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…”Isola Bella” is a “part time” island, located just below the classic Sicilian town of Taormina on the Ionian Sea…now here’s a picture I took of the island, in the heat of the mid-day sun:
Isola Bella is known as “The Pearl of the Ionian Sea” – 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 water – and as you will see, the path was submerged:
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 – you will see the pathway between it and the shoreline halfway through as we come around the island:
One of the great things about staying on the water is getting a boat tour of the Sicilian coastline…here’s a look:
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 – welcome to The White Lotus Hotel room we stayed in:
That’s overlooking the part-time island and more…we stayed after the second season of the smash HBOMax show “The White Lotus” filmed there, and before it aired on TV so we saw it first!
Here’s a tour!
And from our hotel room we could see the most active volcano in Europe smoldering in the distance – and then we go much much closer:
That’s the very much alive Mt. Etna volcano behind us – and Alex and I got to hike it as we explored Mt. Etna’s lava caves as well – 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, Memoirs, nature, Pop Culture, Real Estate, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
johnrieber 
it looks like an amazing island, John, part time or not 😉
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Wow! What a treat!
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proof that much of life is about the luck and timing
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that’s a great point!
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A very pretty island Sicily is one place I haven’t visited and wish I had lovely images , John 🙂
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Thanks for the introduction as have never been as far south as Sicily. Would love to have been to the lava caves . . . perchance pathways lined with commercial offerings don’t thrill as much 🙂 ! With as many as 100 sandy beaches around Sydney to begin with . . . well . . . lovely nature photos . . .
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Yes, you certainly don’t come here because of the beaches, which are rocky…in LA there are miles and miles of pure sandy beaches from, but the island was a unique sight…food there is terrific as well! Thanks for the comment!
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I like islands that are only accessible by a causeway. We have a famous one in England, Lindisfarne, or Holy Island. But it is on the north-east coast close to Scotland, so the weather is nothing like Sicily! Best wishes, Pete.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne
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Thanks for sharing that Pete!
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I like how you titled this post. An interesting find too. I wonder if anyone has ever been cut off overnight.
girlwelltravelled
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Thanks for the comment great to hear from you! Unless it was a storm it’s only about knee deep….but in a storm that would be dangerous to be sure!
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Wow, gorgeous photos! The island looks incredible. Thank you for sharing the details of a fantastic visit!
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Not sure if you watch “The White Lotus” but just up the hill from this “part-time” island is the hotel where they filmed season 2 – we stayed in it as well!
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That’s amazing! The setting in season 2 was incredibly gorgeous – I love that you stayed there!
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Yes, we stayed after they shot, before they aired so we saw all of the places we experienced show up in the show…the staff was so proud!
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