Driving from Penisola Sorrentina along the main road of Amalfi Coast, before you arrive in Positano, watch carefully to a hole in the guard-rail, more or less it is at the milestone 8 and you can see the banner for the beach of Tordigliano.
Then, you park as soon as possible and you begin to go down step by step until you achieve this fine beach.
I apologize that I wrote "Turtigliano" and not, as it is correct "Tordigliano", but I used the usual word and pronounce of the local people.
Anyway, Tordigliano is very good to swim.

Ciao.

Vincenzo

Thanks Vincenzo! I googled it for Ivy:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/189231

Hey Vincenzo -

Step by step? What - no donkeys?! So .. HOW many steps??

I once tried walking from Nocera to Positano. BIG mistake

Steve

Grazie tante Vincenzo-
I'll definitely go there nexr rime I'm on the AC!

For Ivy et al:
also found these two images which give a good idea of the stony beachther and the area"

http://www.esclub.it/escursioni/2006/01_28/

and

http://www.esclub.it/escursioni/2006/01_28/

I'm ready to go too!

In that zone, where Penisola Sorrentina meets Amalfi Coast, there are several very beutiful small bays and I wrote about Tordigliano because it is the closest to Positano; anyway, as I read here also about Massa Lubrense and therefore about Baia di Jeranto, I want to suggest you also Baia di Crapolla and Cala di Mitigliano.
Cala di Mitigliano is along the path from Termini to Punta Campanella, on the right.
It is wonderful.

Ciao.

Vincenzo

Thanks so much Vincenzo, in fact I have been to Baia di Crapola a couple of years ago, hiking. But not yet to Mitigliano, so your suggestion are appreciated!

thanks everyone - this is all really great info! and no worries about busting my grammatical chops!!

Yes. You can choose the pay side of the beach and have a deck chair and umbrella or you could do what we did and swim on the 'free' side of the beach.
No sand to speak of lots of pebbles so if you are not used to walking on pebbles/rocks wear beach shoes into the water.

There is a small sandy area on the beach on Capri if you take the ferry over for the day.

What my wife and I did was rent a 17 foot zodiac on the main beach of Positano.
We were able to find some nice beaches, coves and caves to swim in.
Sorry for not remembering the names but the boat rental provides maps.
Its the best way to see the coast not to mention the scenery is incredible.

GSTRDR,
Do you remember about how much it costs to rent a zodiac like that for a few hours?

thanks,
dina

Dina,
I am guesing it was around 80 euro an hour. The boat rentals place had an orange awning on the beach and a small floating dock where you would board your boat. They have other types of boats but I highly recommend the 17 foot center console zodiac.
If your staying in Positano they would know the place or you could walk down on the beach and locate it yourself....just look for the orange awning with the floating dock behind it.
Will

I asked our guide in Sorrento where the town processes its sewage. He told me that it is piped over the peninsula and discharged into the sea near Positano. If this is true, I wouldn't swim anywhere near there.

I never spotted any raw sewage in the waters when I was there. Having sailed in most of the coastal waters in the northeast, i can easily spot this in the water.
Its sad what has happened to the oceans around the world.
Will

USNR-
There is a slight possibility that your guide, if he is from Sorrento, may have been pulling your leg ever so slightly. When you think of all the Towns in the Lattari Mountains above Positano, as well as Positano itself, there is likely a very busy treatment system in place.
Sorrento, a much bigger town, is on the other side of the Mountains. I'm thinking they likely have a system tied into those of Sant'Agnello, Piano, and Meta.
I'm in the middle of reading the (Fascinating) book "Gomorrah" about the Camorra System that controls so many things around Naples, and since they have such a lockdown on garbage collection, I always wonder if that control extends to waste management systems around Sorrento. SInce it's a vacation hub, it makes sense for them to have a good system!

Thanks so much, Will, for the rental info.
It sounds like a really fun thing for our family to do. (We have two teens.)

dina

"Step by step? What - no donkeys?!"

HA! too funny. beleive it or not, it is not uncommon at all to see donkeys being used for transport on the Amalfi coast off-season ;-) I've seen a donkey in the center of Amalfi itself...more than once ;-)!

In the less known part of Amalfi Coast, let's say the hills between Ravello and Tramonti and between Pogerola and Furore it is almost usual to meet donkeys, really.

Vincenzo

Photo of Donkeys in Amalfi (Centro)
(not a great photo though...was taken by my 6yr old with a kiddie camera)

http://southernitaly.files.wordpress...007/09/403.jpg