The beaches of Amalfi are not the reason most people fall in love with the town, and I think it is only fair to say so at the start. The town beach is functional, a working strip of sand between the harbour and the cliff, pleasant enough for an afternoon but not the sort of place you cross a continent to find. The better swimming, the clear water and the quiet coves, sits a short hop away by boat or on foot. Once you understand that, the coast opens up, and Amalfi becomes a base rather than a destination in itself.
Marina Grande, the Town Beach
Marina Grande is Amalfi’s own beach, a strip of dark sand and pebble squeezed between the harbour and the cliff, organised into neat lido rows that fill early in the morning and empty late in the day. There is a free public section, usually busy by half past ten in summer, and paid lidos where a sunbed and umbrella will cost you somewhere in the region of 15 to 25 euros a day. The water is clean and the swimming is genuinely good, which is easy to forget when you are looking at the crowds. Seafront restaurants sit right on the sand, so you can drift from the sea to a plate of fried anchovies without changing out of your swimming things.
I have spent a good many afternoons here, and I have come to see it plainly. This is a beach that exists for the town rather than for the photograph. It is where families come after school, where old men swim their slow lengths parallel to the shore, where a great deal of ordinary summer life unfolds. Functional rather than glorious, but there is a certain honesty in that, and the swimming really is fine.
Duoglio, the Hidden Cove
For clearer water and fewer people, I walk west to Duoglio, a quieter cove about a kilometre and a half from Amalfi. You reach it down roughly 400 steps from the coast road, a descent that concentrates the mind and thins the crowd in equal measure, or you take one of the small boats or the beach shuttle that run from Marina Grande. The steps are the honest way in, and they keep Duoglio to the people who are willing to earn it.
At the bottom you find water noticeably clearer than the town beach, a beach club with sunbeds, a free section for those who bring their own towel, and a couple of simple restaurants where lunch stretches long into the afternoon. The swimming here is better in every way that matters, the water cool and transparent over the pebbles. I would happily trade the convenience of Marina Grande for the descent to Duoglio on almost any day, and I usually do.
Santa Croce, Reached Only by Sea
Santa Croce is the one I send people to when they want the most beautiful swimming within easy reach of Amalfi. It cannot be reached by road at all. You arrive by sea, on the small taxi-boats that run from Marina Grande in season for a few euros each way, or on foot down a long and demanding stair path that most sensible people leave to the very keen.
The reward is the clearest water anywhere near the town, a small beach club and restaurant, and a natural rock arch standing offshore that swimmers make for as a kind of gentle pilgrimage. I have swum out to it in the late afternoon with the light going gold on the cliffs, and it is one of those simple pleasures the Amalfi Coast still gives freely. Go by boat, take your time over lunch, and let the last taxi-boat carry you home.
Atrani, Next Door
Ten minutes on foot east of Amalfi, around the headland, sits Atrani, the smallest town on the coast and my favourite quiet corner of it. It has its own little pebble beach with a river mouth that keeps the water moving, so the sea feels fresher and cleaner than you might expect from somewhere so close to the crowds. It is far less busy than Amalfi’s beach, and the walk over is half the pleasure, a passage through a tunnel and out into a piazza that feels like a village from another century. When Marina Grande is too full to think, I come here.
Minori and Maiori, for Real Sand
If what you want is proper sand under your feet, you go east to Minori and Maiori, both 15 to 20 minutes from Amalfi by ferry or SITA bus. Minori has a genuine sandy beach, gentle and shallow, the sort of place that suits a long lazy day and children who tire of pebbles. Maiori has the longest beach on the whole coast, a relaxed beach-club culture, and prices that come as a relief after Amalfi. These are, honestly, the best swimming beaches within easy reach of the town, and I think they are unfairly overlooked by visitors who never leave the postcard view.
Practical Notes
A few things worth knowing before you go. The town beach and the boats fill early in July and August, so go in the morning if you want a place on the free sand or a seat on a taxi-boat. Bring water shoes, because much of this coast is pebble rather than sand and your feet will thank you. The taxi-boats to Duoglio and Santa Croce run only in season, and they stop when the sea is rough, so keep your plans loose and have the town beach as a fallback. A hat, water, and a book are all you truly need. Lidos hire everything else.
The Best Beach Day I Would Plan
If I had one clear day and wanted to swim well, I would rise early and take the first taxi-boat from Marina Grande to Santa Croce, arriving before the sun is high and the water is at its stillest. I would swim out to the arch, lie in the sun, and take a long lunch at the beach club. In the afternoon, when the light softens, I would come back to Amalfi, walk over to Atrani for a second, quieter swim in the moving water by the river mouth, and end the evening with a cold glass of something in the little piazza there. That is a day the town beach alone could never give you, and it costs very little more than the effort of leaving the sand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Amalfi have a beach?
Yes, Amalfi has its own beach, Marina Grande, a strip of dark sand and pebble beside the harbour. It is functional rather than spectacular, with a free public section and paid lidos, and the swimming is clean and good. It is not the coast’s most beautiful beach, but it is right in the heart of town.
What is the best beach in Amalfi?
For clear water and quiet, Santa Croce is the finest, reached only by sea and blessed with a natural rock arch to swim out to. Duoglio is a close second and easier to reach, down about 400 steps or by boat. For real sand, Minori and Maiori a short hop east are the best swimming beaches within easy reach.
How do you get to Santa Croce beach?
Santa Croce cannot be reached by road. You take one of the small taxi-boats that run from Marina Grande in season for a few euros each way, or you descend a long and steep stair path on foot. The boats stop running when the sea is rough, so it is wise to have a fallback plan.
There is more to Amalfi than its shoreline, and once you have had your fill of the sea you might turn to the best things to do in Amalfi or plan one of the best day trips from Amalfi. The little town of Atrani, so close you can walk to its beach, deserves an unhurried afternoon of its own, and I have written Victoria’s Complete Guide to Atrani for exactly that. For everything else, from where to stay to how to move along the coast, begin with Victoria’s Complete Guide to Amalfi.
