Surroundings

Capo Passero Island

The Capo Passero island is an obligatory stop for all those who choose Portopalo for their holidays.

Bathed by clear and crystalline waters, the island faces the town with its characteristic shape and is of significant importance both from a historical and naturalistic point of view.

In its highest part the remains of an ancient Aragonese Swabian fortress are still visible, the Castle of Charles V, destroyed by the pirate Dragut in the distant 1576.

Going down towards the beach you will come across some buildings that in the past were used as a warehouse by the old fishermen who on the island of Capo Passero had one of the bases of the old Tonnara.

The Currents Island

When we talk about the Currents island in these parts, more than the island itself we mean the whole area in which it is contained, an area that due to its morphological conformation will remind you of African landscapes.

Isola delle Correnti is little more than a large rock that can be reached from the mainland via a small pier.

The climatic conditions of this corner of the Mediterranean are particularly favorable for those who want to practice wave surfing and windsurfing, while the wonderful beaches in front of the island, and the one on the island itself, will welcome all those who want to take a swim. sun and sea.

The Tonnara

The Tonnara is a splendid example of industrial archeology: the loggia and the plant for the processing of tuna, the large furnace, the barrels and salt warehouses, the characteristic church of the Annunziata of the seventeenth century: here came the tuna that formed, over the centuries, a very important economic resource for the entire population of the place.

For tens of years, in the first days of March, a feverish activity began: the large oak barges, almost twenty meters long, were pulled out of the warehouses to "tar" their keels and thus be able to face the sea again after many months of rest.

The "Rais" chose the men by dividing them into squads, the heavy nets were checked and repaired, the large anchors were loaded on the island and positioned at the bottom to form the obligatory corridors that would lead the tuna into the "death chamber".

There, in the bubbling of the sea, amidst the cries and splashes of bloody water, the cruel ritual that every year gave work to the people of the whole area would be repeated.

Then we went back to shore to unload the huge prey at the landing stage of the tonnara where everything was ready: with trolleys the tuna were transported to the large room where they were hung by the tail and immediately gutted and cleaned.

After the slaughter they went to the boiling ovens: the smell could be heard for miles. Finally, the conservation with genuine olive oil produced in the hinterland.

Gradually, the number of tuna caught began to decrease steadily, until "arming" the slaughter became uneconomical, thus decreeing the end of a world rich in tradition.

Scalo Mandrie (Terrace of the 2 Seas)

In this area, which has always returned objects from antiquity (amphorae, coins, fragments of small bronze objects), archaeological excavations are just starting: the remains of an ancient settlement have already been brought to light, of which evident traces remain of an intense activity linked to the sea, among these: large tanks that were used for the preparation of "garum" (a food derived from the maceration of the intestines of mackerel and tuna considered a delicacy in ancient Rome), a necropolis (III-IV century AD), a series of prehistoric caves.

In the same area there are the characteristic pastel-colored houses, dating back to the late eighteenth century, where the fishermen of the time lived.

Today the square called "Terrace of the Two Seas" has been completed as from it you can admire the Ionian and Mediterranean seas.

"Tafuri" Castle

Contrary to what it may seem, the Castle is of rather recent construction.

Its construction was begun in 1933 on the initiative of the Marquis Bruno di Belmonte using material from the large stone quarry of the Isola delle Correnti.

The work, designed by the architect Saverino Crotti of Florence, was completed in 1935 and became the property of the Tafuri family in the late 1950s.

The Fishing Port

A few hundred meters from the town is the most important fishing port in eastern Sicily, with an adjoining fish market where a large quantity of fresh fish is unloaded every day.

The departure of the fishing boats takes place at 2 am and when the following afternoon the fleet, loaded and tired, returns to the port, the characteristic fish auction takes place.

Vendicari Nature Reserve

On the road to Noto, just 15 kilometers from the hotel, is the Vendicari Nature Reserve, a wonderful corner of unspoiled nature that certainly deserves a stop.

Vendicari offers the visitor a fascinating landscape made up of humid, sandy and rocky environments that host extremely varied vegetation and fauna.

Large sand dunes delimit a very long beach separating it from a series of ponds where countless species of migratory birds stop at different times of the year.

Inside the area there are various archaeological remains: the small church and the Byzantine necropolis, the fifteenth-century Torre Sveva and the ruins of the ancient Tonnara.

Seaside Places

To go to the beach you are spoiled for choice: the variety of the coast, from sandy beaches to cliffs, satisfies all tastes.

At 100 mt. from the hotel there is the beach of Scalo Mandrie (in the photo on the side) and the beautiful cliff near the tonnara: from the beach, in the summer, you can reach the nearby island of Capo by pedal boats or the boat that runs continuously Sparrow with its beautiful beach.
The more willing can also reach it by swimming given the proximity of the island to the coast and the shallow depth of the seabed (knowing the route you can reach the island on foot without ever swimming).

On the Isola delle Correnti you can swim in the wonderful beaches in front of the island and in the beautiful Carratois beach.

Along the coast between Portopalo and the hamlet of Marzamemi you can find several beaches and the characteristic cliff called "Acqua Palomba" where a source of fresh water gushes out. Beyond Marzamemi there are the wonderful beaches of San Lorenzo.

For lovers of tranquility, you can go to the wild beach of the natural oasis of Vendicari (15 km from the hotel) and swim in a crystalline and uncontaminated sea. In the same area there is, in a small corner of paradise, the enchanting Calamosche beach.