Spiaggia di Isola Bella — Restaurant in Taormina

What a spot 😍 this is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful spots in the world, but there's something you should know, First let's just take in the beauty of the place... The approach to Isola Bella bay is like the Amalfi coast, gorgeous views from winding roads, every time you turn a corner it takes your breath away. When you take the walk down to the beach it's by a winding stairway lined with vendors selling everything from dresses to rugs, the dresses and beachwear I can understand, rugs? Oh no wait those are really big beach towels😆 There's a stone covered beach with crystal clear water teaming with sea life from shoals of fish to cute little floating jellyfish. It's clean and shallow, I'd recommend buying a snorkel to keep the kids busy for hours, and the big kids too 😉 At low tide you can walk across the bay to the Island as starring in The White Lotus TV series which we had to watch again now we're here, a lot of laughs the second time and spotting the sights we've been seeing for real makes it even more enjoyable 😊 This is truly a view you cannot get bored of. What should you know? Bring swimming shoes to avoid tears, walking on stones isn't the best for softened wet feet🤐 Also the private sun recliners are not cheap, we faced a €20 euro minimum per person when we got to the bar... But our kids villa was in the bay (the Taormina Isola Bella Apartments Via Nazionale) so bringing back food and drink was a quick round trip. Altogether this is a wonderful day out with an...

It is really hard to fairly rate this beach. The reason is that by itself it is an absolutely superb piece of land and sea. The whole scenary is worth 7 stars, not 5. However I believe one can rarely discover this place as it naturally exists, especially not in high-season lime we did. And what we experienced was not great. The beach is split into public and private ( paying 30 Eur/pax for access ) even though there is hardly any separation between the 2 and the only difference is the existence of sunbeds in the paying side. The public part is super-crowded, literally almost impossible to find a place for your beach towel even on an menacingly overcast day with showers all around the area. Because of the crowdiness there is also a lot of litter on the beach and some in the water ( this is not even close to a blue flag ). The beach is a pebble beach so you need to have watershoes if you plan to go into the water, otherwise you risk to hurt yourself. Even so you need to be careful because there are a lot of large rocks close to the shore ( some barely submerged ) which can also lead to minor injuries. The water itself is what you would expect: crystal clear, with plenty of fish and really warm in the summer. All in all this could be a paradise if they limited the number of people allowed to 1 third of the number which fill up the beach in high-season, but like it is today, the best option is to take some photos from above and find some other place...

Bad Experience at Iso Bella Beach

As a tourist, I arrived at Iso Bella Beach around noon. Since it was quite sunny, I decided to sit under the shade of a tree near two free public water taps. However, while I was relaxing there, two italian man and a thin woman about 55 years ago arrived and stood around me. They seemed to want to take over the shaded area for their boat rental or tour-selling business.

I tried to stay seated on a wooden plank while waiting for my friend to return. However, two Italian men sat very close and made me feel squeezed out of my seat. They acted in ways that made me uncomfortable and did not respect my personal space. When I asked them to show their business license, they did not respond and asked me to leave.

I requested help from a beach manager (wearing a blue uniform), but he showed no interest and simply said, “no english.” I was very disappointed by the attitude of some people here.

I am posting this review hoping other tourists will be warned and avoid...