A few hundred metres out of Gallipoli's old harbour, the town slides behind you and the coast becomes something else entirely: pale limestone cliffs, water so clear the boat seems suspended above its own shadow, and dark openings at the waterline where the sea has been working for thousands of years. A boat tour along this coastline is one of the simplest and most memorable things to do in Gallipoli in summer — and one of the few that still feels unhurried.
The coastline south of Gallipoli
Most tours leave from the port beneath the old town and head south, past the beaches of Baia Verde towards Punta Pizzo, where the shoreline enters a protected natural park and the water shifts from turquoise to a deep, mineral blue. Along the way the limestone opens into small caves and arches; the boat slows, the engine falls quiet, and the light inside the rock turns green and unsteady, reflected up from the seabed.
Longer excursions continue down the Ionian coast towards Santa Maria di Leuca, where the great caves of Salento — the Grotta del Drago, the Tre Porte — reach the height of a cathedral nave. Shorter trips circle north instead, around the island of Sant’Andrea, flat and wild, with its nineteenth-century lighthouse and colonies of seabirds.
What a morning on the water looks like
Most outings last two to three hours and are made on small boats — often a traditional wooden gozzo — with a skipper who has spent his life on this water and knows where the sea stays calm. There are usually two or three swim stops: the boat anchors in open water and you slip in where the bottom lies ten metres down yet remains perfectly visible. Bring a mask if you can. The rocks hold sea urchins, shoals of small silver fish and, occasionally, the slow drift of a jellyfish best admired from a distance.
When to go and what to bring
Morning is the right time. The sea is at its calmest before midday, the light inside the caves is at its best, and the heat is still gentle. The season runs from June to late September; in July and August it is worth reserving a day or two ahead, either at the kiosks along the harbour or through your host. Bring water, a hat, soft-soled shoes and little else — the boat does the rest.
Returning to Rivabella
Our Seaside Apartment in Rivabella stands two minutes on foot from a small sandy beach just north of Gallipoli, with a private parking space and balconies that look towards the sea. After a morning on the water it is a short drive home — time for a shower, a rest in the shade, and an evening that ends where the day began: watching the Ionian turn gold.
{$te}
