So, given how warm the weather has been so far, I thought you might like some feedback on how our ‘tenda’ share arrangement is going at Marina di Torre del Lago. In Italy, one has to pay for a beach club resort to sit on the beach. Even though there is a big push back for those who can’t afford the luxury clubs to allow free beaches to be used.
Are they worth the price tag they command?
As for other regions, 70% of the Ligurian coastline in the northwest, on the border with France has been handed over to private establishments. In Rimini, a city in Emilia-Romagna, and in Forte Dei Marmi in Tuscany there are virtually no free beaches.
The free areas tend to be on less beautiful parts of the beach. With little access too.
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Why Are Locals Protesting?
Recent protests have also been held on a section of free beach in Pulcinella, Naples, where Mare Libero activists took to the sea in kayaks, holding a banner that reworded the Focaccia song: This year the locals want a change, they want the same beach, without paying. Good luck with that I say.
Back In May, it was already 26 degrees in Tuscany, Forte Dei Marmi. A posh seaside with no free beach access. I had the dirty beach access to myself. Swimming with plastic in an expensive sea.
I am Australian and my worse beach experiences are here in Italy. Even when I have to pay for it. The sea is dirty full of rubbish, packed and the water is not nice.
Beggers can’t be choosers after all.
The Beach Club Must Allow Access To Free Beaches
Each beach club by law must have a sign where people not paying are allowed access to the beach. Protestors are saying the government must introduce a law obliging local administrations to keep at least half of their beaches free.
“There are few free beaches in or near Naples, and in the wider Campania region, just 20% are free. On top of that, the sea has become a parking lot for boats.”
Beach clubs are also responsible for keeping the beach clean and providing showers, toilets, dining facilities and a lifeguard service.
When you enter, you enter the beach club. “Anyone who wants to transit can do so, but they cannot stay.”
It was quiet so I could sit anywhere without paying or having a beach police patrol. It was so nice as there was no one but me. But again the water was full of rubbish.
It was bliss as there was no one on the beach. But as the heat soared things changed. For those who can’t and won’t pay the beach lifestyle is.
“There is no other way to live the beach experience. “It’s become a status symbol too. The conversations start in the spring, with people asking their friends: ‘Where have you rented your beach cabin this summer? We’re renting the same one.’”
Fashion and lifestyle are huge in Forte Dei Marmi. Linen trends are the put most key for a hot summer. it is all about who and where you place your beach babe body.
How Do You Rent A Beach Club At An Affordable Price?
Year in, year out, this often extends to paying a tidy sum to rent the same cabin, same lounger and the same umbrella covering the same patch of sand, at the same lido or beach resort, preferably in a prestigious row close to the shoreline, for an entire season. It all comes down to who you know and the price one can afford to fork out.
Firstly, and probably most importantly, the cost. The season begins in the middle of May and runs until the summer expires in September. For a mere is 1200 euros, split four ways which is 300 euros each. It is so hot in Italy right now. So renting a beach club for the most part can be boring over a few months. So why not team up with friends to get value for money.
For this, you can share an area of around 2mtrs by 1.5 meters with shade cloth over the top and 2 sunbeds, 2 deckchairs and 1 director’s chair. This guarantees each shareholder one spot whenever they want to go.
Not everyone goes every day or all day so, if you want to take someone else, you need to clear that with the other participants. If you want two spots guaranteed throughout, you pay double.
If you want to do something by yourselves, the price for an umbrella and two deckchairs last year was around 600 euros, I think. Of course, you can also hire by the day but, if you think you’ll make a lot of use of it, the daily cost varies by the month. August is the most expensive.
How Fashionable Is Your Beach?
Prices also go up according to how fashionable the beach (and the Bagno) is. Also, more if it has a swimming pool, etc.
The main reasons people chose Marina di Torre del Lago are it can be half the price of Viareggio, it’s the closest to Lucca.
Far enough away from Viareggio and Pisa for the water to be pretty clean. There is really no near beach which, if you haven’t got transport, involves less than a two-stage journey e.g. bus + bus or train + bus. It is in the high thirties in Italy and the last thing one wants to do is catch public transport. If you have the cash to splash the Milanese head to Forte Dei Marmi. Where one can also trend their bike style.
Then you can shop at Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and much more.
It is where everyone like St Tropez, shows off all their wealth. Thirty per cent of villas are owned by Russians so it will be interesting to see what the beach club market can command this year.
One of my favourite beach access stays was in Lido in Venice. Hotel Excelsior Venice
I could see that dirty beach by the pool with a cocktail. And at a whopping three hundred euros a day to sit on a polluted beach.
I rather stay at a pool or a private villa.
No one fighting for an umbrella here.
I hear the South of Italy is much nicer beaches. Puglia also commands the prices for a summer hot water stay. For this reason, it is why I left Italy and will return in October for a quiet Tuscan stay.
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