Vendicari Nature Reserve

Vendicari protects about fifteen hundred hectares of coast with several shallow brackish pans lying directly on a migration route between Africa and Europe; greater flamingos, herons, storks and waders use them, and more than two hundred species have been recorded, with hides set along the paths. Between the marshes and the sea are beaches of pale sand, including Calamosche in a sheltered inlet. The ruins of the Vendicari tonnara, a tuna processing works with its chimney and vats, stand on the shore beside a fifteenth-century Swabian tower, abandoned when the fishery closed in the twentieth century.

What you actually see

• The flamingo pans - shallow brackish marshes on a migration route.
• The tonnara ruins - an abandoned tuna works with chimney and vats.
• The Swabian tower - a fifteenth-century tower on the shore.
• Calamosche - a sheltered sand beach between rock headlands.

When to go

April to June and September to November for birds on migration; summer is hot with fewer birds and busy beaches. Calamosche is a walk from the car park.

Honest expectations

Beach access involves walks of up to a kilometre from parking with no shade. Bird numbers vary enormously with the season. Facilities are minimal.

Nearby

Noto lies inland; Marzamemi is south.