Amalfi Coast or Capri? How to choose your day at sea

It's the dilemma of anyone visiting the Coast for just a few days: the coastline tour or a day in Capri? I've been doing both for ten years and I can assure you there's no wrong answer. There's only the right answer for the kind of day you're looking for.

The Coast tour is the slow story. We sail close to the shore, west and east: the natural arch of Amalfi, the Fjord of Furore, the Praiano grotto where we enter by boat for a swim, Positano seen from the sea — the only proper way to see it — then Atrani, the Marmorata — the little waterfall that plunges into the sea below Ravello — Minori and Pandora's Grotto. Lots of stops, lots of swims, and lunch at a restaurant you can only reach by sea.

Capri is the adventure. An hour's crossing with the island growing on the horizon, a swim at Li Galli in the marine park, the White and Coral Grottoes, and then the moment you never forget: passing between the Faraglioni. The tour of the island always follows the same route, stop after stop, with lunch in Nerano around two in the afternoon.

My unwritten rule: if it's your first time on the Coast, do the Coast. If you've already seen the coastline or have dreamt of the Faraglioni for ages, do Capri. If you have two days, don't choose at all: do both, because they're two different seas.

And if you have even more time, there's the cruise of two or more days: the Amalfi Coast, Capri and the other islands of Campania, with nights at anchor or in port. But that's another story — and deserves an article of its own.

Either way, you don't have to choose alone: write to me, tell me about the day you imagine, and we'll build it together.