If you had the pleasure of visiting the island of Ischia, you have with no doubt visited the enchanting Maronti beach, amongst the most appreciated and suggestive beaches of the island. Located in a marvelous natural context, surrounded by hills overlooking the sea, the Maronti beach may be considered one of the most beautiful of Italy.This stretch of land, 3 km long and embedded between cliffs and the sea, gets its name from the Greeks, that baptized it " beach of tranquility". Various centuries later, the beach was donated to the people of Ischia by Frederic the I of the Aragona dynasty, as gratitude for their great loyalty demonstrated to his nephew Ferdinand.
Successively, the history of this beach becomes even more interesting, given that it was chosen by pirates and corsairs as landing place and refuge.
Today, the major part of the beach is in the territory of the municipality of Barano and a remaining small part belongs to the municipality of Serrara Fontana. In both cases, it can be reached by an enchanting, panoramic road, that descends in curves winding down from the village of Testaccio, in the municipality of Barano, or alternatively,directly from the small port of Sant'Angelo by a pleasant, unconventional boat taxi.
The attractions of the Maronti beach
The Maronti beach, just like other beautiful beaches of the island, is among the most appreciated and visited destinations by tourists, who are more and more fascinated by the marvelous landscape and the uncontaminated nature that characterizes the surrounding hills. Besides having one of the many free beaches of Ischia, the 3km long sand stretch offers numerous establishments, which are litterally stormed by tourists from all over the world in summer. These offer their clients various facilities, like beach bar, restaurant, paddleboat rental and beach tennis and beach volley courts.
Cavascura, the most antique thermal basin of the island of Ischia, is of great relevance. An extremely evocative location, a testimony that maintains still today the former aspect of the ancient civilizations that have passed on the island to rest. Inside, tourists can benefit from one of the most antique and suggestive thermal centers in Europe, where they can relax, haven a massage, mud baths and thermal showers.
Near the Maronti beach, there is definitely no lack of hotels, which are actual resorts immersed into nature. Besides having modern and comfortable rooms, the structures located near the beach enable you to have privileged accsess, follow itineraries along the hillsides, t practice nautical activities, diving and to participate in excursions. Do not miss,a visit to the Fumarole, a secondary volcanic phenomena, characterized by hot sand and gas emissions coming from below the earth and from under the sea bed.
Precisely because the temperature of the sand is sometimes boiling hot in some points of the beach, many people bring their food in order to cook it under the sand and afterwards, eat it while they enjoy the spectacular view that only the Maronti beach can offer. Last but not least, there are the various restaurants on the beach, perfect for tasting some of the most famous recipes of the island.
Where is the Maronti beach located?
Like mentioned previously, the Maronti beach is for the most part of the municipality of Barano and for a small part of the municipality of Serrara Fontana, where the beautiful village of Sant'Angelo is also located. Even though the beach is easy to reach from the near municipalities, it's surrounded by a natural oasis where different trails start from and most important of all, where you can find the Olmitello spring, a natural extension of the healing spring Nitrodi.
Maronti Beach: how do you get there?
There are various ways to reach the 3 km long beach. If you are not staying near the beach and therefore cannot use the pathways by foot towards the sea leading to Maronti down the hillside, the best solution would be to rent a vehicle, in order to reach the beach in a short time. Among scooters, quad and normal cars, tourists have the possibility to use a safe and reliable vehicle to drive the streets of the island. Renting a vehicle will make it very easy to reach this piece of paradise since you need only follow the signs indicating the descending road to Maronti, starting from the municipality of Barano. Once you have reached the beach, you can leave your vehicle in one of two parkinglots, both pay parking.
Alternatively, with lower cost but taking a much longer time, you can come by pubblic transportation. Bus number 5 leaves from Ischia Porto and reaches the beach by passing through Piedimonte.This bus is the only one going to Maronti, so if you are coming from a different municipality than Ischia Porto, you must first take the bus CS or CD and then get off at the bus stop Piedimonte, where you can change to the bus number 5 passing on scheduled time.
A certainly more characteristic way would be taking a taxi boat, a typical service on the island of Ischia. It gives you the opportunity to rech the Maronti beach in an enjoyable and fast way, leaving from the village of Sant'Angelo. Now that you know about every detail regarding the beautiful Maronti beach, all you need to do, is spend a marvelous day at sea, on one of the most enchanting beaches in Italy.