at sea with Tripping Sicily

at sea with Tripping Sicily
“My favourite scent is the scent of the Sicilian Sea” Domenico Dolce, Sicilian and Fashion Designer, Dolce and Gabbana

I always recommend the finest local contacts in Sicily and one of the best is Simona Ferro.

I met Simona through the wonders of social network. She is the Founder and CEO of Tripping Sicily. After 10 years of working in the tourism and boat charter industry, Simona decided to create something different in nautical tourism with customised private cruises on luxurious yachts, sailing boats and vintage gulets and in 2011 she founded Tripping Sicily.

I had breakfast with Simona last month and she invited me to experience one of her boat trips and have lunch on board a vintage gulet, I eagerly accepted her kind invitation. I was due to meet Karen La Rosa of La Rosaworks, who customises tours in Sicily from the USA, the following week and I thought Karen would love an afternoon at sea. So the following week myself, Karen, my lovely English friends who live in my town Teresa and Liz, who is a Taormina based wedding planner, arranged to meet Simona at the cable car station at Mazzaro ready for an adventure at sea.

With more than 1000 kilometres of stunning coastline Sicily is the perfect island for boat trips. Sicily is surrounded by three seas, the Tyrrhenian Sea to the North, the Mediterranean Sea to the South and the Ionian Sea to the East. The eastern coastline between Syracuse and Messina is particularly beautiful as Mount Etna dominates the coastline.
Taormina Coastline

The day started with Mount Etna erupting, I woke up to the grumbling sounds of the volcano and as I went out onto my balcony for my morning coffee big plumes of dusty clouds were being expelled creating a long smoky volcanic cloud across the skyline out towards the sea.

That morning I had arranged a visit to Casa Cuseni in Taormina with Karen and Teresa, which was the home of the English lady Daphne Phelps for over 50 years who entertained many famous guests and wrote the book ‘A House in Sicily’ about her love of her home and Sicily. After our fascinating visit we headed to the cable car station ready to descend down to Mazzaro and Simona.

Getting on the cable car is always exciting as it swoops you down to Taormina’s beaches and there Simona was waiting for us.

We walked down the steps at the entrance to the cableway car park and emerged onto Mazzaro beach. The small beach of Mazzaro is set in a beautiful bay, its pebbled shore is dotted by bathing lidos with colourful sun umbrellas and beach beds. It is this beach that the designers Dolce and Gabbana chose to shoot their Spring/Summer advertising campaign in 2013.

Onboard with skipper Carmelo
Simona explained that a small fishing boat would take us out to sea to board our home for the afternoon. Our skipper was Carmelo and we excitedly climbed on board his boat. Simona pointed out to us a colourful fishing boat that was moored on the beach next to us, this was the exact boat that Dolce and Gabbana used in their photo shoot.

Once on board Carmelo set off across the bay of Mazzaro playing summer tunes to get us in the mood. Carmelo started to take us along the rocky coastline towards the Grotto Azzurra.

The Grotta Azzurra is a sea cave named after the blue reflection on the water inside that illuminates the cave completely. Carmelo navigated us in and we were amazed by the beauty of this blue cave with its wonderful light reflections.

As we emerged out of the grotto we then carried on past Isola Bella which is a small island. It was a private property until 1990 when it was bought by the Region of Sicily and was turned into a nature reserve administrated by the Italian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature. The island is home to several species of birds and a few types of lizard. The crystal clear waters around the island have an amazing diversity of sea life.

As we past Isola Bella towards the bay of Naxos our home for the afternoon came into sight ..The Cizdaroglu.

As we approached the boat the crew was waiting on board to greet us and help us on board.

The Cizdaroglu is a gulet built in 1984 constructed with high quality and precious wood and it is beautiful.
heading for the Grotto Azzurra

Measuring 20.30 metres long there is lots of room onboard. On deck there is plenty of space for sunbathing and lounging around on sunbeds and a hammock on the front deck and the bow has a huge round sofa which can sit up to 10 people. The boat has a capacity for up to 25 people.

Below deck it has four nautically decorated cabins each with its own bathroom. There is a living room area and a fully equipped kitchen. It is also equipped with surround sound hi-fi, snorkeling kits and kayaks.

Simona was the perfect host and had arranged lunch for us on board. There were local delicacies of seafood, rolled swordfish involtini, grilled aubergines and salad all accompanied by fine Sicilian wine. All followed by a dessert consisting of fresh fruit and coffee. Yummy!!!!!

Simona’s knowledge of Sicily through its history and culture is astounding as well as her nautical knowledge of the sea.


our home for the afternoon
After our amazing lunch we lazed around enjoying the Sicilian sunbeams and fresh sea air, the atmosphere was so tranquil and peaceful. Across the bay in the distance behind my town of Giardini Naxos, Mount Etna was still smoking creating a picture perfect landscape.

The boat is perfect for half day or full day trips. It is great for special events, birthdays, wedding parties, bridal showers, company incentives and team building experiences or maybe a few days or more cruising Sicily’s coast and its islands.

Whilst the boat is wonderful Simona has many other amazing luxury yachts, sailing boats and gulets to suit your needs, she can also arrange a variety of other experiences on the island. For her full fleet, itineraries and adventures visit her website.

Reluctantly it was time to go home and Carmelo brought his fishing boat back to collect us. We all had the most fabulous afternoon, from the moment we boarded we had experienced one of the most relaxing moments of our lives. Simona and the crew of Cizdaroglu made our trip from start to finish a memory to treasure forever and I look forward to my next adventure with Simona. Watch this space.

Visit the Tripping Sicily website and follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.


New Blog post coming soon; “Casa Cuseni …. a house in Sicily”

Now enjoy my Photo Gallery


Mazzaro Beach

the Dolce and Gabbana boat

our skipper Carmelo

Bay of Mazzaro 
Grotto Azzurro 
Amazing Lights in the Cave  
Taormina Coastline 
Almost There !!!!

The Cizdaroglu 
Climbing Onboard 
Front Deck

Capo Taormina 
A lazy Hammock 
Below Deck 
Cabins 
Cabins 
Seafoods and Salads 
Fresh Fruit for Dessert 
Yummy !!!!!! 
The Cizdaroglu 
Shoreline 
Below Deck 
The Perfect Host ... Simona 
Heading back Home 
Ciao !!!!!! 
Back on Land 
Good Friends, Good Times ...
L-R, Teresa, Me, Karen, Simona and Liz
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Love Sarah x



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