The Bagno All Summer Long

Heading to a public beach in the US in summer is something I always looked forward to. We spent a lot of time In Santa Cruz which was always beautiful, but it lacked a certain level of comfort. There was always the endless shaking out of the towels to keep the sand off. Most of the time, there wasn’t a place on the beach to get a meal or a beverage, so we’d need to bring our own food or leave and come back. (Quality problem…)

I’ve now had the wonderful opportunity to spend long weekends at several beaches on the Mediterranean coast in Italy to escape the heat in Florence and enjoy new and beautiful spots I’ve never been to before.

Enter the bagno.

Italy enjoys enormous stretches of beaches and nearly 4900 miles of scenic coastlines.

From what I’ve learned, technically all the beaches in Italy are public, however, the government leases out quite a bit of them to private, family-owned businesses in what is known as a Bagno (sometimes called Lido). While there are public beaches where you can stake your spot on the sand, they are actually not that plentiful. In Italy, it is most common for Italians to pay for access to a Bagno. This fee-based experience gives access to a lounge chair, umbrella, table, restaurant/café, changing rooms, bathroom, lifeguard, etc. Many Italians have summer homes along the coast and have annual memberships to the bagni so it’s not easy to find a spot for the day in July or August when most people are vacationing.

I’ve experienced the bagno in Castiglioncello, a Mediterranean beach town on the Tuscan coast at the Bagni Quercetano, and in Sardinia at the Blue Sky beach club on Poetto Beach. While prices vary depending on the location of the club and your actual position on the beach (the closer your set up is to the water, the higher the price), it is a really comfortable experience. While there are beaches in the US and at resorts that I’ve visited in Mexico that offer this type of service, the bagno culture here in Italy is standard and they are everywhere.

The Mediterranean sea in summer…

I grew up in New Jersey just outside New York City. Most summers were spent on Long Beach Island in New Jersey. I adored the beach. My father had been a lifeguard when I was born so I learned to swim in the ocean at a very young age and was rarely afraid of the water.

The Atlantic water temperature in summer was always so warm and I would spend hours swimming. But, once I moved to California, I swam a few times in Los Angeles (mainly in Laguna Beach) as I still found the water chilly and in the 20 years living in the Bay Area, I never swam once in Santa Cruz as the water was really too cold for comfort. And, I missed it a lot.

The acqua color of the water at the Mediterranean not only looks breathtaking but the water temperature in July takes no getting used to, at all. It’s amazing. I just walked right in and started swimming and catching small waves! I spent a few hours in the sea and was enjoying it so much. It evoked a gleeful, childlike excitement and a dreamy-state-of-mind. (So grateful…)

As most of us can relate to, the sound of the sea is mesmerizing and allows a certain level of introspection and peace of mind.

Next weekend I’m heading to the very southernmost tip of Sicily to a town called Pozallo. I’ve booked a short yoga vacation at a spot called Floripa right on the beach. Yoga and the beach…a stellar combination.

I’m excited beyond belief. Will share photos, for sure.

Stay tuned!