Eating the Amalfi Coast from the Water: A Food-Lover's Sailing Guide

Half the pleasure of chartering the Amalfi Coast is edible. This is a coastline where the best tables face the water, some of the finest kitchens are reachable only by tender, and provisioning is a genuine joy rather than a chore. Here is how to eat your way along it from the deck.

Nerano — the dish worth sailing for

The sheltered bay of Marina del Cantone at Nerano is home to spaghetti alla Nerano, a deceptively simple dish of pasta, fried zucchini and Provolone del Monaco. Lo Scoglio, on stilts over the anchorage, is the temple — book weeks ahead in high summer.

Cetara — anchovies and colatura

The little fishing village of Cetara lives for anchovies. Its colatura di alici — a translucent amber sauce descended from Roman garum — is one of Italy's great artisan foods. Anchor off, tender in, and carry a bottle home.

Beach kitchens by tender

Da Adolfo below Positano — marked by a red fish flag and reached by its own shuttle from the beach — grills mozzarella on lemon leaves and pours house rosé from ice buckets. It is the quintessential Amalfi lunch, and you can only really do it by boat.

Provisioning the good stuff

Between meals ashore, stock the galley with what the coast does best: lemons the size of fists and their limoncello, buffalo mozzarella from the plains behind Naples, tomatoes from the volcanic soil of Vesuvius. Your crew provisions to your menu; flag any dietary needs at booking.

Practical notes

• Booking tables. The best waterfront restaurants fill in July and August — ask the crew to reserve as the itinerary firms up.
• What's included. Crewed charters typically cater half- or full-board; drinks and dinners ashore are extra. See what an Italy charter costs.
• Ready to plan? Browse Amalfi Coast charters.