The Bay of Naples: Ischia, Capri, Amalfi
8 days · 110 nm · starts in Naples · Italy
Naples
Take over the yacht at one of the marinas in the bay — usually Marina di Stabia or Mergellina in Naples itself. Provisioning in town. Give the evening to Naples: it is loud, dense and completely unlike the rest of Italy.
Naples → Procida
The first leg across the bay. Procida is the smallest and most colourful island here: Marina Corricella, with its painted fishermen's houses, is reckoned one of the prettiest harbours in Italy. There are almost no hotels, and the island empties in the evening.
Procida → Ischia
A short hop — a day ashore. Castello Aragonese stands on its own rock joined to the island by a stone causeway: a fortress, a monastery and terraces above the sea, built up from the 5th century BC onwards. In the evening, the thermal springs people come to Ischia for from all over Europe.
Ischia → Capri
South across the bay. Marina Grande is the island's only harbour, booked well ahead in season and expensive with it; in settled weather the alternative is to anchor off the Faraglioni.
Capri: the grottoes and Anacapri
A day without a passage. First thing, the Blue Grotto, before the queue of tender boats builds (entry only in a local boat, and closed in any swell). Then the funicular up to town, the Gardens of Augustus, the view of the Faraglioni and the climb to Anacapri and Villa San Michele.
Capri → Amalfi
Across to the mainland, and the Amalfi coast begins: a corniche road above the drop, lemon terraces and towns built into the cliff. Amalfi was a maritime republic on a par with Venice and Genoa — the cathedral on the main square is left from those days.
Amalfi → Positano
Eight miles along the most photographed coast in Italy. Positano is a vertical town: houses in steps from the water to the top and not one street you can drive through. There is no harbour — boats take buoys off the beach.
Positano → Naples
A last leg across the bay with a lunch stop off Procida on the way, refuelling and handover.
Everything in the Bay of Naples is close: twenty-five miles from Naples to Capri, eight between the islands. Yet these hundred and ten miles hold more than some three-week routes: a volcano on the horizon, an Aragonese castle on a rock, the Blue Grotto, the Amalfi coast and towns that were begun before our era. This is a route about the shore rather than about sailing, and it should be planned that way.
Practicalities
- This is the busiest stretch of the Italian coast: ferries and hydrofoils run constantly, and between Capri and the mainland almost without a break. Keeping a careful lookout matters more than speed here, and night passages are best not planned at all.
- Berths: Capri, Amalfi and Positano are the most expensive places on the route and are booked weeks ahead in summer. At Positano and Amalfi you take a buoy — there are effectively no yacht harbours. In August the berthing budget can match the cost of the boat itself.
- Weather: the bay is closed from the north but open to the south-west — in a libeccio the anchorages off Capri and along the Amalfi coast become untenable and boats run for the shelter of Ischia or Stabia. Check the forecast every evening.
- Zones: a marine reserve around Punta Campanella and parts of Capri prohibits anchoring, and at Positano and Amalfi mooring is on buoys only. The base has the current boundaries.
When to go and what it costs
Italy is dearer than its neighbours in summer and noticeably cheaper in spring: a median €202 per person per week in spring against €462 in summer. If your dates are flexible, May and early June give the best balance — and booked 2–3 months ahead, a spring week comes out at about €173 per person.
RYC Rentals data, 2,062 offers from 2024–2026, as of 13 Aug 2026 · full breakdown →