The Italian coast, with its countless gulfs, coves and inlets, touristic ports and long, sandy beaches, is truly adapted to the water lover’s every demand. From North to South, East to West, this mountainous land slopes into the rocky, indented coasts of the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas in the west and southeast respectively, and toward the softer, sandier shores of the Adriatic in the east.

From these seas that wash up upon the “beautiful country” surge two magnificent islands – Sicily and Sardinia – in addition to numerous tiny archipelagos. These include the Tuscan Archipelago, to which Elba belongs; the Archipelago of the Maddalena in Sardinia; the Campanian Archipelago with Ischia and Capri; and finally the Pontine Islands off the southern shores of Lazio.

Between the coasts of Tunisia and Sicily, we also find the Pelagian Islands and, to Sicily’s north, the Aeolians – with two active volcanoes, Stromboli and Vulcano – and the Egadi Islands, a natural reserve. Last but not least, in Puglia, there are the splendid Islands of Tremiti.