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From: Ferdinand Soethe <F.SOETHE_at_OLN.comlink.apc.org> subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Elba Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 06:52:30 +0000 · This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:03 PDT

Zur Nachricht vom 20. Sep 99 11:36

> Hi Ferdinand.
> I'm associated with the Elba Sea Kayak Center/Sea Kayak Italy, though I
> live in California.
> I'm eager to hear about your trip. People are always asking me about
> kayaking around Elba, and I'd love to hear about it from your perspective.
> We set up day trips from the town of Marciana Marina. This includes putting
> the kayaks on a cart and paddling the south side of the island as well.
> We stay in a Marciana Marina hotel.
> How was the camping? Did you camp or stay in hotels?
> Did you encounter any difficulties?
> (I well know of the pleasures...)

Hi Barbara,

paddling around Elba was great fun. Getting there definitely not.

We tried by train and ferry from Germany and apart from the usual train hassles 
(where do you put 4 backpacks on a train, connections that don't work etc.) the 
ferry operator (Moby lines) provided a very poor service for those without a 
car: They have no luggage carts for the long walk from train to ferry and all 
the luggage had to be carried up a long and small flight of stairs.

Once on the island, fun started almost right away. We took a taxi to a 
campground near Porteferraio, but when we found it to be far from the water, 
decided to head out the same day and found ourselves a lonely beach to camp on.

We kept doing that for most of our trip, although finding lonely beaches became 
difficult on the southern and western coast, impossible when we reached the 
northern coast. So we had to stay on commercial campgrounds for a few days 
(very expensive, 20-30 $US per night).

We found a number of beatiful beaches that way, but later in the trip looking 
for a campsite became quite a hassle because it often took two to three hours 
and in September with sun setting around 8 that cuts down on the time to play. 

The sea around Elba was unexpectedly clean, though the beaches where not. 
Elba's characteristic beach plant is the plastic waterbottle (aqua minerale due 
litros) and you'll find it everywhere. Same with toilet paper: Everything said 
about long live of toilet paper on the beach in our recent discussion proved to 
be true! A whole new aspect to that discussion: Since Elba has lots of gravel 
beaches you often come about little "stone graves".

Diving from the beaches and from the boat was great fun. The water is very 
clear and of an inviting light blue and even in September it is so warm that 
you can stay in for an hour without getting cold. Just using a snorcle and a 
diving mask, we saw lots of different fish, although I never got so see 
anything bigger then  20 cm.

Water conditions were perfect for sea kayaking beginners like us. No currents, 
hardly noticible tides and low winds most of the time. Mind you, this is from 
the perspective of a Nautiraid double which is extremely stable. We did have 
winds of 4-5 Beaufort, but except for me getting a bit sea sick in the 
beginning, we had no problems with our boat at all. (Thanks again to Ralf Diaz' 
great book that encouraged us to buy a Nautiraid in spite of dealers advice).

Still, I strongly recommend to check the marine wheather reports that are on 
display in all the little ports before you go out. We were told that there can 
be much stronger winds a times.

The only problems we did encounter was taking off from some of the beaches. We 
learned that getting your loaded boat into (but not under) water on a steep 
gravel beach can be quite a challenge once winds pick up a little bit. But 
since all the beaches we found can also be reached from land, that was just 
challenge of skills and not a real problem.

And of course we suffered quite a bit when we found those beatiful camp sites 
up a rocky coast but - inexperienced as we are - saw no way to safely get our 
boat on top of the rocks or anchor it.

Which by the way is the only complaint I have abour our folding kayak: Even 
with most of the gear taken out, the boat is still so heavy that my partner had  
a real problem lifting it, not to mention climbing up a rocky shore with it. 
How do other people deal with that problem? 

Food in Elba was mostly disappointing. The prices easily compare to Switzerland 
but the quality did not. So we mostly spend our lunch breaks in port to get out 
of sun, sipping cappuccino in one of the countless "bars". In doing so we never 
had a problem with theft (so much for the clichees), even though we always left 
our boat unattended and in the end even did so for a few hours.

So all in all (and inspite of all my little compaints) we had lots of fun and 
we were surprised to see so few kayakers around there.

Regards,
Ferdinand

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Ferdinand Soethe              o,    o__              o_/|   o_.
Wollkaemmerei 8              </     [\/              [\_|   [\_\
D-30519 Hannover          (`-/-------/----')      (`----|-------\-

ph +49-511-9845437 mobile +49-171-1403591 email f.soethe_at_apc.de 
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