One of the ways to discover Stromboli is to take a boat trip around the island, and there are various companies (all very small) which carry around tourists. The price, for the island tour, is always 25 euros for all companies, while it may change the type of boat that they use (dinghy or vessels more or less significant).
We did our tour, on a sweltering morning, from 10:30 to 13:00 with Antonio, a very nice gentleman from Stromboli who also told us many things about the island. [If, in the case of a tour with a guide, you are the kind of people who only look for the strictly necessary information and nothing more then do not go with him. And do not believe who will tell you that the boat you’re looking for isn’t good for photos: that person is, probably, just trying to attract you so that you choose them for the excursion].
Starting from the small pier we pass in front of the “sleeping man“, a “lava bomb” that has cooled when it comes into contact with the water of the Tyrrhenian sea, so called because it resembles a lying man (“who sleeps”). A little further on we find the ancient sciara along which, once, the lava that came out of the volcano during its eruptions descended. The more the excursion goes on, the more I was amazed by the colour of the crystal clear water around the island.
So we arrive at Ginostra, a small fraction of the island that can only be reached by sea. Here the inhabitants are very few, which you notice turning in its streets and Antonio told us that here there are only 29 residents and only one child [I tried to identify myself with this one child, and I could not imagine how it could be live in his place]. We find a small bar (the only one we have seen in the surrounding area), and we stop, together with the others in the excursion with us, to take a granite: one of the best I have ever tried! Back in the boat, we continue the tour of the island, which seen from the sea seemed very different, and now we are almost halfway around (and we have not set foot on the ground until the end of the tour).
We pass in front of the Sciara di Fuoco: view from the sea leaves without words. The differences in observing the Sciara and the volcano from the sea and not from the mainland?
1) from the sea do not hear his mumble (which always gave me a little bit of anxiety)
2) if possible, you can notice even more the smoke that continually comes out of the crater of the volcano.
Seeing how the volcano is alive and always and continuously signals its presence and vitality is impressive (or at least it was for me in the four days that passed on the island). In the area of the sea that is right in front of the Sciara, there is a deep submarine canyon.
The last stop was the Strombolicchio, the big rock that is in front of the island: looking at it from so close, it seems even more significant and impressive than seen comfortably seated on the beach. Did you know that, in reality, the Strombolicchio is more ancient than the island of Stromboli? Antonio told us that the Strombolicchio was born a million years ago, while the island “only” 100 thousand! At the top is a lighthouse where he lived a guardian if I remembered correctly, until the mid-60s and was supplied with food and goods of various necessity with the use of a pulley that went to gas. The lighthouse can be seen from afar (and from the ferry), and this pulley can be seen approaching with the boats (I do not know if everyone takes you to see it, but I doubt they jump because it is indeed an impressive piece of the island’s history that surrounds it). Arrived here Antonio stopped the boat giving us the opportunity to get a nice refreshing bath before returning to the ground.
I think Stromboli is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, until now, and I suggest you spend some days here!