Cala di Cetara
The cove sits at the foot of Cetara with the Torre di Cetara anchoring its eastern edge — a medieval watchtower whose upper floors are now someone's home, whose ground floor holds a small free museum of local art and history. The beach itself runs about ninety metres, a mix of sand and pebbles that faces south-east, catching afternoon sun long after the cliffs have thrown shade on other stretches of the coast. Boats come and go from the adjacent port, and the smell of anchovies curing somewhere nearby is not subtle.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back tend to time their July visit around the Night of the Lampare — an annual re-enactment of the old anchovy-fishing method, when boats go out after dark carrying lamps to draw the fish to the surface. It's the kind of thing that makes the colatura di alici you'll find on every menu here feel like it has a real story behind it.
The story behind Cala di Cetara
Cetara's origins run through violence and fish. Saracen raiders used the cove as a base during the siege of Salerno between 842 and 879, and the settlement that grew here was paying a tenth of its catch to the Bishop of Amalfi by the year 1000. In 1120 it passed into the orbit of the Duchy of Amalfi, sitting on its border with the Principality of Salerno.
The Turkish attack of 1543 left the town largely abandoned, and Cetara spent subsequent centuries under the influence of various abbeys and Norman lords before eventually merging with neighbouring Vietri sul Mare. It regained its independence as a separate municipality in 1833 — and its anchovy trade, formalised into the PDO-certified colatura di alici in 2020, has defined it ever since.
Good to know
Reach Cetara by SITA bus from Salerno (around 40 minutes) or by ferry April through October (5€, roughly 15 minutes). The Torre museum is free and open mornings, May through September. Two to three hours covers the cove and its immediate surroundings.
May through October is the window when the cove is at its most accessible — water temperatures peak around 28°C in August, and the ferry from Salerno runs through this period. Spring and early autumn bring fewer people and still-warm days. November and January carry the most rainfall, and winter temperatures can drop to around 7°C.
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What travellers say about Cala di Cetara
Breathtaking.... The beauty of the Amalfi Coast is unparalled ...
Beautiful even in the winter!
Ok
Fantastic view
Beautiful!
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