Spiaggia Riserva Naturale Orientata Dello Zingaro

If you get hungry, there are many great restaurants near Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro within a 25-minute-drive. Blanc Ristorante – Pizzeria – Sushi offers many great dishes including sushi, risotto, pasta, and grilled aubergine.  Il Ficodindia is an upscale restaurant that has an elegant ambience and it offers a variety of excellent gourmet dishes including couscous, pasta, steak, roast octopus, and veal.  Ristorante Agora is known for serving a variety of delicious Italian-inspired dishes including pasta, risotto, fried seafood, and shellfish.  Ristorante Alfredo has a homely ambience and it offers a variety of delicious Sicilian dishes including couscous, Trapanese-style pesto, and busiate-style pasta.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby restaurant, Peppi's Center serves amazing pizzas, along with a variety of other Italian snacks including sandwich, fries, pasta, risotto, and seafood – it also offers refreshing beverages and desserts.

If you are looking for a hotel near Spiaggia Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro, there are many great nearby options within a 25-minute drive.  The 4-Star Hotel Capo San Vito offers many amenities including a sauna, a spa, a terrace, a restaurant, a private beach area with sun loungers and umbrellas, and complimentary breakfast.  Villaggio Cala Mancina is another great hotel that offers many amenities including a pool, a restaurant, a bar, a sporting club, a garden, and complimentary breakfast.  Another great hotel is the Baglio La Porta that offers many amenities including a restaurant, a pool, access to nearby a spa, a hot tub, gardens, and complimentary breakfast.  A more affordable hotel is the Camping Village la Pineta that offers accommodation in tents and RVs and it also has villas – this camping village offers many amenities including multiple pools, a football pitch, a shopping market, a tennis court, multiple restaurants, and an outdoor disco.  If you are looking for another good and affordable nearby hotel, Baglio la Luna offers many amenities including a terrace, gardens, a pool, and complimentary breakfast.

The beaches at Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro do not offer lifeguards or any other amenities.  However, there are a few amenities near the beaches including restrooms, picnic areas, and a seasonal fruit stand selling watermelon – the restrooms are located at the southern end and the northern end of this reserve.  In addition, you can find the fruit stand while hiking between two of the beaches here named Cala della Disa and Cala Capreria.

Pets are not allowed within the reserve.

The beaches at Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro Beach Sicily offer many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, swimming, boating, snorkeling, hiking, paddleboarding, kayaking, canoeing, and wildlife watching.

The beaches here are ideal for beginner swimmers because the water here usually has gentle waves.  However, if you plan to swim, kayak, or snorkel here, we recommend being careful because the water here can have unpredictable rip currents and dangerous waves.   In addition, snorkelers also visit the beaches here to explore the vibrant nearby underwater biodiversity – Cala della Disa and Cala Tonnarella dell’Uzzo are two of the beaches here that are particularly ideal for snorkeling.

If you like geology, there are interesting sea caves around two beaches here named Cala Capreria and Cala Marinella – you can explore these sea caves at low tide.

If you like taking pictures with beautiful views, the beaches of Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro offer amazing Instagram-worthy views of the Gulf of Castellamare and the Northwestern Sicilian shoreline.  If you are looking for beaches that offer a quieter beach experience, you can visit Cala dell’Uzzo and Cala del Varo because these beaches usually have fewer visitors as compared to the reserve’s other beaches.

If you like birdwatching, you can see many kinds of seabirds around the beaches at Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro.  If you like hiking, you can explore the beautiful and vibrant coastal landscape here through hiking trails – the main hiking trails here are named Sentiero di Mezza Costa and Sentiero Alto and they offer a strenuous, but fun hiking experience.  In addition, hiking here also offers a unique way to explore the local plant and animal life. 
If you want to explore other beaches outside this reserve, you can visit Cala Grottazza, which is located to the north of Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro – this beach offers many fun activities including sunbathing, beachcombing, swimming, and wildlife watching.

The beaches in Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro do not offer wheelchair access to visitors with disabilities.

Getting to the beaches of Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro may be slightly difficult because of the strenuous hiking required to reach them – Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro has two entrances.  One of the entrances is located at the reserve’s northern end and is called “ingresso nord” in Italian, while the other is located at the reserve’s southern end and called “ingresso sud” – both these entrances are easily accessible from a road named Strada Provinciale 63.

There is a free dirt parking lot near the reserve’s southern entrance, along with a nearby paid parking lot that charges a fee of €8.  In case you are entering from the reserve’s northern entrance, you can park along the free street parking spaces nearby.  The northern entrance for this reserve is easily accessible from the town of San Vito Lo Capo, while the reserve’s southern entrance is easily accessible from the village of Scopello.

While entering Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro, you need to pay a separate entrance fee of €5 at the entrance station.  Please note that kids under the age of 10 need to pay an entrance fee of €3.  Once you have parked your car and paid the entrance fee, you need to hike along the shoreline through a rugged hiking trail named Sentiero Costiero to reach the beaches here – if you are planning to visit here, please note that the reserve authorities only allow visitors wearing sturdy footwear to this beach.

In addition, we also recommend carrying water and light snacks during your trip so that you can stay hydrated and energized.  Please also note that beach umbrellas are prohibited here.

We recommend visiting this reserve early in the summer, between June and August, because the parking lots here can occasionally get filled up.  In addition, some of the smaller beaches here including Cala Berretta and Cala Capreria can get crowded quickly during this season.

Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro was created in 1981, when thousands of locals protested the construction of a road connecting San Vito Lo Capo to Scopello – this reserve was one of the first natural reserves to be set up in Sicily.

There are many attractions within Riserva Naturale Orientata dello Zingaro.  Grotta dell'Uzzo – also called the Cave of the Uzzo – is a cave that has an interesting archeological significance – this cave has traces of human presence dating back to 10,000 years ago and remains of prehistoric animals have also been discovered here.  In addition, there is also a small museum nearby named the Museum of Peasant Civilization.  Lago di Venere is a small natural rocky pool that offers a few fun activities including swimming, snorkeling, and wildlife watching – this pool offers some amazing photos, and the access trail to this pool also offers a fun hiking experience.  The Museum of Maritime Activities – also called Museo delle Attivita Marinare in Italian – is a museum that is set in a former fish storage and processing facility named “tonnarella dell'uzzo.”  This museum hosts many interesting exhibitions on the local fishing and fish-processing industry – you can see old fishing tools and historic photographs here.  Borgo Cusenza is a historic site that has the remains of an old hamlet – you can see the old houses here and get an insight into how a rural local community lived and engaged in farming. In addition, the hiking trails around this site also offer a fun hiking experience.  If you are looking for another attraction in the reserve, the Museum of Manna offers interesting exhibitions on the cultivation of a local resin named “manna.”  This museum offers an insight into how manna is cultivated from ash trees and processed for human use.  In addition to the Museum of Manna, there are multiple other museums within this reserve including the Naturalistic Museum and the Weaving Museum.