Naples

Over a few days we visit Sorrento, the Isle of Capri and Ischia island in the bay of Naples.
First we anchor under the cliffs in Sorrento and sleep through a thunderous rainy night before moving into the marina in the morning ( €170 a night and no showers or toilets!)
The town of Sorrento is up on the cliff and is hidden from view from the water. We take the elevator from the port up to the town and when we emerge the view of Mount Vesuvius is stunning. The town is gorgeous to walk around with pedestrian streets full of interesting shops and friendly people.
The next day we leave the boat in Sorrento and take the ferry to Capri. The sailing blogs are scathing about mooring on the island so we opt for a busman’s holiday. On arrival we go straight on an island boat tour as we want to visit the Blue grotto. Unfortunately the sea swell means the grotto is closed but the tour is still very enjoyable. The scenery is spectacular and we are brought in close to the cliffs and caves and in under the sea arch, something we would never dream of doing on Régal.
When we return to the port in Capri, we are overwhelmed by the crowds. It feels frantic and there are people everywhere, queuing for tours, ferries, taxis and the funicular. We go to the stony beach and there is hardly room to sit down and when we walk up to the hilltop town, it’s busy and crowded. Capri is not for us and we are all happy to return to lovely, calm Sorrento on the earlier ferry.
We sail across the bay of Naples and anchor in a bay on the northern side of Ischia Island. We are looking in at beautiful green hills which look tropical. It rains all the next day but we make the most of it and catch up on some school work. The weather dries up in the evening and we watch as an unusual looking little platform is towed and then moored beneath the hotel on the headland. We all guess what it might be but none of us are right, as we discover with a bang at midnight. We are woken up by a very loud noise and all race up to the cockpit. It’s a fireworks display launching from the moored platform. We have the best seats in the bay to watch the show.

We have a less pleasant wake up in the early hours when a swell comes up and Régal starts bucking up and down. None of us get much sleep and in the morning there is nothing for it but to move on. We are sorry not to have seen more of Travel +Leisure Magazine’s 2022 ‘most beautiful Island in the world’
Ischia is added to the growing list of places we want to come back to.Read more