside the port of Catania. Starting from the main entrance of the port, you will find the Caffè on the left.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(113 Ratings)
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1 star
Salvatorefw869qd
Aug 10, 2024
Excellent service - Thank you for giving us this wonderful experience!!
I strongly Recommendation the sailing tour departing Catania.
Impeccable service, we did not miss anything.
Lunch was exceptional.
We will definitely return!!
Thank you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Q6160gijamiew
Jun 25, 2024
Best Day of Our Italian Holiday - My husband and I booked a full day sailing experience as part of a family getaway. Our Skipper, Alessandro, was amazing!! We went sailing on a day that wasn’t very windy, but he tried to get us sailing anyway. We thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and we loved the stories he told about the coastline. There was a festival when we arrived in Aci Trezza, so he couldn’t dock. But, Allessandro found a way to get us into the village anyway. We enjoyed a local glass of wine while enjoying the port views. I would absolutely do this tour again, and if you’re reading this- don’t think anymore!! Just book it!! So worth it!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Frarinax
Jun 22, 2024
Best Experience in Catania - Wonderful Experience! A very special thanks of our skipper Andrea who took extreme care of my 2 nephews aged 8 and 10. The boat and the tour are amazing but what made the difference is really the kindness of our skipper who is also a great Cook! Thanks Andrea!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
391elenap
Jun 12, 2024
Sailing - As my first experience on a sailing boat I must say that it met my expectations more than expected... Emilio and Andrea were fantastic, they immediately put us in touch with us. at ease, involving us throughout the duration of the tour, during the operations of hoisting and unfurling the sails, in the terminology and
Not to mention the aperitif and lunch on the boat: Super... two expert chefs... the wine was also impeccable!!!
An experience to definitely recommend and do again... thanks to everyone
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mancfoodie284
Sep 18, 2023
Captain Giovanni made this trip so special for us - As a group of 5, we were excited for this trip but didn’t have many expectations apart from seeing the beautiful catania coastline and hopefully some sea life while snorkelling.
Giovanni took us on the trip and the service we received during our trip definitely surpassed our expectations!! He made sure to tell us about the history of the area, interesting facts and myths about different places we stopped in, as well as giving us lots of opportunities to go swimming. The wind picked up on before we left to sail back to Catania, and we felt safe and looked after under his care.
We were given a fabulous fruit platter once we’d set off, a snack board later and then the main meal once we were back on board after snorkelling. The food was absolutely delicious - both vegetarian and meat -, all washed down with a glass of local wine and great conversation from the lovely Giovanni.
Nice enough boat, with space to sit out on the front in the sun or under the canopy in the shade. Bathroom was impeccably clean. Don’t forget cash to get to snorkelling islands. The rocks can be a bit sharp/slippy so I’d recommend bringing shoes, towel to sit on etc when the boat drops you off.
Overall we had a wonderful day and would recommend this trip to anyone looking for a fun day at sea!
5 star review. Please thank Giovanni again for us!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alessia_m
Jun 4, 2023
The staff Andrea, Anna... - The staff Andrea, Anna and the captain Alfredo were incredible. So friendly and made the day so fun for us.
Review provided by Viator
Jonathan_b
May 30, 2023
Great Day Out - The crew were excellent, very knowledgeable and interesting to chat too. I was a lovely trip and we had great food and drinks.
Review provided by Viator
Chrisrice26
Jul 14, 2023
Expensive but nice - Okay so I'd like to start off by saying the tour operator was brilliant, really prompt with communication and very easy to get hold of so highly recommend them. The crew that met us at the port were nice with a special mention to Kate who was incredibly engaging and upbeat, German but impressively spoke fluent Italian and English.
Now here's where I want to be honest as I use trip advisor a lot to book trips, the food on the boat trip was a little disappointing especially based on the cost as it was canned tuna in a sandwich rather than any fresh fish which was surprising as Catania is famous for its seafood. That being said the bread was delicious as was the mozzarella and there was plenty of sandwiches to go round.
With regards to the trip itself the boat was beautiful and despite minimal wind we managed to get the sail up to travel under wind power and they let us all have a go at hoisting the main sail and driving.
I wish I had know what the stops themselves entailed. The first stop was a short one in the middle of the sea adjacent to some caves which due to the size of our boat we couldn't get close to, this was fine as it was just nice to cool off but due to the depth there wasn't anything to see. The second stop was stunning, lovely small town with a protected rock area that had plenty of fish to see which we got to by hiring a pedalo. Now this was our error, we asked whether the last stop was good to snorkel before we left the boat and were told it was so we only spent a couple of hours at this stop. We should have spent longer here because the last stop was literally about 500m away from where we were previously snorkeling amongst the fish but no we were just outside a port with nothing to see.
Due to the lack of things to see at the last spot we all got back on the boat pretty quickly and we're well ahead of schedule so our trip back to port was slowed to an almost stop to ensure we got the full days worth out of the boat which was nice of them but not necessary.
So in summary brilliant tour operator, lovely crew especially Kate, stunning boat but honestly I wouldn't have bothered with the last stop and food was mediocre. Would still recommend going but spend all the time at the middle stop.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Paulma2768dr
Nov 1, 2022
Catania - filthy city, streets covered in dog faeces, rubbish and graffiti everywhere. Toilets - revolting - Taormina was lovely and so was Etna. Our hotel was clean and the staff very friendly, however Catania away from the Main Street and squares were a complete dump, there was dog mess on every street that we walked, which made it very interesting walking back to hotel in the dark. The streets were filthy and the majority of toilet facilities in cafe and restaurants were disgusting. Most had no seats, no toilet paper and a fair few had no running water or means to wash hands properly. We had a mixed bag when it came to customer service, some very friendly and welcoming and others so rude, arrogant and very unwelcoming. We spent a week in Catania and was a base for visiting Other places, wish we had just booked a break to Taormina with visits from there. I will NOT be returning to Sicily / Catania as it’s not the place portrayed by travel agents or Stanley Tucci it’s a sh.t hole full of arrogant Sicilians, graffiti, dog sh.t and filth everywhere! They try to rip you off at every opportunity.
Not everyone was horrible, some were very kind and welcoming but the majority were rude and simply didn’t want our custom. It’s really sad, because the architecture is amazing if you look beyond the crap and graffiti. Would I recommend going to Catania, No, there are so many other cities around the world that I’ve visited, that are more welcoming and without the dog sh.t I must say Catania is the filthiest place I’ve ever visited.
I’m glad we visited Etna and Taormina, the sights were lovely and memorable, we had some lovely food and drinks during our stay and they do make the best ice cream in the world, limoncello. The daily market in Catania was fun, but you do have to be switched on and ensure handbags, wallets and phones are kept close and secure because you are always being eyed up as a target, the only exception was the Metro which was surprisingly clean and had CCTV and very friendly / helpful staff. I’ve stayed in northern Italy in Venice, Verona and Lake Garda and these places were much cleaner and more friendly and welcoming. Hence why I would NOT recommend Sicily in particular Catania.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kathleen_h
Jun 22, 2023
Safety Measures Questionable - This was not a good experience. I will skip petty complaints and focus on safety concerns. At the conclusion of our tour the motor on our sailboat failed. We were headed back to port and there was not enough wind to get us there. The captain phoned someone, but it was in Italian, we could not understand. We hoped someone was on their way to tow us in, but we sat for 3 hours waiting. The captain brought out a very old 3.5hp Johnson kicker motor, but it did not run. Finally, my 13 year old sun flagged down a small fishing boat who reluctantly gave us a tow. Mechanical issues happen, but here is my concern: there was no working aux power source and no emergency plan. We were in extreme heat and very uncomfortable. We got the impression the boat did not belong to the captain and he tried to what he could with little support. My husband knows sailing and helped, but we were left out on the water entirely too long! I question the professionalism of this company.
Review provided by Viator