TOP FIVE. Five southern marinas for a warm winter

These seasons have seen the emergence of several ports in southern Italy with state-of-the-art facilities and true service centers, and others have been able to modernize, becoming ideal even for leaving the boat for long

Is the beautiful season coming to an end? True, but who said you can’t keep sailing without worrying too much about the approaching winter? There are many marinas in southern Italy that have stood out in recent years for their facilities and services, so much so that they have become the ports of call for many shipowners from all over Europe.

BETWEEN CAMPANIA AND SICILY
One of the best known is undoubtedly the Marina d’Arechi (Salerno, www.marinadarechi.com), which with its 1,000 berths from 10 to 100 meters is one of the largest marinas in the Mediterranean. All this with an equipped area of 7,000 square meters and a boatyard capable of doing whatever work is needed.

Instead, it makes elegance one of its strengths, thanks in large part to a waterfront that has become over the years the real life center of its stretch of coastline, the Marina di Cala del Sole (Licata, Sicily, www.marinadicaladelsole.it). Boats from 4 to 22 meters in length find a place here, while draughts range from 4 to 6 meters deep.
Also in Sicily, the Marina di Balestrate(www.marinadibalestrate.com) is being reborn: it is starting with 150 berths as early as this year, and the first resources will be invested to get the port as a whole in shape (the area under management is 26,825 sq. m. between the water surface and land areas). In the future, the Marina will be able to accommodate up to 645 boats, including 67 fishing boats (the plan is to be able to reach 80,711 operational square meters by next year).

IN CALABRIA AND BASILICATA
Back on the mainland, and more specifically in Roccella Ionica, Calabria, here is the Porto delle Grazie(www.portodellegrazie.com), which has been awarded the “European Blue Flag” for thirteen consecutive years. A port that changed management a few months ago, undertaking a series of interventions to improve its usability and increase services for boaters. Any examples? The seabed, which now reaches a depth of four meters, was dredged, and the fuel station was also built. The work also affected accommodation facilities, with a restaurant, bar, and tourist office.

Instead, it is in Basilicata the Port of the Argonauts (www.portodegliargonauti.it), more precisely in Marina di Pisticci: we can call it a luxury marina resort with 450 berths from 8 to 30 meters, located in two docks connected to the sea by a 450-meter channel and a 15,000-square-meter boatyard. Designed by archistar Luigi Vietti, it is also the port of Matera, one of the most fascinating cities in the world.