South of Rome, Naples, Salerno, and Agropoli is a town called Santa Maria di Castellabate. It attracts tourists, but not nearly as many as the four larger cities to its North. The few beaches of this town are not isolated or secluded; nor do they become crowded like the most visited beaches of Florida, the South of France, or Ibiza. Santa Maria di Castellabate is a place where you can chill by yourself, or make friends from around the world.

I was fortunate enough to meet people (families mostly) from Salerno, Naples, Austria, Germany, France, and the US, during each of the two summers I spent there, staying with my family in a hotel, on the hill high above the water. The city scene here isn’t energetic, but nor is it lethargic, except for the afternoon siesta which is a part of the locals’ daily regimen. Here you can spend time in a relaxing setting; able to rely on sunshine and blue skies, with long days, clean beaches, calm waves and good food,. In the village’s streets there is little traffic and hardly any fast food, so you are unlikely to be bothered by the potent odours of petrol or grease, and you won’t find many vendors targeting tourists. The dry air carries the scent of pine trees and the sea, and you can hear the buzz of mopeds along the hillside roads and the sound of the sea below.

My brother and I would wake at around seven every morning and thus, apart from pensioners in their swim caps and goggles, we would be the first in the sea. Meanwhile beach chairs were set up beneath cool umbrellas, and the sand was raked smooth. The family-owned hotel we stayed in owned some fifteen areas of the beach, and they were comfortably spread out -and far enough away from the wet sand and the approaching waves. The Tunisian man who worked for the hotel would smile and say “Bonjour” and sometimes “Buongiorno” every morning. He didn’t speak more than a few words of English, but could understand each other in French. After our calm swim, which at that hour always left us warmer than the cool air around us, we would walk barefoot into the town. Here we bought fresh bread rolls on which we spread butter and jam or Nutella for breakfast. We went to the same deli every morning, and every morning the owner greeted us with a smile and the warmest hello. We felt like locals. Only in Italy have I felt this.

I spent my days under an umbrella on the beach, reading books, plays, and poetry – when not glancing at the girls. My brother would beg me to stay in the sea with him, or bury him in the sand, or let him bury me. For lunch we retreated to the balcony – high above the joyful sounds of beach-goers, overlooking the blue of the sea – and ate sun dried tomatoes, aubergine in olive oil, pasta, melon, and prosciutto – all the delicious local offerings.

In the evenings we strolled through the town, enjoying some gelato. When night fell I would stay up and meditate to the sound of the sea – so present in the darkness – or do some Tai Chi, or perhaps play guitar until my mother told me it was too loud for her to sleep. While falling asleep in my bed I could feel the waves moving through my body, as though I was floating on the surface of the sea.

Santa Maria di Castellabate offers the possibility of the relaxing, refreshing, and hedonistic vacation that we all try to create each year, and it does so for a reasonable price, depending on what amenities you desire. During the peak of summer the temperature reaches the mid thirties and the sand will surely burn your feet by early afternoon. The town is accessible by taxi from the train station in Agropoli. I have no doubt you will enjoy your stay.