Welcome To Sicily’s “Part Time” Island!
I found this gorgeous sunset shot of “Isola Bella” online, so bravo to the photographer who captured it…this “part time” island is located just below the classic Sicilian town of Taormina on the Ionian Sea…now here’s a picture I took of the island just a few weeks ago, in the heat of the mid-day sun:
Isola Bella is known as “The Pearl of the Ionian Sea” – as wikipedia describes it, the island is located within a small bay on Sicily’s southeast coastline, and it was a private property until 1990, when it was bought by the Region of Sicily.
So why do I call it a “part time island?’ Let’s head down to the water to find out!
My wife Alex and I stayed at Villa Sant Andrea, a wonderful resort located just a 5 minute walk away – you can’t walk to Isola Bella due to the rock outcroppings that lead to the small bay, so we walked along the road – a short incline before we came to a clearly marked path down to the island.
There is a narrow path down to the beach – a walkway packed with vendors selling everything from sunglasses to sun hats and sundresses too!
Isola Bella’s “Part Time” Life!
The path leads to a small bay and rocky beach – and that’s where Isola Bella sits offshore – this island, sitting on Sicily’s coast below the town of Taormina, is a “part-time island” because the narrow strip of land that connects it to the island is submerged twice a day at high tide!
Here’s a video I took when we reached the path to the island:
We were there in the middle of the day, when the island was indeed an island, but the path to get there was not so deep that hundreds didn’t wade out to the island anyway – including us!
The island is surrounded by sea grottos – it was fun to walk out to the island, but there’s not too much to wander around on so we headed back soon after – and yes, if you mis-time your visit you could find yourself having to swim ashore!
I also found this drone shot from above that shows the house that exists on the island, but its not open to the public…
Out Hotel offered a water tour of the coastline, and here’s what the island looks like from the water – and our boat had some nice musical accompaniment as well:
We loved staying on the water in Sicily – I shared our view from our hotel room at Villa Sant Andrea:
We could watch people jumping into the water from these rocks – and I shared that video and more here:
And I shared one other incredible aspect of the island of Sicily as well:
That’s a very much alive volcano behind us – and Alex and I got to explore Mt. Etna’s lava caves – see more of that our here:
I also shared this fiery welcome to another Italian island, in this case Sardinia:
You can see where we were when this happened, which also was the location for a classic James Bond movie – click here for more videos!
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Categories: Exotic Travel, Italy, nature, Pop Culture, Real Estate, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
johnrieber 
The shot from your hotel is brilliant, John. Thanks for taking us along on your marvelous holiday.
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It looks like a fabulous place to visit. I’m unsure if I could summon the courage to participate in that rock jumping.
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It was a big local favorite which we loved!
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I loved this! I can imagine walking to the island at low tide. Very cool! Do you know who uses the house? Your photos are beautiful!
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House isn’t used – I think it’s controlled by government now…thank you for reading!
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Thanks John.
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That is so charming! I love the path to get there and that is available off and on each day
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Yes, but people head out there until the late gets to their knees and it’s a bit unstable! Thank you for reading!
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That reminds me of Holy Island, in England. (Lindisfarne) That is also accessed by road (or on foot) on a causeway, and if you don’t come back in time, you have to try to stay for the night, or sleep in your car.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lindisfarne-castle/features/accessing-lindisfarne-castle-and-holy-island
I visited it in the 1990s, and made sure to check the tide timetables.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Beautiful! What a cool boat ride!
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Awesome post John!!!
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
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Thank you for reading and commenting!
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