San Nicola Arcella

San Nicola Arcella is a small town in the province of Cosenza in Calabria characterized by a very beautiful and picturesque coastline. There is a beautiful bay called Baia Azzurra, dominated by a promontory with the ruins of the Devil’s Tower, a Saracen tower also known as the Crawford tower. The writer of terror novels Francis Marion Crawford stayed on this tower for a long time, and he fell in love with the village and set numerous stories there.

Along the coast is Arco Magno beach, a place that looks like something out of a fairy tale. The beach is surrounded by showers, and this stretch of sea is so beautiful that in the past it was called the sea of the gods. In front of the beachis Dino Island, and nearby is the Great Arch, a beautiful sea cave that is much visited by land and sea.

This beach is very beautiful and distinctive, and because it is particularly inconvenient to reach on foot, the anchorage is frequented by private and tourist agency boats that bring people to this piece of paradise. Dino Island is a wild rock surrounded by crystal clear waters that can only be reached by boat and is frequented by chartered speedboats and tourist boats.

The island is the larger of the two found in Calabria and lies in front of the town of Praia a Mare; it is much visited by scuba diving enthusiasts because it has two famous caves: the Grotta Azzurra and the Grotta del Leone. The Azzurra cave became famous a few years ago when it was crossed by world freediving champion Simone Arrigoni, who set a new freediving record.

The island is in a strategic location and in the past was the scene of many battles; it is an excellent lookout point, so much so that there are still the remains of an ancient tower of Norman origin on its summit. In the 1960s the island was purchased by Gianni Agnelli, who planned to turn it into an ultra-luxury tourist destination.

Docking jetties, restaurants, bungalows and cottages were built there, however, after a series of ownership changes, Dino Island was declared a site of community interest. It is currently administered by theDino Island Club, which intends to enhance it and make it the flagship of Calabrian tourism.

The area is about 50 hectares, with the major axis 1 km long and the minor axis five hundred meters long; the coasts are rugged and jagged, full of caves and hollows and constantly crowded with boats.