I fell in love with this name and this song when I was fifteen. At the very first time in 1973, when I listened to Hervé Vilard "Capri c'est fini" hit in a coffee shop in Sai Gon. I promised myself one day, I would visit this island at least once in my life time. And here I was, standing in front of the ferries connecting me with my dream destination, Capri.
Looking back at Naples from the sea.
There are several different type of ferries to get to the island from Naples.
Naples has two ports from where to catch ferries to Capri: Molo Beverello and Calata di Massa.
Molo Beverello is situated directly opposite the city's Maschio Angioino castle. This castle looks just like one of those old castles I've seen in movies.
After getting our tickets, we had about 40 minutes extra. It was time to get something to eat and to snap some pictures of this Maschio Angioino castle.
We chose Molo Beverello port because only here, we would get to the high speed hydrofoil ferries, which could get us to the island for less than 45 minutes. The tickets cost us roughly 26 dollar per person. Only human is allowed on these ferries.
These ferries are equipped with AC cabins and a small galley that sells snacks, coffee, drinks, ice-cream, and sandwiches. The seats are pretty comfortable with 360 view all around. The cabins are glass-walled to prevent water splash and wind from the sea.
Approaching Capri main port from the sea.
The regular and slow ferries are offered to depart from Calata di Massa port in a very short distant on our left facing the sea. On these ferries, beside passengers, vehicles of all kind, pallets, and parcels are allowed as well. The journey by regular or slow ferry is A LOT SLOWER and of course, quite less expensive than the journey by high speed ferry.
Capri's main port, the Marina Grande.
A taste of Capri's ice-creams.
Our private island tour captain and his sail boat.
Time to get acquainted, and self-introducing.
He introduced himself in not so bad English: Hello, my name is Francesco. I am captain of your boat! ... :-)
Heading to the open sea around the island.
Caves and more caves ...
until we got to the other side of the island where it was a bit calmer. The water is so blue and super clean.
Once it got closer to the rocks, the water turn into deep green and we could see at least several meter deep.
It looks just like a gate to ... paradise. We did went thru here to get to the other side of Capri island.
During the high tide period, this gate is closed. To get around, people have to travel further down the shoreline.
The tour around the island was over before we knew it. It's time to say goodbye to our "love boat" and captain "friendly".
The ride cost anywhere between 150 to 400 hundred dollars depend on how big and how luxury the yacht is. Most of these captains and their crews speak English.
There are 4 cafes in this main square with many small shops sell souvenirs and high-end designer shops lined up this main street.
Capri Island was a favored resort of the Roman emperors. Most notoriously, the emperor Tiberius had his villa on the island. Rumor has it that those who displeased the emperor were flung to their deaths from the cliffs.
We wasn't able to book one of the very few hotels on the island during this high season, so our stay was limited from sunrise to sunset.
We finally had to say goodbye to this romantic island and headed back to Naples late the same day.
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