A Final Night in Catania

Today, we booked a snorkelling trip to a cave system off the coast of Catania. We made our way to the port on Lime scooters, where we met up with Hairy and Ben. We had chosen the morning session so that the sun wouldn’t be as brutal, and it turned out to be a great decision. We spent the first part of the trip sitting at the front of the catamaran, enjoying the morning sun as we sailed for about an hour towards our destination. The views along the Catania coastline were incredible, although eventually they put the sails up and blocked most of the view.

By the time we arrived, we were absolutely stinging for a swim in the beautifully temperate water after sitting in the sun for so long. But, for whatever reason, the captain dropped us about 150 metres from the actual swimming spot. I suspect most people on the tour rarely bother with the snorkelling and instead just jump off the side of the boat. We were keen to see what was actually around the rock formations, though, so we set off. The tour described them as caves, but they were hardly caves. They were really just large rock formations protruding from the water.

Given that we were travelling with two very strong swimmers, Jack and I were quickly left in the dust. We struggled with the swim and had absolutely no chance of keeping up with Hairy and Ben. Once we reached the rocks, though, and had a chance to get our breathing under control, it was really cool. We swam around the formations with fish and jellyfish surrounding us. There weren’t any massive fish, but there were thousands of tiny ones swimming around in groups. It obviously doesn’t compare to the reef dives you can do back in Australia, but it was still really cool to experience how different the underwater environment is in the Mediterranean.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten the underwater attachment for my phone, so I couldn’t take many photos. Given how far we had to swim anyway, it probably wouldn’t have been particularly useful, but it would have been nice to have some photos from the water. As a result, today’s entry is a little light on photos.
After about an hour in the water, we started the long swim back to the boat. Once again, Hairy and Ben absolutely destroyed us. This time, we were swimming against the current, and we felt every bit of the difference. Eventually, though, we managed to make it back.

Once everyone was back on board, they served us some food and Prosecco while we chatted with the other people on the boat. The two guys running the tour were both really cool and interesting to talk to, and we ended up having some great conversations about the differences between life in Australia and Italy. That conversation continued as we sailed back towards the port.

Once we got off the boat, we found a place selling €3 Aperol Spritzes. Obviously, we had to take advantage of that. After about four each, we headed home, taking a detour on the Lime scooters along the way. We then got ourselves ready for a big night ahead.

We bought a few bottles of wine and headed over to the boys’ place, where we drank on their rooftop terrace. By the time we finished, we were completely hammered and decided it was probably time to find some food before things got too messy. After some shit-talking and some food, we ran into the girls we had met the previous night and ended up drinking with them until the early hours of the morning.

By that point, we were completely ruined. It had reached the stage where we either went home or risked waking up on a random street somewhere in Catania. So we went home. It was a fucking great night, and it was especially good to spend one of my last nights in Sicily with Hairy. Unfortunately, this was also the last time I would see him for another nine months. He was heading to Malta before eventually making his way home, so saying goodbye was a little bittersweet. Still, I’m incredibly lucky that our trips happened to overlap and that I got the chance to see him on the other side of the world. It made the whole Sicily leg of the trip that much more special.Read more