Termoli and the stunning Tremiti Islands

9:55 on the 1^st August we cast off, dropped the slime lines and made for Termoli some 35 Miles away.

So tired are we of the heat and not being able to swim that on the way we went far out to nicer looking water, stopped the boat, ran a long line off the back as a safety measure and dived in. Had some lunch, stopped the boat again and repeated.

Termoli is a resort town with Castles, cobbled streets and outside restaurants.

The beach is as you see it here, literally kilometre upon kilometre of beach umbrellas and sun beds. Everybody in Europe is now on holiday but they're not here, only Italians.

It is hot so the routine is park the boat, wash the boat, pour a spritzer and play cards, relax & doze until it cools.

Termoli is a beautiful place, lots of old restaurants with ancient vaulted brick ceilings and the food… We were told that if there was a good reason to sail the east coast of Italy, it would be for the food. 

We agree. All the good work I have done to diminish the midriff has gone to pot. As our new Italian friends would say…. “this is a Champagne problem”

Needless to say it was a great meal and a slow start the next day. It was 11:30 before we cast off and headed for the Tremiti islands.

That tiny spec in the Adriatic, not to be attempted in anything but settled weather we were so looking forward to a real swim. 

Only 23 miles out to sea and we could see the water depth and quality improving by the mile. 

I would thoroughly recommend you try to get to this place but in your own or a mate’s boat is the only way to do it. The alternative is to cram onto a huge ferry and when you get there, cram onto other smaller boats that can take you to the caves, nice beaches or the monastery.

We anchored, swam, played cards, swam, ate and swam some more until everybody left. We then hopped into the dingy and went exploring. The coves with their white sand and the clearest water we have seen anywhere. The big cave was spotted on our way in. We had it so much to ourselves, we were able to tie up inside the cave and snorkel and dive through underwater holes that lead to the outside or to another cave.

A long awaited home cooked Spag Bol on the boat, a late night naked paddle board for Al and it was decided that given we had been pushing so hard, we would spend two nights in the magical place.

Sorry ladies, I only have a picture of Greg on the paddle board for his first outing and he has his pants on...

On the 3^rd of August we whiled away the day, mostly in the water and watching all those poor wretched tourists sardined onto boats to get into the boat queue to visit the cave… time for one photograph and NEXT!

We took a long dingy ride, circling two of the three islands. We investigated this building, so close to collapsing that I felt very uncomfortable standing on top of that turret. On the way back to the dingy we sprung a couple mid-act but seeing us didn’t seem to deter them one iota...  Given the nature of this place, who could blame them?

A pub crawl of three pubs on one island because we had decided to eat on the other island with the monastery. I got the scuba tank refilled for 10 euro at the only dive centre we’ve seen in a while headed back to the boat for a spruce up and, now that once again everybody had gone, had a pretty much exclusive look at and from this construction.

A fantastic meal and home for a nightcap.