Riserva Naturale Cavagrande del Cassibile — Attraction in Noto

WATCH OUT, FRAUDS ARE STILL ACTIVE (Read bottom of this review)

We had a great few hours climbing down to the main rock pools, exploring, photographing, having a picnic lunch and then climbing back out. This was on 09 March 2022. It is a truly beautiful walk and well worth the effort, even on a dull cloudy day that we had. Must be super good on a sunny day. The track is still officially closed but as mentioned there are plastic crates either side of the closed gate that facilitate an easy climb over. On 09 March there were just a few workers erecting some frames at the far end of the carpark and nobody official at all came to speak with us or ask for a parking fee.

WATCH OUT, FRAUDS ARE STILL ACTIVE. There were very few cars/vans in the carpark either when we arrived or when we climbed back out. After the climb out, we were in the small carpark for a while sorting out some gear and eating/drinking and speaking with a very nice Polish couple we had passed on the climb (and who were driving around Italy in a camper van). Before we drove out of the carpark we noticed someone else drive out in a small van, but did not take much notice of it at the time. We then drove out of the carpark and along the small road that is the only access to the carpark from the main road. A short distance along the way I noticed a vehicle parked at the bottom of a down slope with a male standing at the rear supposedly looking across into the fields. I slowed down and drove past with plenty of space between the vehicles but as we did so, we heard a sound like something had hit our car. When I looked back in the rear mirror, I noticed the male waving at us and looking at the side of his vehicle. I also noticed what looked like a white ball on the ground beside his vehicle. I remembered reading reviews here when planning the trip and also a couple of comments about such an event. I said to my wife that we could soon expect this fraudster to race up behind us in his vehicle waving and honking and trying to stop us. Sure enough, within a short distance exactly that happened. I gave him a solid two finger salute and refused to stop. A short distance later he gave up and we never saw him again! Thanks previous reviewers! We believe the male and the vehicle were the same one that drove out of the carpark just before we did - so he had been there surveying for his next victims! I guess he thought we, as mature age travellers, might be an easy target! Let us all hope he is caught and charged by the local police before causing great distress to others...

So Here's how it goes. You arrive at this place and holy heck what a few! And then there's this trail that you can walk all the way down to a beautiful river. (It's deep! Not the kind of deep that you're girlfriend gracefully lies to you about, but actually deep) So you think to yourself, I can do this! I used to be sporty in highschool. Remember I did that running thing once!? This is going to be easy. So once you've mentally overqualified yourself, you start your walk down into the abyss, which sounds more frightening then it is, because this this it's not happening in your head. And after two whole overconfident steps you realise... I've made a mistake.. you look down and holy mother of Pedro Pascal that river down there looks far away. But mama didn't raise no quitter and so you bravely keep descending. After a whole 30 seconds you realise that you'll also have to walk the same way UPWARDS! But as you do, you think of that as a consequence that you'll deal with later. As you keep descending you'll meet the soulless body's of the people that are on their way up. Huffing, puffing, bagging for water or begging you to end their suffering. Honestly they made The Walking Dead look like a children's play. But you're not letting other people's poor judgement let you down do you? After about 30 minutes you arrive at the foot of the trail and you realise it was worth the effort. It's just simply such a beautiful place and the of sound god's nectar flowing freely past the rocks make you forget you'll have to walk the same way up again. After a nice relaxing swim the consequence has arrived. You shall either die at the foot of the hill or walk up that hill and be welcomed a hero. As you start the long journey up you go through all these different stages. There's crying, there's shouting, fear, and there's that abyss looking very tempting and juicy, there's even a point where you see the silhouette of your ancestors and you here them saying what a disappointment you are to the bloodline. But after what feels like 7 years you are back at the place where you started and you'll get tor drink the best tasting beer of your life! Which I now realise I should have started with.....

Really worth the trip here! Amazing views and amazing water. Hopefully some helpful tips here: You can park right outside the entrance but we didn’t have a car so got a taxi from Syracuse for €120 return. Originally quoted at €140. I think you could get it down more if you are brave! We are 27 years old and fit, we walked down in 40 minutes. Back up was about 35 minutes but we did walk quite quick. If you have sore legs/Knees it will be pretty challenging to be honest and there is no other way to get there other than walk. There are steep and large steps in points and really uneven terrain. They suggest down is about 45 minutes and to allow around an hour up, different for all though There is a cafe at the top right In front the entrance where we got sandwiches, water and crisps. They have beers, ice cream and soft drinks too. Opened at 10am the day we went. You climb over a small gate to get onto the path as the path is officially ‘closed’ We had water shoes for when walking on the rocks around the water. If you have sensitive feet or just want to slip less, definitely pick some up but if you don’t have any, also fine Pack light, we only used towels, suncream, shoes, phones and had our lunch. You don’t need anything else really Take at-least 1-2 litres of water per person No phone signal there fyi Wear any form of trainer or walking shoe. I had more ‘fashion’ trainers and that was enough. We didn’t have anything more technical as weren’t equipped so those were fine. No toilets or anything down there, no shops etc Read other reviews about frauds to do with hitting cars etc as may be useful if you are driving there

Definitely add this to your to-go list!! It was honestly amazing and a wonderful change from normal city sightseeing. We arrived at 10aM and left to walk up around 2:30pm (was about 31 degrees which was roasting but walking up...