Lido Internazionale

Lido Internazionale sits on the Playa, the long sandy strip running south from Catania's port, and it is built on the scale that beach implies. There are 165 cabins measuring 1.8 by 1.8 metres let by the season, a rotating changing-room arrangement for day visitors, and thirty umbrellas with loungers set out on the sand. The sand here is fine and grey-gold, the gradient shallow, and Etna stands behind the city on a clear morning. What separates the place from its neighbours is how much of it is not beach. There is a five-a-side synthetic pitch, beach volleyball, ping pong, bocce and tamburelli, a children's zone, an evening disco and a full animation programme. Food runs across a bar, a restaurant, a stone-oven pizzeria, a gelateria and a self-service counter operating from 12:30 to 15:00. Add a large car park, a tobacconist, hot showers, wifi, gazebos, canoes, lifeguard and first-aid cover, and dedicated assistance for disabled guests, and it functions closer to a day resort than a simple lido. Daily opening times and the current tariff are not published online.