Ischia and Procida from Naples: Ferry on Your Own or Organised Tour?

Ischia and Procida from Naples: the short answer

Ischia and Procida are the two “easy” islands of the gulf: they leave from the same Molo Beverello as Capri, cost less and don’t depend on a grotto. Procida is 40 minutes away by hydrofoil (€17.40 each way with Caremar), it’s small, you explore it on foot and half a day is enough. Ischia is 55–65 minutes away (€21.60), ten times bigger, and you have to choose: the Aragonese Castle, the thermal spas or the beaches.

Doing both in a day by public transport costs about €53 in crossings with Caremar, or €40 with SNAV’s Ischia and Procida round trip; a boat tour from Naples with guide and lunch costs from €93. Partner prices verified regularly, sea fares from the Caremar and SNAV websites.

Hydrofoils from Beverello, ferries from Porta di Massa

The same distinction applies as for Capri. From Molo Beverello (metro Line 1 Municipio, Alibus stop) leave the SNAV, Caremar and Alilauro hydrofoils. From Calata Porta di Massa, ten minutes’ walk to the east, leave the Caremar ferries: slower, cheaper and the only ones that keep running in rough seas when the hydrofoils are suspended. All the fares below are per adult, each way, checked regularly on the companies’ websites.

On Procida you pay a landing fee of €3.50 per person (not on Ischia; on Capri it’s €5). Caremar adds a 12% advance-sale fee (minimum €1) to tickets bought up to the day before and €1 for online purchases; on ferries children travel free up to age 4, on hydrofoils up to 2, with reduced fares up to age 12. SNAV applies its lower “regional interest” fare on departures between 6 and 9:30 am, 1 and 3 pm and 6 and 8:30 pm: leaving early costs less here too.

Times to keep in mind (SNAV, all year): from Beverello to Procida at 8:30, 11:30, 12:30, 16:20, 17:10 and 19:00; from Procida to Naples at 7:35, 10:10, 14:25, 18:05 and 19:00. To Casamicciola every day at 8:30, 12:30, 16:20 and 19:00 (plus 11:30 from June to September and extra departures on summer weekends); from Casamicciola to Naples the last daily departure is at 17:40, with departures at 18:30 and 20:00 only at weekends from June to September.

Caremar advises that, because of the bradyseism emergency in Pozzuoli, the 10:45 Naples–Procida–Ischia departure currently leaves at 11:30 until further notice: check the website the day before.

Procida in a day: Corricella, Terra Murata, Chiaiolella

Procida is four square kilometres with no serious climbs: from the port at Marina Grande you can do everything on foot, with the EAV bus to help for the Chiaiolella. A tried-and-tested route, 4–5 hours:

1. Marina Grande (arrival): coffee on the harbour, then up via Vittorio Emanuele towards Terra Murata.
2. Terra Murata: the highest fortified village on the island, with the Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo and the lookout that frames the Corricella from above. It’s the photo you already know.
3. Marina Corricella: down the stairway; the fishing village with its yellow, pink and pale-blue houses is entirely pedestrian. Lunch here, fish and lemons.
4. Chiaiolella: by bus or 35 minutes on foot, the longest beach, looking out over the islet of Vivara, a nature reserve linked by a bridge (access regulated).
5. Return from the port on the 18:05 hydrofoil or, in summer, the 19:00.

Procida was Italian Capital of Culture in 2022 and since then the morning hydrofoils are full on spring and summer weekends: buy your return as soon as you land. Out of season it’s the quietest island in the gulf, and also the cheapest: €35 in crossings and €3.50 landing fee and the day trip is done.

Ischia in a day: Aragonese Castle, thermal spas, beaches

Ischia has to be chosen before you leave, because there are three ports and it takes an hour and a half by bus to go round the island. The three possible days:

Aragonese Castle. On the islet linked to Ischia Ponte by a bridge dating from 1441, with churches, terraces and the crypt; go up by lift or on foot. Full-price ticket €15, €6 for ages 10 to 18, €12 for over-70s, according to the official website; open every day from 9 am to sunset with last ticket an hour and a half before closing, closed for maintenance from 7 January to early March. From Ischia Porto it’s 25 minutes on foot along the corso or bus no. 7. Two hours, then the village of Ischia Ponte for lunch.

Thermal spas. Ischia is Italy’s spa island. The thermal parks with pools at different temperatures by the sea are the most relaxing day you can have from Naples: the Poseidon Gardens at Forio (Alilauro landing at Forio or bus from Ischia Porto) and the Negombo at Lacco Ameno (bus from Casamicciola, where SNAV docks). The day ticket is bought at the entrance or online; prices from the official websites, checked regularly: at the Poseidon Gardens €50 for the full day and €45 from 1 pm (giardiniposeidonterme.com), at the Negombo in high season (July to mid-September) €70 per person with parasol and sunbed included, €50 for the half day from 1:30 pm and €35 from 4 pm (negombo.it), less out of season. Open from late April to mid-October (Poseidon from 18 April to 31 October); bring flip-flops and a bathrobe or hire them there.

Beaches and Sant’Angelo. The Maronti beach (bus from Ischia Porto), the pedestrian village of Sant’Angelo with its taxi-boats, the Bay of Sorgeto with its hot springs in the sea at Forio. This is the choice for July and September; in August the beaches are full by the afternoon, so better arrive at 9.

The EAV bus on the island covers every locality with the circular CS and CD lines; buy the ticket at a tobacconist or at the port ticket office.

Ischia and Procida on the same day: how to make the timetables fit

It can be done, but with one rule: Procida in the morning, Ischia in the afternoon, because Procida is exhausted in a few hours and more evening departures leave from Ischia. Sequence with SNAV: Beverello–Procida at 8:30 (arriving 9:10), four hours on the island, hydrofoil Procida–Casamicciola in 15 minutes around 1–2 pm, three hours for Lacco Ameno and Casamicciola or for the Castle by bus, return from Casamicciola at 17:40, or at 18:30 and 20:00 on summer weekends.

SNAV sells the Ischia and Procida round trip package for €40; with Caremar, which arrives at Ischia Porto, the same day costs €17.40 + €10.50 + €21.60 = €49.50 plus the €3.50 landing fee. With buses and waiting it’s a 10–11 hour day: doable, but not relaxing.

That’s why the boat tours from Naples exist: a motor vessel or gozzo that calls at Procida, sails along the Ischia coast with stops for swimming and includes lunch. You don’t see the spas and the time ashore is shorter, but the coves and the Corricella from the sea are worth the difference if you prefer the water to the villages.

The single-island alternatives, if the double loop seems too much:

The Ischia boat tour with lunch and swimming at €149 is a day at sea around the green island, not a visit to its villages; the Procida ferry at €21.12 is the hydrofoil ticket with a single voucher; Headout’s Procida boat tour at €74 circles the island with a swim, ideal if you’ve already seen the Corricella from land.

Practical rules for the islands

A few things that save a whole day. Buy your return ticket as soon as you land, not at 6 pm: on weekends from May to September the last departures sell out and the companies aren’t interchangeable, a SNAV ticket isn’t valid on Caremar. If you have luggage or pushchairs, the ferry from Porta di Massa is more comfortable than the hydrofoil, where suitcases travel in a separate hold.

Check the wind forecast the evening before: with a force 4 sea or higher the hydrofoils can stay in port and boat tours are moved or refunded. Bring your swimming things even if you’re going for the Castle: at Ischia Ponte the Spiaggia dei Pescatori is two minutes from the bridge, and at Sorgeto the hot pools in the sea are free. The exact meeting point for tours is on the voucher: almost always Molo Beverello, not Porta di Massa.

When to go

From April to June and from September to October you have sea warm enough for swimming, spas open and hydrofoils with seats. July and August work best if you leave by 8:30 and have your return booked. In winter the islands can still be reached every day (Caremar and SNAV don’t stop), Procida is deserted and beautiful, Ischia offers indoor spas, but the open-air thermal parks and the Castle are closed in January and February. When the sea is rough the hydrofoils are cancelled: on days with strong wind prefer the ferry from Porta di Massa or postpone. As an alternative, city beaches are covered on the beaches in Naples page.

Combinations and alternatives

With three island days, do Capri, Ischia and Procida on three separate days from the same pier: journey times and costs are compared in day trips from Naples. If you just want the sea without going ashore, there are the boat tours in the gulf, leaving from Naples or Mergellina. To reach the port from the airport or the station, by Alibus and metro, see transport.

In short: Ischia and Procida from Naples

Procida: morning hydrofoil, a walk around, back at sunset, €35 in crossings. Ischia: choose the port according to what you want to do, Castle or spas, and stay all day. Both in a day: SNAV at €40 with the timetables to hand, or a boat tour from €93 that combines the two islands with guide, swim and lunch and brings you back to Beverello without checking a single timetable.