Today Captain Paul rented a boat so we could enjoy the beauty of the Amalfi coast from the water. We departed Minori, passed Atrani, Amalfi, Conca dei Marini, Furore, Praiano and stopped the boat to access a beach outside of Positano. The beach is not accessible by foot, only by boat. The kids and I swam ashore and to our delight, there was a ton of sea glass. We quickly started collecting as much as our hands could hold, and sent Miss M swimming back to the boat to retrieve a bag for our treasures.

The beach was small, and after 30 minutes another family and their dog joined us.

I briefly stayed on the boat alone so Paul could swim to shore as well. Not comfortable with navigating the boat myself, Paul quickly swam back to me so our drifting boat wouldn’t collide with another nearby.

Big D took a turn driving the boat; he enjoyed accelerating towards the waves.

We then headed back down the coast, lingering outside of Fiordo di Furore to watch some of the boats squeeze through an opening (under a massive stone arch supporting the main road) to reach another small beach. Enjoying the wind in our hair and sun beating down on us, we sunbathed and relaxed while Captain Paul brought us to Maiori, one town south of Minori. Again we all jumped in the clean, beautiful and warm water, remarking at the saltiness.

We were exhausted and enjoyed a late lunch of pasta and panini at Bar Europa in Minori’s town square.

After a brief siesta and gelatos, we hopped on the ferry to spend the night in Positano. We browsed some stores in Positano and after realizing how difficult it would be to reach La Tagliata (a restaurant recommended to us by good friends) we decided to bail. Positano was crowded with tourists and one place we stopped to check the menu had outrageous prices. We took the SITA bus to Amalfi instead. The kids stood in the very front of the bus as it wound along the coast – views of the cliffs and steep drops to the sea out one side, views of the winding road ahead as busses, cars and motorcycles approached the narrow road.

In Amalfi we dined at Pizzeria Donna Stella. Paul’s stuffed squash flowers are better than theirs, but the pizzas were excellent. Miss M had pizza margherita, Big D had a white pizza, my pizza had a poached egg, spicy sausage, mozzarella and burrata, and Paul’s had mozzarella, onion, red pepper flakes and lardo.

We finished the night with our second gelato of the day and took the SITA bus back to Minori.