Close your eyes and smell the sea. Enjoy the crystal clear waters. Discover the secrets of a hidden history.
Gorgeous weather and wanted a lovely sea trip. Made the mistake of going out on the fast hydrofoil - no outside seating. On the island we really just sat around watching what was going on in the harbour, had some lunch in the central piazza and exchang ed our return hydrofoil tickets for the slow boat back to Palermo which was lovely and we saw dolphins. Ustica is good for diving and lots of opportunities to do it from what we saw. Getting tickets out there was not entirly straightforward as the website was not accurate about timings.So best to go to Siremar office opposite port and get your ticket there and a bus takes you through the port to the quay.
We stayed here for two nights. Get transportation to circle the island, see a preserve, and walk to town to see local color. Never forget it.
The market street of Ustica Island is amazing. The Beach views of Ustica Island are fascinating. No words to describe...! Highly recommend exploring this area.
I was so excited to see Ustica because my Great-Grandparents came to NO from There in the 1870's. Unfortunately, I speak no Italian and the locals speak little or no English. We had to rely on other tourists to set up a quick taxi tour of the island. I tried to set up something thru both the web page and the fb page before leaving the states but to no avail, Apparently they want to maintain their local flavor since Emglish is not taught in their schools as it is in the rest of the country.
There is a ferry from Palermo early (7am) and afternoon (1) to Ustica and also back. This beautiful island is in middle of nowhere. Theres a beautiful town center where locals and tourists sit drinking coffee and chatting. Try the local specialty cornetto with a cappucino . I only stayed 1 night so didnt explore the advertised snorkling, diving and treks. Local bus service exists. This place is literally 8 miles square so you wont get lost. Definately recommend
An insland in the insland. Ustica in Sicily.Great landscape and wonderful sea. We make a lot of snorkering looking beautiful fish in a blue sea. A corner of paradise!
We went for a day - our first full day in Sicily - so we hit the ground running. We bombed around the island on a scooter, swam, ate amazing seafood, purchased incredible baked goods at the village bakery that we enjoyed for our entire two weeks. The mulberry granita in the town square was a perfect refreshment. We hired a boat to snorkel and travelled back to Palermo happily exhausted and tanned. I could go back and spend a week on this sleepy little off-the-grid island!
Myself and my girlfriend got the 0840 hydrofoil out to the island with Siremar (two different companies operate ferries to the island - Siremar and Ustica Lines). We were looking to rent a scooter to explore the island but we instead opted for a quad as we had some baggage with us and there wasn't much difference in the price (€25 for a scooter for the day, €35 for a quad). We drove around the island and stopped off at a few places along the way. We stopped off at one small black pebbled beach. I just brought a pair of swimming googles with me and went for a swim. Never before have I seen so many fish! The sea was incredibly warm and I can only imagine how good snorkeling or scuba diving would be. The best place to stop off for a swim is at the light house. There was a lifeguard on duty there and plenty of people out bathing, plus a big rock pool filled with fish. We were due to get the car ferry home at 1600. We were waiting in the port in which we arrived that morning from 1530 but saw no ferry (we weren't suspicious as our hydrofoil that morning was almost 40 minutes late leaving). At 1610 to our horror we saw our car ferry appear out of the side of the island and head towards Palermo - it had left from a different port about 2km from the main town. I went straight to the ticket office near the church and the incredibly helpful woman there refunded our tickets for the car ferry and we bought tickets for the 1830 hydrofoil with Ustica Lines. All in all, it was a great place to see and if I was going back I would definitely stay the night and check out the scuba diving! Return tickets from Palermo cost €45 each.
Great sea and peace of mind. Take a boat and circumnavigate the island or simply rent a motorbike and drive all around. Be on the sude if Tramontana when sun is setting. You will be enchanted