August in The Pontines.

Pontine Islands, Italy

While Sardinia was interesting in August, we wanted to experience this month (when all of Europe goes on vacation) in multiple locations. So we said farewell to the mega yacht mania of Sardinia and headed for the Pontine Islands.

The Pontines are 150 miles east of Sardinia, with nothing in between, so that meant an overnight passage. We fueled up for the run, but before we had passed the last mega yacht anchored on Costa Smeralda, the wind was up and Berkeley East was sailing at 9 knots. We wondered if we should worry that, at this speed, we would get there too early and have to anchor in the dark, but we knew the wind wouldn’t last. Ten hours later, we were sailing at 9.5 knots, at 15 hours into the trip, it was the same. We reefed the sails to slow BE down, she was apparently very anxious to leave the crazy mega yacht scene behind. We motor a lot in the Med, but we have also had some incredible sails and this was one of them.

The Pontine Islands are one of Italy’s best-kept secrets. Five small islands, only two of which are inhabited, located just a few hours from Rome and Naples. We had read about the Pontines being the most beautiful islands in Italy, perhaps the world. But we’ve seen a lot of islands, lush green islands, dramatic rock islands, sand islands, lava islands, so it was hard to imagine what could possibly make these islands so special.

As the first of the Pontine Islands, Palmarola, came into view, we began to see what the guide books were talking about. By the time we saw Ponza, we really got it.

There are few international tourists there, but there are lots, and lots, and lots of Italians that visit Ponza in August, both on land and on boats. And those that take the ferry to stay on land, rent day boats or take tour boats around the island and to the beaches. While the town and inner island are nice, Ponza is really an island to be appreciated from the water. We spent a few days exploring Ponza, circling the island several times, taking it all in. We tried, unsuccessfully, to anchor away from the other boats, but Ponza is small, with few anchorages. And the Italians are very friendly people who like to anchor close, so close that they anchor with fenders out.

One afternoon, we were relieved to see many boats leaving our anchorage, so there were just a handful of us left. We were expecting a little bit of wind that night and were happy not to have to worry about boats being too close. With Berkeley East sitting calmly in her roomy spot, we went into the beach for dinner. The restaurant was set up for a big crowd and a special DJ event. When we asked our waiter about it, he told us that the event had been canceled due to weather. We were confused, as the forecast was for only 15 knots, nothing too big. We decided to go back to BE and double check the weather. The report was the same, we weren’t worried. We let out a little more anchor chain, tied a second line on the dingy for good measure, and went to bed. Twenty minutes later, large, short waves were slamming into BE’s bow, then again into the stern. We felt like we were on a mechanical bull, rocking hard, having to hold on. The conditions were worse than any passage we have ever made, it continued all night and into the morning. Needless to say, it was a sleepless night. At daybreak, we decided to go around to the other side of the island, but first we had to secure the dinghy outboard and raise the anchor, no easy tasks with BE bucking like an angry bronco. Somehow we managed to get out without any harm to either us, or BE. As we pulled around the other side of the island, we saw boats everywhere. Clearly, the sea builds quickly from the east in that area so everyone moved to the west. We decided that sometimes it is best to trust local knowledge over professional weather reports. Later that day, wind was expected from the west, so we went back around the island. It was eerily calm, very different from just a few hours ago. We anchored in the same spot and slept like we were on land.

The Pontine’s Ventetone Island is even a better-kept secret than Ponza. It is a tiny island with a tiny town and a tiny harbor, but it was still full of Italians on holiday.

Here though, there are more people on land than there are on boats. The one beach is wall-to-wall umbrellas. Boats full of scuba divers seem to leave every hour. And at five o’clock, pleasure craft line up for a space in the harbor. Like the anchorages in Ponza, we couldn’t figure out how they managed to squeeze so boats many into such a small space.

Berkeley East at anchor between Ventetone Santa Stefano (the devil island).