Only a few kilometres separate the sea from the Gran Sasso: the Trabocchi Coast with its coves and reserves, a marine protected area among the dunes, rivers as clear as alpine ones and mountain lakes for kitesurfing. Here you will find the best spots for each activity, with the right wind, the level required and the rules to know.
Each number matches a spot in the list.
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For each spot: level, best time and the winds that make it calm or best avoided.
Paddle beneath the trabocchi, the wooden fishing platforms suspended over the sea, among pebble coves and rocks where the water is surprisingly clear for the Adriatic.
Windyes Calm sea, light Maestrale · no Bora, Scirocco
Full details →A headland of clay and cliffs off Vasto, with wild beaches and rocks for snorkelling among white bream and octopus.
Windyes Light garbino, calm sea · no Bora, Scirocco
Full details →A long, quiet beach with dunes and a 16th-century tower, in the marine protected area: on a SUP you paddle over the submerged remains of the ancient harbour of Hatria.
Windyes Calm sea in the morning · no Bora, Scirocco, Garbino
Full details →The Tirino is one of the clearest rivers in Italy: by canoe you glide over meadows of green waterweed, with water so transparent it feels like flying.
Windyes All year at normal water level · no Occasional floods
Full details →One of the largest lakes in the Apennines, at 1300 metres below the Gran Sasso, where the wind blows steadily in summer: an almost secret kitesurfing and windsurfing spot.
Windyes Afternoon thermal wind · no Thunderstorms, gusty wind
Full details →The heart-shaped lake below the village of Scanno, between the Sagittario gorges and Abruzzo National Park: in summer you paddle and swim with the mountains all around.
Windyes Calm mornings · no Afternoon thunderstorms
Full details →Before choosing a spot, check where the wind is coming from: the same cove can be a swimming pool or a place to avoid.
Rules vary from one area to another and from year to year: here is the general picture, but the managing body's regulations always take precedence.
It protects a stretch of sandy coast with dunes, the 16th-century tower and the submerged remains of an ancient harbour. In zone B swimming is unrestricted; fishing and anchoring are limited, and the dunes are closed while Kentish plovers are nesting.
A regional reserve with cliffs, beaches and rocks off Vasto: kayak and SUP along the coast, without landing in fenced areas and respecting the bans below the cliffs.
On rivers such as the Tirino, boating is only allowed with the associations and on authorised stretches, to protect the submerged vegetation. On the lakes, swimming and kitesurfing are regulated by the municipalities.
Snorkellers and divers must mark their position with a diver-down buoy (or a red flag with a white diagonal stripe) and stay within 50 metres of it: harbour-office ordinances require it, and boats must keep their distance.
During the bathing season, motor boats are banned or restricted within 200 metres of beaches and 100 metres of sheer cliffs: kayaks and SUPs can paddle close to shore, but must stay out of the boat launch lanes.
Wind blowing from land to sea pushes SUPs, kayaks and inflatables out to sea even when the water near the shore looks calm: with an offshore wind, stay close to the coast or don't go out.
Emergency number at sea: 1530 (or 112).
The exact rules (times, lanes, distances) are set by the local harbour office's bathing ordinance and vary from one municipality to the next.
