Porto Cesareo - Salento 

Marina di Porto Cesareo - A safe landing port in Puglia

Marina di Porto Cesareo is a well-sheltered marina with 4 quays, all equipped with water and electric charging columns, and a slipway. The facility offers a winde range of nautical services along with 300 berths for medium-sized boats.

Overlooked by the beautiful Torre Cesarea, the marina is rather visible and easily recognisable from a distance. It offers a safe shelter to small ships up to 3 metres in draught. It is protected on the South from a narrow isthmus called "Penisola della Strega". Two black-and-white beacons situated on the north-eastern shore allow boats to enter through a 80-centimetre passage on the starboard side of an insidious shoal located south-east of the "Scoglio di Testa".

In the event of the so-called "Calabrian wind" (a south-west wind), waves violently crush onto the mouth of the port and the inner body of water becomes little safe. Sea bottoms are 2.4 metres deep, except for the south-eastern side where the cove is entirely covered with sand. The marina includes two 30-metre long quays, two 25-metre ones and a slipway. Northerly wind and sirocco are the main hardships there.

Porto Cesareo is a seaside town situated on the Ionian coast of the Salento peninsula, between Gallipoli and Taranto. Its coastline is rich of white-sand beaches and generous Mediterranean forest. In front of Porto Cesareo, lies a series of islets which includes the popular Isola Grande, also known as Isola dei Conigli (Rabbit Island) which can be exclusively reached by foot from the port or by fishing boats.

Vegetation on these inslands, which counts over 200 different vegetal species, contributed to the institution of the protected marine reserve of Porto Cesareo in 1997, marked on the North by Punta Prosciutto and, on the South, by Torre Inserraglio. The seabed offers a wonderful subtropical environment with animals typical of warm seas. The marina fauna includes shellfish, crustaceans, colured fish and turtles. Corals can be found near the coast and at little depth.

Along the coast, visitors can admire four watchtowers built in the 16th century to defend the Salento Peninsula. They are named Torre Cesarea, Torre Lapillo, Torre Chianca and Torre Castiglione.

Culinary tradition of Porto Cesareo is mainly based on sea products. A typical local product is certainly the mullet of Porto Cesareo. From a culinary point of view, Via Silvio Pellico, also known as " the street of fishmongers" is very interesting.