Syracuse is not a beach town, and it is fifteen minutes from some very good beaches.
The coast running south from the city gives you two quite different things: broad pale sand with shallow water, which is the family option, and a rocky marine reserve with no sand at all, which is the better swim. Both are easy without a car if you plan slightly. The wider planning is in my complete guide to Syracuse.
The sandy one, and the easiest to reach
Fontane Bianche is about twenty minutes south and it is the one most people mean.
A long crescent of pale, almost white sand with a gently shelving seabed, which makes it genuinely good for children. It takes its name from freshwater springs that rise through the seabed, and you can feel them: cold threads running through otherwise warm water.
It is a proper resort strip rather than a wild beach. Lidos with sunbeds, bars, places to hire a pedalo, restaurants along the back. In August it is busy.
It has its own railway station, which is the useful part. A short local train from Syracuse and a walk, and you do not need a car.
The sheltered one for a lazy day
Arenella is closer to the city and smaller.
A wide bay of golden sand, well sheltered from wind, with calm shallow water. It has a mix of free beach and paid lidos, which is worth knowing: you can turn up with a towel and pay nothing, or take a sunbed and umbrella for the day.
It suits a half day rather than a full one, and it suits families. It is reachable by bus in season.
The rocky side, and the marine reserve
Plemmirio is the one I would choose, and it has no sand whatsoever.
It is a marine protected area on the headland immediately south of the city: low white limestone cliffs, flat rock ledges you swim off, and a series of small coves. The water is clear in a way the sandy beaches are not, because there is nothing to stir up.
This is the snorkelling. Protected status means there is genuinely something to look at, and there are small caves and drop offs along the coast. Dive operators work out of it.
What it needs. Something on your feet, because the rock is sharp and hot. It is also not a place for small children or weak swimmers: you get in off a ledge and there is no shallow end.
Getting there is easiest with a car or a scooter. It is close, but it is spread out along a headland road.
The season, briefly
The sea is properly swimmable from about June to October, and September is the warmest of it. May is bracing. In April it is a walk rather than a swim.
In August everything is full, the parking is a war, and the train is the sensible move.
Doing it without a car
Genuinely possible here, which is not true of most Sicilian coastlines.
Fontane Bianche has a station on the line south. Check the timetable, because services thin out in the middle of the day.
Arenella is a seasonal bus from the city.
Plemmirio is the awkward one. It is the closest and the least served by public transport, so a taxi each way or a scooter for the day.
Further afield, if you have a car
Vendicari, about forty minutes south, is a coastal nature reserve rather than a beach resort: salt pans, dunes, a ruined tuna works on the shore and several long empty beaches you reach on foot. In spring and autumn it fills with migrating birds, flamingos included.
It is a walk and a swim rather than a lido day, and it is the most beautiful stretch of coast in the province.
What to take
Something on your feet for Plemmirio and anywhere else rocky. The limestone is sharp and gets genuinely too hot to stand on.
Shade of your own if you are going to the rocky coast, where there is none at all.
Cash for the lidos, some of which still prefer it.
Snorkel and mask if you are going anywhere near the marine reserve, which is the whole point of going there.
Free beach or lido
Most beaches here have both, and it is worth knowing the difference before you arrive.
The free stretch costs nothing, has no facilities, and fills early in August.
A lido rents you a sunbed and umbrella for the day, usually somewhere in the region of fifteen to thirty euros for two depending on the place and the month, and comes with a bar, showers and somewhere to change.
Neither is better. In July and August the lido is often the difference between a pleasant day and a hot one.
A note on the sea
The water on this coast is generally calm and clear. Two things occasionally interfere.
Wind from the east puts chop onto the exposed beaches, in which case the sheltered bays are the answer.
Jellyfish turn up some summers and not others, usually briefly. Ask locally rather than assuming, because it varies week to week.
The city swim nobody mentions
You do not have to leave Ortigia to get in the sea.
There are ladders down off the rocks on the eastern sea wall, and locals use them all summer. It is not a beach and there is nowhere to lie down, but you can swim off the edge of a three thousand year old town with the facades behind you, which is a better story than a sunbed.
Early morning is the time. Bring something to sit on and go in off the ladder rather than jumping, because the depth varies.
Read also: the best things to do in Syracuse, the best time to visit Syracuse, and my complete guide to Syracuse.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Syracuse have beaches?
Not in the old town itself, but the coast south of the city has several within fifteen to twenty five minutes. Fontane Bianche is the main sandy beach, Arenella is a smaller sheltered bay, and Plemmirio is a rocky marine reserve with the clearest water.
What is the best beach near Syracuse?
Fontane Bianche if you want sand and shallow water, particularly with children, and it is reachable by train. Plemmirio if you want the best swimming and snorkelling, though it is all rock ledges rather than beach and needs something on your feet.
Can you get to the beaches from Syracuse without a car?
Fontane Bianche yes, easily, because it has its own railway station on the line south. Arenella has a seasonal bus. Plemmirio is the closest but the worst served, so plan on a taxi or a scooter for that one.
Is Plemmirio good for snorkelling?
Yes, and it is the best in the area. It is a marine protected area, so there is more to see than on the open coast, and the water is much clearer than at the sandy beaches. There are small caves and drop offs along the headland, and dive operators run from there.
When is the sea warm enough to swim in Syracuse?
Roughly June through to October. September is often the best month, with the sea at its warmest after a full summer and the crowds thinning. May is swimmable for the hardy and April really is not.
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