The Amalfi Coast is a renowned summer destination for holidaymakers who want to drink the sun and the trendy atmosphere in this historic area. Yet tourists who arrive on the Amalfi coast can be shocked if they anticipate a long stretch of smooth sandy beach. Amalfi Coast beaches are carved into the dramatic cliffs of the coastline so that they are small but beautiful. The water of the Amalfi Coast is renowned for cleanliness and transparency, and it is ideal for diving, snorkeling, surfing or kayaking.

Marina Grande Beach, Positano

Although it’s not a beach to get away from, Positano’s Marina Grande is an Italian indoor beach in the summer–a sea of umbrellas and lounge chairs on a landscape of colorful pillars that scale the hills, with cliffs in the middle. This is a beach that is busy and a little noisy during peak season but with its good location and amenities ready for visitors to go there (bars, restaurants, stores, water-sports rental).

Marina Grande Beach, Amalfi

As in Positano, Marina Grande, the beach of the City of Amalfi, has relatively large accessibility and travelers to Amalfi can get there without a car, bus or long walk. The loungers are lined in season, which runs right up to the high tide. Apart from Amalfi Harbor’s boat traffic west, the sea waters remain calm and relatively clear; there are some outstanding seafood restaurants behind the shore, two major advantages.

Beaches of Vietri Sul Mare

The long sandy beaches of Vietri Sul Mare are easily accessible, families common and crowded during the season. There are free beach spaces in the sea of paid beaches, and La Baia, the beach closest to the busy port of Salerno, has an especially wide, open space. Heavy boat transport from the port causes the waters here to miss the high visibility of other Amalfi coastal waters although they are still largely clear.

Maiori Beach

Great news about the beach of Maiori? The largest beach on the Amalfi Coast is almost one kilometer long. Therefore it is sandy and long, with a region on the shore that is pretty shallow. And since it’s without cliffs, there is a lot more sunshine than many of the beaches of the Amalfi Coast. What’s wrong? The beach is packed with “stabilimenti,” which means that there is precious little free sand. It is an outstanding popular beach if you’re okay with paying for lounge chairs and umbrellas.

Cetara Beach

Low-key Cetara Beach is suitable for those searching for a beach with more residents than visitors, at the foot of the quiet tiny village of Cetara, between Vietri Sul Mare and Miori. There is more free space on the small beach than stability, while a large offshore breakwater minimizes the waves. Cetara shops and restaurants are within walking distance.

La Praia Beach

Place your foot on La Praia beach in Praiano, and you might feel like you’ve made a film. This small beach has a lovely swimming area and a combination of free and paid beaches, flanked by towering cliffs. It’s another beach that arrives at first before the sun sinks behind the cliffs in the afternoon. The sand makes a tidal walkway.

Fornillo Beach, Positano

A 10-minute walk along a coastal footpath leads to a smaller, more chilled Fornillo Beach from the busy beach Marina Grande in Positano. Although still busy in the summer, Fornillo is a lot more hectic than the main beach of Fornillo and has a good free area of the beach. This has a good selection of bars and restaurants, like most beaches around the Amalfi Coast.