Boating along the coast of Cinque Terre // Vernazza, Italy
Oh, hello there!
Care to join me for a boat ride along the Italian coast? Yes, I thought so!
A few weeks ago I shared my super-scenic hike in Cinque Terre from Corniglia to Vernazza. Stunning is an appropriate word to describe it. Upon arrival to Vernazza though – wow, wow, wow. This little village is the cover photo of my Rick Steves:Italy book for a reason. In fact, this exact shot, I believe:
Arriving in the village after a sweaty hike, we immediately grabbed a table at a restaurant along the harbor and chowed down lunch of open-faced sandwiches on fresh focaccia bread. Among many local specialties, focaccia bread in this region is insanely tasty. Yes, even better than that dense salty stuff they serve at Panera.
As I touched on previously, this pretty village was devastated by a huge mudslide in 2011 causing “unimaginable disaster”. Waist-deep mud filled the streets and poured into the harbor. The village bounced back and now the only remnants from the incident are the shocking pictures posted around the train station.
Eyeing the harbor while we ate, the boats bobbing carelessly, our thoughts immediately turned to figuring out how to get out on that clear blue water. Perhaps too easily, a short stroll down to the harbor’s edge we were given keys to a basic little 4 passenger boat complete with a (miniature) outboard motor and makeshift sun cover. Perfect.
We quickly buzzed out of the harbor, passing gorgeous sailboats moored safely away from the rocky coastline. We had been advised to stay at least 30 meters from the shore as the sea floor is littered with large rocks lingering just below the surface.
My parents are longtime sailors, having even sailed across the Atlantic back in the day, and my sister and I were sent off to sail camp every summer in our youth. Although our little boat lacked an actual sail, safe to say that we’re a happy bunch out on the water.
While my Dad stopped the boat a few times to allow us to dive into the salty Med, I spent the majority of the ride suntanning and napping on the bow. You know that vacationer chill-ax mode? That’s where I was for 3 glorious hours.
The carefree hours slid by too quickly and we reluctantly headed back to Vernazza. I’m quite certain that no matter the perspective, there aren’t any terrible sights to be had in Cinque Terre.
All in a day’s hard work, I suppose. Think that you’d like to cruise the Italian coast again someday?