Sorrento, Italy question re: boat day trip & packing question too

I have not taken that boat trip, but I have spent a week in Positano which is spectacular. During our time there we took the ferry to the Town of Amalfi twice, once to spend the day there and once to catch a ride up the mountain to Ravello which is another beautiful place. So, I would say yes, go to both Positano and Amalfi.

I can’t give any recs because our trip was setup through our Airbnb host, but that was possibly our best day in Italy. Highly recommend. Private boat and we left from a little west of Sorrento(Marina di Puolo) and went to Maiori and back with multiple stops along the way. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Appreciate it.

Thanks a bunch.

Sorrento - Day Two
Sunday, August 8, 2010: A great day for us. We slept late, ate breakfast at our hotel and decided to go swimming. We heard about a public beach near Sorrento and took the bus to La Cala di Puoli beach. We got off the bus one stop too early, but it was fortuitous, as we hiked down to the beach (due to the great cliffs, you have to hike down or pay a hotel to take their private elevator down to the beach). We walked a few miles downhill and came upon a private cove with a rock structure and beautiful water. We settled in this cove, with the Italian locals, and swam for about two hours. We met one American that had lived in Sorrento for four years and we were the first Americans that he had seen at this location. The kids jumped off the cliffs into the blue sea and we watched. I didn’t bring my camera (sorry), but it was a picturesque spot and the water was blue and cold.

For lunch, we had true Neapolitan pizza at another Rick Steves’ recommended restaurant named Ristorante Pizzeria da Gigino. We originally ordered two pizzas and a calzone to split, but the pizza was so good and we were so hungry that we ordered one more pizza. It was one of the best lunches that we have had in a true wood-fired oven.

After an afternoon nap, we went to Marina Grande to eat at Trattoria da Emilia, which is also on the harbour. Although we didn’t enjoy our food as much as Delfino, we enjoyed the atmosphere. After dinner of mainly seafood, we walked past the shopping area and headed to our hotel for an early evening, as we were taking the first boat to Capri in the morning.

Sorrento - Day Three at the Isle of Capri
Monday, August 9, 2010: We got an early start this morning. We ate breakfast at the hotel at 7:00 a.m. and caught the 8:05 jet (hydrofoil) boat to Capri. Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy. It has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic. The jet boat ride took about 25 minutes and we arrived at their Marina Grande. We took the funicular up to the town center of Capri, which is located about a mile straight up from the Marina.

We rode in a bus over to the only other town on the Island, Anacapri. From the town center of Anacapri, we took a chairlift (these were single chairs) up to the top of Monte Solaro. The mountain was approximately 1,932 feet high and provided great views of the entire island and the sea. We could even see Mt. Vesuvius from the top. We spent over an hour taking pictures and admiring the views. The best part of an early arrival, we were the first ones on top of the mountain and we had it all to ourselves for a portion of the time. While we could have rode the chairlift down, we choose instead to hike down which was about a 45 minute hike back down to Anacapri. The views were breathtaking!

We caught a bus back to the town of Capri, grabbed a quick sandwich and gelato, then walked down from the town of Capri to the Marina Grande. Our son's friend’s family had told us about renting a boat to go around the island and see the sights. It was great advice. We found a local rental company named Capri whales di Wendy that rented rubber center console boats, about 18 feet long and that have a 40 hp. motor. It was a perfect boat for our family. We were the captains of our ship for the next two hours and at only 90 Euro (about $120) it was a bargain. We drove around the island (the island is approximately 4 miles long and 2 miles wide) and found a cove for the Grotta Bianca (White Grotto). We anchored our boat and swam in the cool Gulf of Naples waters among several large yachts in the cove. It was one of the highlights of our trip. After 30 minutes. we continued on our way around the island and the boat trip took about two hours. We no longer felt like tourists, but like residents of Capri.

We took the 4:20 p.m. jet boat back to Capri and had drinks on our balcony to celebrate our day. It was a fantastic day in Capri. Our hotel bartender recommended La Lanterna Ristorante for dinner and it was fantastic. I had grouper, one of their fish specialties and it was fantastic. We shared three great desserts and had two more complimentary desserts. We finished with the local liquor - limoncello, just as we have done every night since we have arrived. It is a local liquor made from the freshly grown lemons in Sorrento and every restaurant insists that you partake (most of the restaurants even provide it, complementarity). It is supposed to help with the digestion of our food. Regardless, we always told our kids to ask for it as well, so we could drink their complementary limoncello. Our middle child was drinking his own by now.

I am going to post numerous pictures of Capri. I hope you enjoy them. Our last day in Sorrento is tomorrow and we will probably shop and relax for our journey back to Rome on Wednesday.

Amalfi is nice and they have a beautiful and historic cathedral, but if I had to choose between Amalfi and Positano, I would definitely choose Positano.