Sicily Beaches near Messina

[stacycakes1]

Has anyone done the beach thing while docked in Messina Sicily? We though it would be nice to take that day to relax a bit being the rest of the trip will be so crazy. There is one beach excursion offered by Carnival but it is way expensive and would prefer to find something on our own. Would love it if there was a day resort we could go to that provides beach chairs, etc...

 

Thanks!

[euro cruiser]

The problem with finding a beach near Messina is that you are in a shipping channel, so you've got to go quite a bit south, or across the island to find a beach.

 

Here's what I'd do: I'd try and book a hotel room on the beach on the other side of the island from Messina, along the waterfront between Villafranca Tirrena and Milazzo. A room for the day would be quite inexpensive, and grant you access to the beach as well as a private bathroom and place to change.

 

Here's one resort that offers shuttle service from the bus station in Messina: http://www.labaiadiulisse.it/labaiadiulisse/eng/home.html

 

I should say that I have not employed this strategy in Sicily, but have done it successfully here in the States. The desk clerk sometimes looks at you a little funny when you check out five hours after checking in ... but when you are beachfront that kind of thing happens.

[Christa521]

I've read that the beaches in Mortelle are nice, particularly Lido dei Tirreno. Mortelle is only 7.5 miles north of Messina, so this seems ideal...I hope someone who has been there or has some knowledge on the topic might chime in. My fiance and I are stopping in Messina on our honeymoon in June and would love to take a beach day there if it's possible. We haven't looked into day resorts yet but that's definitely what we'll be looking for.

[hubofhockey]

Just about every Carnival Med itinerary includes Palma de Mallorca. Isn't that a better port to do the beach? We are doing Mt Etna & Taormina when we get to Messing and going to the beach at Palma Nova or Magaluf when we get to Palma de Mallorca. Messina just seems like too good of a port to pass up for a beach day. Maybe I am missing something about Palma de Mallorca. I just didn't see anything there, other than the beach, that really stood out.

[teacherman]

We did a "Godfather Tour" with SicilyLife. Hooked up with 3 other couples on our Roll Call. It was one of the best tours we have done. I think there would be better places to do a beach day, like maybe the Caribbean.

[lucyintheskywithdiamonds]

I have the same question. i'm hoping there's a beach close to port

[gailjen]

Just bumping this up

 

Also looking for a local beach as near to Messina port as possible, also details and approx cost by train/bus, there will be 4 of us so sometimes taxi's work out cheaper..

[ladywendolyn]

Has anyone done the beach thing while docked in Messina Sicily? We though it would be nice to take that day to relax a bit being the rest of the trip will be so crazy. There is one beach excursion offered by Carnival but it is way expensive and would prefer to find something on our own. Would love it if there was a day resort we could go to that provides beach chairs, etc...

 

Thanks!

 

There is a beautiful town you can reach by train... Here us the info..

For either option, you must first get from the cruise terminal to the Messina Centrale station. When coming out of the port terminal building, take a left and keep walking. You will pass a large Martini sign and a gas station. When you see the Messina Maritima building, turn right, walk 150 m, then turn left. The train station will be in front of you.

The Train- if you take the train, you must get off at the Giardini-Naxos station, which is a small seaside village with beaches. To get up the hill to Taormina, you can take a taxi or a bus. The bus is 1.20 euros. There should be one every 30 minutes. The bus terminal is a 5-10 minute walk to the pedestrian area of Taormina.

[kautostar]

There is a beautiful town you can reach by train... Here us the info..

For either option, you must first get from the cruise terminal to the Messina Centrale station. When coming out of the port terminal building, take a left and keep walking. You will pass a large Martini sign and a gas station. When you see the Messina Maritima building, turn right, walk 150 m, then turn left. The train station will be in front of you.

The Train- if you take the train, you must get off at the Giardini-Naxos station, which is a small seaside village with beaches. To get up the hill to Taormina, you can take a taxi or a bus. The bus is 1.20 euros. There should be one every 30 minutes. The bus terminal is a 5-10 minute walk to the pedestrian area of Taormina.

Thanks, we might give that a try.

[perbinder]

There are no beaches nearby that are easy to get to.

 

The options we had was

1. Hire a car for 35 euros for the day and travel over to the other side of the island

 

2 stay on the ship. The ship was empt so we had the pools to ourselves until 3pm.

 

 

 

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[kdooley]

Can you rent a car near the port?

 

Where do you find a tour of the island for 35 euros?

 

 

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[kdooley]

Sorry, misread the previous post about the car hire. Where is the car rental near the port?

 

 

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[perbinder]

When I was looking there were 3 car hire agencies all which were bookable online.

 

 

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[UtahCruiser67]

If you're just looking for a place with sand, a chair, and an umbrella, there is a private beach in Messina about 3km from the port.

 

We just got back from a cruise with a stop in Messina. We tried to get on the Carnival beach excursion to Giardini-Naxos but it was sold out. The tourist desk in the port put us on to this local beach option. You should ask them for specifics as you leave the boat.

 

To get there, take the tram (right outside the cruise port) all the way to the end of the line. (We made the mistake of walking. Don't try that.) I think the last stop is called the Museum stop, but you'll know you're there because it's the end of the line.

 

You'll have to walk another quarter mile or so, but eventually you'll see it on the right. You will see several "public" beaches as you walk, characterized by lots of small boats, locals, and a fair amount of garbage. Keep going and look for a beach-side restaurant connected to the beach access point. It should be noticeable due to the chairs and umbrellas, which the public beaches do not have.

 

This is not a five-star beach nor the French Riviera, but for 5 Euros you get access to a chair and umbrella and the view is actually quite pleasant, looking out across the strait. I'd give it a good 2 stars, 3 on a nice day. I'm sure there are nicer beaches farther from town, but this one was good enough for us. Quiet, safe, and clean.

 

They also have a pool, which we didn't try, but apparently you must have a swimcap (can be rented) and it sounded like the water was pretty chilly.

[risingtide]

We also did the beach in Messina. We were a party of 8 and we took a taxi and he took us on a 10 min. ride along the beachfront to the public beach for 20 Euros (one way). It was nice - the water was clean and the views were very beautiful. There were some jellyfish in the waters but it did not deter anyone from going in. The water was not as warm as in Nice, Monaco or Mallorca. There are shops nearby to get snacks all along the waterfront and the locals were very friendly. Definitely, there are better beaches elsewhere but it was a pleasant and relaxing day which is what we were aiming for.

 

The hop-on-hop-off tours also take you to a private beach for very cheap - I believe 5 Euros per person (more if you also want a tour of the city of Messina) which seems like a great deal.

[Tartatin]

Hello,

 

We have been to Mortelle beach last July. We took a cab and he drove us to one of the private manage location there where you can have for a fix price chairs, umbrellas, changing rooms & toilets. The taxi driver came back 4 hours later to drive us back to the boat. There was a small restaurant where we had a nice homemade lunch made with fresh vegetables from the lady's garden. The place was clean and we had a nice day swimming & relaxing. The beach was really nice, long walk. There are many of these private locations and some of them have outside pools also. Many families were sharing taxi to get there.