Ghenea Beach Club

Ghenea is on the Lungomare dei Ciclopi at Aci Trezza, in the Aci Castello municipality, inside the protected marine area around the Cyclops stacks. There is no beach in the conventional sense. The club is a set of wooden platforms and solarium decks laid over black lava rock, some of them cantilevered out over the water, with metal ladders for getting in and out. The sea directly below is clear and deep, and the view is the faraglioni that legend attributes to Polyphemus throwing rocks at Odysseus. Loungers face those rocks. Above the swimming decks there is a bar doing breakfasts and cocktails, and a restaurant and pizzeria serving Catanese cooking and gourmet pizza, which stays open until two in the morning long after the bathing area closes at seven. Canoes can be hired. There is an accessible beach area, wifi, and parking nearby, and pets are allowed. Getting here is straightforward: the SP41 from Catania, a regional bus, or a short walk from the centre of Aci Trezza. It suits confident swimmers and anyone who wants to eat well with the stacks in front of them.