Marina Review: Riposto Marina Sicily

Riposto Marina Sicily is a wonderful marina. Check out our video of entering and find out all about the marina here!

Riposto Marina Sicily

After a weeklong lay-up in Catania for necessary repairs, we sailed up the North East coast of Sicily to Riposto. Our time in Catania was amazing because we had friends to visit with and it made a great base to see the city and the various towns and villages around Mount Etna.

However, it’s important to note that Catania is a commercial port full of ships loading and unloading. We moored up along a concrete wall in the port having no access to facilities or electricity. Fortunately, however, there was a water supply available.

When we arrived at Riposto we were extremely pleased to find a beautiful marina with excellent facilities.

The Riposto Marina Sicily backdrop contained a lovely little village with a row of fish market shops, restaurants, café’s, a church, and Mount Etna rising behind.

The first thing we did upon arrival of Riposto Marina Sicily was to test out the showers.

After a week of limited showers on the boat the crew and I were desperate for a proper hot shower. When I opened the shower door I was ecstatic to see one of those huge shower heads and I became even more excited when I turned the shower on to find a good amount of water coming out.

You could hear me saying, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the best shower I’ve ever had.’

It was so nice to have a shower full time rather than turn it on, get wet, turn it off, soap up, turn the water back on, repeat. Our boat can hold 1000 liters of water but that can be eaten up quickly – especially if we don’t use it sparingly.

Riposto Marina Sicily Review – In detail

Customer Service

Upon entering the marina an attendant allowed us to moor closely to the facilities. He helped us with the warps and gave us a key to the water, electricity and bathroom facilities.

Scenery

The marina is beautiful and so is the surrounding area. As mentioned above, there’s an excellent backdrop and the marina is very clean and highly maintained. Looking to the North, there’s a beautiful mountainous coastline. Looking to the West, you have the amazing Mount Etna with snow at the top!

Comfort of mooring in Riposto Marina Sicily

The day we left, our boat was calmly moored within the marina walls. Once we exited, we had massive waves and a sea full of white caps. While in the marina we had no clue that the sea state was so rough. I felt very protected however I’ve been told that if the wind blows a particular way, mooring in Riposto Marina could be a bit bumpy.

Noise Levels

Other than church bells ringing every 15 minutes and local kids enjoying themselves, the town and marina are very quiet. I had to laugh, however, about the church bells. It seems that one church will ring their bells and right after another church starts ringing. It’s as if each church wants their bells to be heard rather then all the churches ringing at the same time.

General atmosphere on the pontoon

As with most moorings, everyone greets everyone else and has a little chitchat. Smiles are exchanged and an attempt to speak in a common language is attempted. The marina is right in front of the town and not locked off so you’d often see kids and families walk by to admire the views. Almost everyone said ‘hi’ and several questioned where we were from. It was nice to connect with local people.

Facilities on the jetty

There are water and electricity on the jetty. We had no issues hooking up.

Facilities on land

The facilities included a baby changing room with a child’s toilet (unfortunately lacking a toilet seat!), a handicap toilet in addition to the main room containing 8 toilets and 6 showers.

Distance to facilities

Depending on where you’re moored it’s either a 10-second walk or several minutes. The facilities are right at the base of the marina and very easy to get to.

Shower Stalls

Each stall has a beautiful large shower head offering hot water and great pressure. There’s a place to put soap and other showering essentials. The stalls are very clean and tiled with excellent drainage. Outside the stalls are hooks for your towel and toiletry bag. Additionally, there’s a little stool to put your clothes and/or bag on. If every marina had similar facilities to Riposto I would be extremely pleased.

IMPORTANT: If someone flushes the toilet while showering, the water can get scalding hot. If a child is using the showers, it will be hard for them to step aside. What I did was leave the door open a crack and if it got too hot, my daughter would be able to easily jump out.

Toilets

All the toilets seemed to work perfectly. They were clean, had seats, and always had ample toilet paper.

Other

Within the Riposto Marina Sicily there’s a restaurant/bar very close to the facilities so if you want to shower and then grab a nice glass of wine, you don’t have to walk very far.

The main street is right behind the marina where you’ll find a row of fresh fish markets and some excellent fruit and veg stalls. Right past the little markets, you’ll find a nice supermarket offering a great selection of food.

And if you go back one street, you’ll find a bakery, butcher, pharmacy and a variety of other shops.

Upon exiting the marina and crossing the street there’s a nice little wine shop selling local wines too!

And as if Riposto couldn’t get any better, it’s possible to get wifi while sitting on the boat! There’s a restaurant along the strip that keeps their wifi running all the time and I think most people in the town use it! During the early morning, the speed is quick however as more and more people try to use it, the speed slows down. The marina also offers wifi but we found it to be hit or miss.

Finally, there’s a nice beach North of the marina where you can enjoy a swim. The beach is a rock beach rather than sand but it’s very clean and the water is very inviting.

Overall verdict on Riposto Marina Sicily

By far, Riposto marina is the best marina I’ve stayed at in Sicily. It has everything. I only wish that marina’s like Syracuse, with absolutely appalling facilities, would follow the lead of Riposto.

Check Out Some Other Areas In Sicily & The Mediterranian

If you’d like a good summary of our time in Sicily, read Visiting Sicily. And if you’d like a breakdown of all the places we’ve visited while sailing the Mediterranean please read our destination overview: Sailing The Mediterranean. Otherwise, check out more posts about our time spent in Sicily.

• Malta to Sicily
• 12 Day Trips To Take In Sicily
• Marina di Ragusa Review
• Sailing To Catania
• Taormina Bay
• Sailing Around Stromboli
• Salina Island
• Sicily to Corfu