The Egadi Islands are easily reachable from Palermo, San Vito Lo capo and, especially from Trapani. We suggest to dedicate minimum 3 or 4 days of sailing to discover them.

Situated in the west of the north-west point of Sicily, these lands in the past were tieded to the Sicily. Now they are splendid islands situated between waters with thousend of reflections.
Favignana, Marettimo, Levanzo are the three pearls of the little Aegadian archipelago, situated next to the Trapani coast. This group of islands had is birth thousends years ago, as consequence of the raising of the sea waters.

the biggest is Favignana,which in the last years had a big increase of tourists during summer. Favignana has a butterfly shape, which seams outstretched on the sea, and it is rich in beaches with fine sand and clear waters which hide archaeological finds of every era. The island is also famous for the "mattanza" that is to say the tunas slaughter, practised since the end of XIX century, and still performed even if almost only for touristic attraction. During springtime, when the tunas pass through the waters of the Aegadian archipelago, huge nets called "tonnare" are set, so that they direct the unfortunate fishes into the so called "room of death". When the tunas are inside, the fishermen, among shouts and ritual songs, draw up the nets and harpoon the tunas to load them on board.

If Favignana offers a little of pleasant worldliness, the islands of Levanzo and Marettimo are two splendid uncontaminated jewels which are worth visiting to enjoy of their natural beauties. In fact all the islands of the Aegadian archipelago are Sea Natural Reserve since 1991.

Levanzo, the smallest of the three islands, is a mountain in the middle of the sea, it is almost inaccessible, in fact there are a few landings. There is one road, a little population, a little beach, and lacking in rainwater and in natural sources. But however it is a casket of beauty, both over and under the sea, where many finds of roman and punic ship are kept. The life of the island is all inside the only small fishermen village, where the tourists can enjoy the simple and friendly welcome of the islanders.

MarettimoMarettimo is mountainous and rich of springs, it was the first to became an island, and it is a paradise for nature lovers as well as Levanzo. The island is full of limestone sheers, cliffs and caves which host various and rare species of birds, there are pebble little beaches and one small fishermen village. There is any road but just rough paths with amazing landscapes, and crystal clear waters which host prairie of rares algaes and a copious sea fauna.

Useful information for the navigation and the stopover

FAVIGNANA

Mooring in Favignana

The port is located in the principal inlet, situated in the middle of the north coast of Favignana. The pleasure boats moor for the most part in the Piazzale Marina quay.

Navigation and anchorage

As for the other islands Favignana is to be discovered by boat. Leaving from the port towards north-west, and flanking a stretch of coast with a lot of hollows you will get at Punta Faraglione (Sea Naural Reserve Zone "B"). Here the seabed is very rich of precious species. If you go on towards south-west you will reach CALA POZZO, which also gives the name to a shoal situated at 1,5 miles from the inlet. In the far west of the island, between PUNTA FERRO and PUNTA SOTTILE there is a large area rich of animal and vegetables organisms. It isn't possible to get near over 700-800 meters to PUNTA SOTTILE beacause of a large shoal. In the same direction there are CALA GRANDE and CALA ROTONDA which are frequented by many divers. The south coast is the most interesting beacause of its rich seabeds. In this area there are SCOGLIO CORRENTE and the islets of GALERA, GALEOTTA and PREVETO. Between PREVETO and PUNTA LONGA there is an islet, the inlet of PASSO.
Then there are the wonderful PERCIATA cave, and the AZZURRA inlet, a little sandy bay. Between PUNTA MARSALA and CALA ROSSA, the coast is quite steep, with any kind of vegetation, and the sea is 8 meters deep. After CALA ROSSA the coast is higher, but it slope down again close to SAN NICOLA inlet, from where, after a mile you can return to the port.
A seguire si trovano poi le bellissime GROTTA PERCIATA e CALA AZZURRA piccola baia sabbiosa. Tra PUNTA MARSALA e CALA ROSSA la costa è piuttosto ripida priva di vegetazione con fondali che raggiungono profondità 8 metri dentro CALA ROSSA. Dopo CALA ROSSA la costa si fa più alta per poi digradare nuovamente vicino a CALA SAN NICOLA dove dopo un miglio si rientra in porto.

LEVANZO

Mooring in Levanzo

The name of the port is CALA DOGANA. It is possible to moor at an elbow quay or, with an authorization, at the hydrofoils pier. If the weather is good it is possible to stay in roadstead.

Navigation and anchorage

The tour of the island allows the visitors to know, and admire the wonderful coast with rocks high up above the sea. Going from Cala Fredda towards north you will get to Capo Grosso. Getting over Capo Grosso you will reach the splendid Cala Tramontana. From there in a few minutes it is possible to get to GENOVESE'S CAVE, a prehistoric cave with an immense scientific and historical value. It was discovered by chance in 1949 by a painter from Florence. Inside the cave there are engravings and paintings dated back to the paleolithic which represent animals, oxes, donkeys, dancers and little figures coloured in black and red.

MARETTIMO

Mooring in Marettimo

The landing point is made up of a 200 meters quay which can host about 15 boats. The boats have to be not longer than 14 meters, in a seabeds which is from 3 to 6 meters deep.

Navigation and anchorage

The tour of the island can be made by leaving the port and and flanking the island towards north.
First there is Scoglio del Cammello, where is possible to get in with the boat, up to reach the little fine gravel beach situated at the end of the cave. In this area there is also Cala Manione in the bottom of which a lot of pre-roman amphoras have been found. At the extreme north-est of the island there is Punta Troia where there is a castle built by the spanish in the XVII century.
If you pass over Punta Mugnone is possible to see a pink marble quarry, which prepares the visitor to the wonderful landscape of Cala Bianca. From this point begin the amazing landscape of the western coast, with rocks high up above the sea, wonderful caves suited by the wonderful reflections created by the crystal clear waters. Going more and more towards south you will get to the splendid Grotta Berciata, a cave rich of stalactites, stalagmites, and calcareous sediments which in the cave of Presepe took the shape of the characters of the crib. Finally you will get at Grotta Bombarda, called like this because of the rumble made by the waves.