Lipari + Vulcano

Fifteen minutes of sailing separate Lipari from Vulcano, making this the most immediate of the three routes. We run along Lipari's western side with a swim below the pumice quarries, then cross to Vulcano: the Faraglione, the Grotta del Cavallo, the Piscine di Venere reachable only by sea, Spiaggia dell'Asino. It closes with a swim above the hydrothermal vents, where the seawater is naturally warm.

Lipari first, then the volcano

Like all our days, we leave from Marina Corta. The first stretch runs along Lipari’s western side — the pumice quarries, the milky water beneath the white cliff, the coves with no land access. That’s the first swim of the day.

Then we head south, and it’s barely fifteen minutes: Vulcano is practically next door.

The Faraglione and the Grotta del Cavallo

The first thing you see is the Faraglione di Vulcano, the rock spire jutting off Punta del Lentia — the rock that appears in every photo of the Aeolians. We pass it slowly.

Right after, hugging the western wall, we enter the Grotta del Cavallo: a sea cave about fifteen metres deep where the water turns electric blue from the refraction. Twenty minutes, engine off.

The Piscine di Venere

They’re the main reason this route is done by boat and not from land: a series of natural inlets with shallow, transparent water and a sandy bottom — reachable only from the sea. A stop of about an hour: swimming, snorkeling (bream, salema, a grouper if you’re lucky), aperitivo on board.

Spiaggia dell’Asino and the black sands

Continuing southwest we reach Spiaggia dell’Asino, one of the most secluded coves on the island — from land you only get there via a steep twenty-five-minute trail, so it stays almost always empty.

In the afternoon we move toward Porto di Levante, where the Spiaggia delle Sabbie Nere (Black Sand Beach) and the sulfur mud baths are. The mud is optional: whoever wants it stops, whoever can’t bear the sulfur smell stays on board. Important note: the mud baths are forbidden to under-12s by law.

Lunch, your way

Once we dock it’s your call: whoever wants the mud baths goes, whoever prefers to eat picks the place they like, whoever wants to walk up to the crater does. There’s no partner restaurant: if you ask, Salvo is glad to point you somewhere, but it stays a suggestion.

The thermal swim at sea

The last stop is the one most people remember best. About two hundred metres from shore, above the underwater hydrothermal vents, the seawater is naturally warm — up to 38°C in places. You can see it from the surface: it bubbles gently, fine bubbles like sparkling water. You swim above it, and it feels like an open-air thermal bath in the middle of the sea.

Why this route

It’s the most varied and the most surprising of the three: in one day you go from caves to natural pools to mud baths to thermal water. It’s also the only one that works well as a half day (4–5 hours, back for lunch), so it’s the right pick if you’re short on time or travelling with small children.