The beach of Punta Secca extends for 6 km from Santa Croce Camerina, along the south east coast of Sicily, 30 km from Ragusa, and it has a fine golden sandy beach with shallow waters. At the ends of the beach there are charming rocky outcrops where the crystalline water becomes very clear. At sunset, this beach has a breathtaking and suggestive charm. The popularity of this place, which became famous thanks to the tv series “Inspector Montalbano”, has caused the beach to be very crowded in summer, especially during weekends.
The best moment to enjoy the beauty and the peace of this place is during the week and in low/medium season (May, June and late September). A small parking space is available 200 m from the beach, but it is also possible to park the car in the nearby streets. However, the square from where you can access the beach is a limited traffic area. In high season it could be difficult to find a parking space, so it is better to go to the beach in the early morning or early afternoon. The seaside is well served by bars and restaurants. If you want to avoid the crowding of the main beach, Punta Secca offers other beautiful sandy beaches that are a few steps from the central little square.
The seaside village of Punta Secca
Punta Secca is a small seaside hamlet with suggestive rocky outcrops in front of the main beach. These particular cliffs are called “A sicca”, meaning “sand-bank”.
Once it was a very important trading centre, but today is just a small fishing harbor dominated by its majestic lighthouse. It was built in 1853 and is 34 m high.
In the little central square, there is the house of Inspector Montalbano, which became famous for the Italian tv series. The building is private, but it is visited by a lot of tourists and fans of the tv series who go there just to take a picture in front of the Italian fictional policeman’s house.
Hundreds of tourists crowd the charming golden beaches of Punta Secca in summer, thanks to the presence of different restaurants, bars and pubs that give life to the ancient hamlet. The development of tourism, however, has not altered its typical atmosphere of Sicilian fishing village. The picturesque air you breathe walking through the little square, the view of the fishermen working on their small boats, the possibility to enjoy the free beaches: everything makes Punta Secca a place where the typicality of Sicily is still living.
