cybertraveler

Hello, my DH and two teenage sons will be in Positano for one week in August, and I'd like to take a day trip to Capri. I've read some of the other posts, and I know that we'd rather do the ferry for the smoother ride, and that the ferries fill up quickly so I need to book in advance. However, trying to decipher the schedules online is intimidating!

Can anyone tell me the name of the port in Positano where I would catch the ferry, and the port from which I'd want to depart at the end of the day? I see Molo Beverello and Calata Porta di Massa, but I don't know where they are.

Would you recommend certain times over others? Any other tips on travel would be highly appreciated!

ellenem

Molo Beverello and Calata Porta di Massa are in Naples.

cybertraveler

Oh dear!

Glad I asked--I'll keep looking, and hopefully someone can tell me which are the ports in Positano and Capri.

ellenem

Perhaps the ports are called Positano and Capri?

http://www.consorziolmp.it/

Weadles

There's only one very small port in Positano. If you book a few days ahead, you should be fine,
although it's sometimes possible to book the day of your trip, too. There are kiosks down at the town level where you can book your trip. Very easy to do.

Try to take an early boat/hydrofoil to Capri, so that you can a jump start on the day trippers. August is prime time on the AC, and vacation time for most of Europe.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Perhaps a quick peep at a map of the area will help?

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/imag...83118/original

But do note that many of the remarks about the ferries being smoother refer to a size of vehicle-carrier that doesn't run along the Amalfi Coast... relatively huge things like:

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/114636231

and

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/141824509

If it's really really necessary for you to go to Capri on one like that, the Caremar line makes several crossings per day from Sorrento:

http://www.caremar.it/AreaPasseggeri...rr&Porto2=Capr

(Click on "Agosto" there for the August times!)
..........................

Otherwise, have a look at the 24 hour webcam photos here - and you'll see almost all of the boats and hydrofoils that call at Positano's small landing stage...

http://www.campaniameteo.it/immaginiOrarie.php?id=20

... if it's of any consolation, during the nine years we've now lived nearby, August has always been one of the sea's calmest months!

................

Try this for the excursion to Capri offered by one firm based in Positano...

http://www.lucibello.it/web/en/posit...line-to-capri/

... with other lines also serving the route, for instance:

http://www.alicost.it/content/?id=6

and

http://www.coopsantandrea.com/eng/ca...sp?foto=capri1

Peter

cybertraveler

Hi again,

Thank you so much for your replies.

Weadles, thanks for the suggestions on timing and tips on the kiosks. Since we have a week and our schedule is flexible, that looks like a workable option.

Peter, I appreciated all of the links you included. I'm used to traveling on lakes in boats, and have taken some sailboat excursions in the Caribbean. Water travel doesn't bother me, but I had gotten the impression that it could get quite rough around the Positano/Capri area. Have you ridden on either of the last few lines? The boats look quite nice.

As always, Fodorites are a wealth of information!

nytraveler

I'm afraid you may not have a very good perspective on the are you're going to. Amalfi and Positano are not cities - they're quite small towns on the side of a cliff and the area where ferries could dock is very tiny. You need to check carefully for the limited services - so you know the times of ferries - you may have only 1 or 2 choices in each direction. Sorrento, further up the coast, is a larger town, which has a dock that has both ferries and hydrofoils - but again the service is limited and returning from Capri has to be done by late afternoon if you aren;t staying overnight.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Since 2003 we've lived in the city of Ischia, on the island of the same name - directly opposite Capri and Sorrento, some 25-30 miles from the AC - and regularly come and go by ferry and hydrofoil... both just to Naples, and on occasion as far as Salerno:

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/131536118

Certainly there are rough days each year, when even the truck-carriers that bring our food, bottled propane gas, petrol etc can't make the crossing - which can see commuters unexpectedly spending a night in the "wrong place" - however those are almost unheard-of in August!

Don't know if you looked, but that little landing stage at Positano is more prone to disruption than 'proper' harbours at places like Amalfi...

http://www.campaniameteo.it/dettagli...php?webcam=100

.... and it can be out of action even when sea conditions are otherwise not at all bad.

Often it will be locally-bumpy where two currents meet - for instance, between Capri and the mainland - but once you realise what's happening, and where they'll be, those are little worse than the points on a rail line, or the landing of an aircraft!

And it takes very little disturbance to shut the various Grottas and sea caves to the small row boats etc that take visitors there - so maybe it's those you've mostly been reading about?

Or just travellers' tales of hardships endured with bravura...

Peter

PS: As for your choices being limited?

The Alicost line have 6 sailings from Positano in each direction at present, the Coop Sant'Andrea have 6 that go to Amalfi and Salerno - and only some of those are included in the list of crossings to, and back from, Capri shown here:

http://www.capri.net/en/ferry-schedule?path_id=12

http://www.capri.net/en/ferry-schedule?path_id=6

Weadles

Good points in the post above. The port at Positano is really small. And we've had two planned trips to Capri cancelled in past trips due to 'rough water' conditions, although this occurred on perfectly beautiful days. This kind of problem is much less likely in Sorrento, which has a much bigger harbor and many more sailings available. IF you run into a problem at Positano on the day of travel, I suppose you could grab a cab or bus to Sorrento, then go from there.