First impressions of Elba are slightly disappointing. The small beach at Sant’Andrea is crowded with people and rows of loungers to rent. This is not what we were looking for. However, the Hotel Cernia is good with excellent set dinner including rabbit for Ben and turbot for Beck and probably the best breakfast buffet of the whole trip. The hotel also has a botanical gardens with plum, fig, lemon and cherry trees, so there are bowls of fresh fruit available all day long.
The first day we head to Fetovaia beach. It’s also full with paid for loungers, but has a free area at one end which we head to. The snorkelling here is good and we find a shady spot in the shadow of the cliffs to relax. Later we take a drive round the crazy roads – it’s exactly what the Mazda was made for and Ben appears to be thoroughly enjoying himself behind the wheel. Beck is enjoying listening to the Divine Comedy’s aptly titled Napoleon Complex and singing along as we drive.
We eat at the weirdly named Barsa…time restaurant overlooking Sant’Andrea beach which, at this time of day is peaceful, offering a beautiful view. The food is excellent – highly recommended, and we return again for a second night. On both nights we get a 10% discount for no apparent reason. This coincides with the UK elections returning a hung parliament and the pound taking another nose dive. We wonder whether they are giving us some money off in sympathy for our failing economy (at the same time The Guardian reports the UK GDP is now the worst in Europe). Yet again we’re thankful to have sold the brewery when we did, getting out before the full impact of the Brexit mess is felt.
Day two sees us heading around the coast at Sant’Andrea, away from the paid-for beach to a small secluded sandy beach. We snorkel again and it’s much more prolific here than at Fetovaia. In the afternoon we head back to the hotel to dip in the pool and then check out the trio of sandy beaches at Forno, Scaglieri and Biodola. Whilst recommended for being sandy rather than rocky these are very popular beaches (for which read busy) and offer no shade unless you rent a lounger with umbrella. The sun reflects off the water just increasing it’s power and we are soon heading back to the AC of the car.
For our third beach, just like Goldilocks, we find one that is just right. It’s called Patresi and although it’s a rocky beach, for us – it’s perfect. We feel like we are swimming in an aquarium with shoals of tiny silver fish with electric blue flashes – possibly anchovies, through to larger sardine like fish, sea urchins, clouds of black fish about half the size of your palm, larger silver fish, as well as what look like small cat fish. We love it so much we return the next day and spend the day sheltering under a shady tree when we’re not in the water (which we are for much of the day!) There’s also a cheap shack for food and drink at the entrance to the beach which we make use of. The beach also has some statues submerged in the water beneath the lighthouse. We try to find them but don’t manage it despite the superb visibility, I think we probably need scuba to get to them and we are happy enough just snorkelling with the fish.
It seems that whatever you want from a beach, Elba has it, you just have to find the right place.