ustica

The island is a beauty, and its sea sapphire and emeralds.Enjoyed very much the navigation and the center of the islandWe arrived in October and was a bit out of season, most restaurants were closedPay attention! you cannot buy your ship ticket on the ship, or in the port, only in Palermo downtown!

Gorgeous weather and wanted a lovely sea trip. Made the mistake of going out on the fast hydrofoil - no outside seating. On the island we really just sat around watching what was going on in the harbour, had some lunch in the central piazza and exchang ed our return hydrofoil tickets for the slow boat back to Palermo which was lovely and we saw dolphins. Ustica is good for diving and lots of opportunities to do it from what we saw. Getting tickets out there was not entirly straightforward as the website was not accurate about timings.So best to go to Siremar office opposite port and get your ticket there and a bus takes you through the port to the quay.

I was so excited to see Ustica because my Great-Grandparents came to NO from There in the 1870's. Unfortunately, I speak no Italian and the locals speak little or no English. We had to rely on other tourists to set up a quick taxi tour of the island. I tried to set up something thru both the web page and the fb page before leaving the states but to no avail, Apparently they want to maintain their local flavor since Emglish is not taught in their schools as it is in the rest of the country.

Ustica is beautiful. We visit the Island for one day and it was a beautiful experience. I would recommend this excursion to all nature lovers and people loving small italian villages!We took the aliscafo of Siremar at 8h40 (45 euros/roundtrip) and got back at Parlermo around 18h30. It's a one day trip, you stay more or less 7 hours on the island. But lots of people are staying at Ustica for 2 or 3 days.If you want to do a specific activity, you'd better book it in advance. We arrived at 10h00 and wanted to book an excursion in sailing boat, but the it was already fully booked.So we booked the 2 hours island tour on a small motor boat, starting at 12h30. There is a guide and more or less 10 people on board. It was beautiful and fantastic! Count on 20 euros/pers.In the meantime we decided to head to the beach, on the other side of the island. You can take the communal (orange) bus or the private shuttle. It is about the same price (1,5 euro/pers.) and takes 15 minutes. We stayed there for about 1 hour using mask and snorkel and exploring the clearest water you could imagine!Then we got back to the marina for the boat tour we had booked.After the tour you can go to the small Piazza, where you will find restaurants, souvenir shops and a (very) small supermarket.Of course, you don't want to miss Sabrina's Gelati which are awesome. The shop is located in a small street, just off the Piazza.I think we did the most of our 7 hours on Ustica!

Close your eyes and smell the sea. Enjoy the crystal clear waters. Discover the secrets of a hidden history.

We visited Ustica from Palermo for a day trip. We ended up taking the 11am ferry from the port, you can buy tickets there. The ferry ride is about two hours and once you arrive at the port you can hire a local boat. These are pretty cheap, we paid 20 Euros each and had a 2-3 hour trip around the Island, stopping in various places to swim in the crystal clear water, in grottos etc. It was extremely enjoyable and totally worth the ferry ride. We had lunch near the port and then returned on the last ferry of the day at 6 or 6.30pm. Others have commented on other activities that I'm sure you can do if you organise your day. We hadn't planned too much ahead of time but had the most wonderful day.

The market street of Ustica Island is amazing. The Beach views of Ustica Island are fascinating. No words to describe...! Highly recommend exploring this area.

absolutely perfect for one week visit and diving. The environment is quite untouched, the historical sites are quite preserved, for italian standard

Myself and my girlfriend got the 0840 hydrofoil out to the island with Siremar (two different companies operate ferries to the island - Siremar and Ustica Lines). We were looking to rent a scooter to explore the island but we instead opted for a quad as we had some baggage with us and there wasn't much difference in the price (€25 for a scooter for the day, €35 for a quad). We drove around the island and stopped off at a few places along the way. We stopped off at one small black pebbled beach. I just brought a pair of swimming googles with me and went for a swim. Never before have I seen so many fish! The sea was incredibly warm and I can only imagine how good snorkeling or scuba diving would be. The best place to stop off for a swim is at the light house. There was a lifeguard on duty there and plenty of people out bathing, plus a big rock pool filled with fish. We were due to get the car ferry home at 1600. We were waiting in the port in which we arrived that morning from 1530 but saw no ferry (we weren't suspicious as our hydrofoil that morning was almost 40 minutes late leaving). At 1610 to our horror we saw our car ferry appear out of the side of the island and head towards Palermo - it had left from a different port about 2km from the main town. I went straight to the ticket office near the church and the incredibly helpful woman there refunded our tickets for the car ferry and we bought tickets for the 1830 hydrofoil with Ustica Lines. All in all, it was a great place to see and if I was going back I would definitely stay the night and check out the scuba diving! Return tickets from Palermo cost €45 each.

Nice relaxing island for a few days away from the rather hectic Palermo.The diving was a lot of fun, mostly cave diving which a new and fantastic experience for me.Would be a great little addition to your holiday.

We went for a day - our first full day in Sicily - so we hit the ground running. We bombed around the island on a scooter, swam, ate amazing seafood, purchased incredible baked goods at the village bakery that we enjoyed for our entire two weeks. The mulberry granita in the town square was a perfect refreshment. We hired a boat to snorkel and travelled back to Palermo happily exhausted and tanned. I could go back and spend a week on this sleepy little off-the-grid island!

Great sea and peace of mind. Take a boat and circumnavigate the island or simply rent a motorbike and drive all around. Be on the sude if Tramontana when sun is setting. You will be enchanted

We stayed here for two nights. Get transportation to circle the island, see a preserve, and walk to town to see local color. Never forget it.

There is a ferry from Palermo early (7am) and afternoon (1) to Ustica and also back. This beautiful island is in middle of nowhere. Theres a beautiful town center where locals and tourists sit drinking coffee and chatting. Try the local specialty cornetto with a cappucino . I only stayed 1 night so didnt explore the advertised snorkling, diving and treks. Local bus service exists. This place is literally 8 miles square so you wont get lost. Definately recommend

An insland in the insland. Ustica in Sicily.Great landscape and wonderful sea. We make a lot of snorkering looking beautiful fish in a blue sea. A corner of paradise!