Sayonara Beach

Sayonara is the historic lido of Giardini Naxos, in business since 1961, and it holds one of the largest plots on the bay with around 350 loungers and roughly 150 to 200 of its distinctive yellow-green umbrellas. The shoreline in Giardini Naxos is a mix of sand and pebbles rather than pure sand, and the water off the bay is clear and drops away reasonably quickly, with the Taormina headland rising to the north and Etna behind. Scale is the point here: rows are spaced and bookable online, and the beach is large enough that it rarely feels shoulder to shoulder even in August. The service model is more modern than the age of the place suggests. You order food and drink from the bar directly from your umbrella through a phone app, so nobody has to leave a sun-warmed lounger to queue. On site there are showers, changing rooms, wifi, first aid and lifeguard cover, and adapted access for guests with disabilities. SUP boards, canoes and pedalos are for hire, and the club arranges partner services including a skippered ten-metre boat, jet skis, guided excursions into the caves and coves around the Naxos and Taormina bays, and discounted parking at a garage 500 metres away.