Egadi Islands (Part 3) Cala Rossa

Leaving Levanzo   

Cala Fredda was fine for an overnight stop but we couldn’t stay longer. As we slept the predicted wind shift had occurred and even whilst we ate breakfast the light wind was blowing into the bay became noticeably stronger. It was set to get stronger still fairly quickly and so by 0930 we were hoisting our anchor and moving on.

The hills on Favignana   

As well as an overnight wind shift we had also had rain. The sky was overcast and grey and there were clouds hovering over the hills on Favignana; not the weather we have become used to at all!

We were not travelling far, just 4 miles to Cala Rossa on the northeast corner of Favignana. The Egadi Islands were the scene of an important sea battle between the Romans and Carthaginians on 10 March 241BC; the Roman victory ended the First Punic War and Carthage ceded Sicily to the Roman Empire. The name of Cala Rossa ('Red Cove') is said to be because of the blood and bodies of Carthaginians washed ashore here after the battle.   

Cave di tufo in Cala Rosso    

As we approached Cala Rosso we saw the other reason that the bay is famous; the cave di tufo. Before tuna fishing dominated, on Favignana it was historically quarrying the tufa (a local soft rock) that provided the local industry. The quarries with their open cavities and deep tunnels are a characteristic feature of the island’s eastern cliffs and Cala Rosso has some of the best to look at.

Anchored in Cala Rossa with Levanzo Island on the horizon   

The bay itself was a fabulous place for us to anchor with the building southerly wind. We dropped our anchor in a huge expanse of sand and, surrounded on 3 sides, we were extremely well sheltered. Even the sun started to come out, turning the sea a beautiful turquoise colour. Initially we were the only yacht in the bay but fairly quickly we were joined by others. However, it’s such a large bay we never felt as crammed in as we did at Cala Fredda; it also helped that it was now Monday.

I swam ashore with a small camera and my phone in a waterproof bag to do a quick check of e-mails at the café on the cliff. This turned out to be a very basic affair of just a sunscreen tent and a fridge but the mission was a success, particularly as the fridge was stocked with ice cold beer. I stood on the clifftops sipping beer looking down at the beautiful bay and the ancient quarries. It really is a fabulous place to explore.

Quarrying the tufa started in Roman times and then started again in earnest from the 17th century. The tufa was cut into breezeblock sizes to be used as building material and these blocks were transported across Sicily and also exported to North Africa. Some of the tunnels were cut deep into the cliffs and really need a torch to explore, others were open to the sky in places and many had graffiti and pictures cut into the rock perhaps from hundreds of years ago.

I could have quite happily spent all day exploring the cliffs but Nicky was still aboard BV and, looking down into the turquoise waters, the other priority was to go snorkelling.

Cala Rossa teams with fish. It would appear that marine sanctuaries work!

It certainly made for excellent snorkelling and, combined with the quarries to explore and the large sandy bay giving the turquoise colour, Cala Rossa is our favourite anchorage in the Egadi Islands.

Egadi Islands, Sicily, Italy