Cyclops Islands Boat Tours

“Cyclops Islands” isn’t just a marketing name for a few photogenic rocks. The Isole dei Ciclopi are a small, protected volcanic archipelago off Aci Trezza, made up of Isola Lachea, the tall Faraglioni and a scatter of smaller stacks. They have their own nature reserve, their own endemic lizard, and one of the oldest stories in European literature attached to them.

The Legend, Two Ways

Two myths meet here. In Book IX of Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus blinds the Cyclops Polyphemus to escape his cave, and the giant hurls rocks after the fleeing ship. Local tradition says the Faraglioni are where those rocks landed.

The second story is Ovid’s. In the Metamorphoses, Polyphemus loves the sea nymph Galatea, who loves the shepherd Acis. In jealousy the Cyclops crushes Acis with a boulder, and Galatea turns his blood into a river. That river gave its name to the “Aci” towns along this coast: Aci Trezza, Aci Castello, Acireale and half a dozen smaller villages inland. The legends are fantasy; the fact that nine towns carry the name of Galatea’s lover is not.

What the Islands Actually Are

The geology is at least as remarkable as the myth. The Cyclops Islands are the remains of some of the first underwater eruptions in this part of Sicily, around half a million years ago, long before the modern Etna took shape. Magma pushed up through the sediment of the seabed and cooled into basalt, often in tall, many-sided columns. Isola Lachea, the largest island, is mostly basalt capped in places with old clays baked by the heat. Along the shore at Aci Castello you can see pillow lava, the rounded shapes lava forms when it erupts underwater.

From a boat, all of this is easy to see. From the pier, it isn’t.

A Protected Reserve, On Land and at Sea

Isola Lachea and the Faraglioni have been an integral nature reserve since 1998, managed by the University of Catania. It exists to protect the plants and marine life along the shoreline and the lizard Podarcis siculus ciclopica, a subspecies found nowhere else. The reserve’s visitor centre is in Aci Trezza. Archaeologists have found a prehistoric stone axe and a rock-cut tomb on Lachea, along with Roman pottery.

Around the islands, the Isole Ciclopi Marine Protected Area covers 623 hectares of sea between Capo Mulini and Punta Aguzza, with extensive meadows of Posidonia seagrass. Its strictest zone surrounds Isola Lachea and the largest stack and is marked by five yellow buoys. No boat may anchor or moor inside it, and swimming is allowed only in two spots: close to the western side of Lachea and around Punta Cornera. In the surrounding zone, motorboats are limited to 5 knots.

That’s why every tour here slows to a drift near the stacks, and why your swim stop happens at particular spots.

The Private Tour That Goes Furthest

The tour featured on this page is the private boat tour to the Cyclops Islands with lunch, rated 4.8 from 70 reviews. Your guide, Arturo, takes you out on a traditional Aci Trezza fishing boat and explains the history and geology of the islands as you go. The trip goes beyond the standard loop: you swim inside the volcanic sea caves locals call Ulysses’ Sea and beneath the Norman castle at Aci Castello, then eat a small Sicilian lunch on board with dessert and Italian coffee. Pickup from Catania or Taormina is available.

Guests describe it as unhurried. “Swimming alone in the Ulysse caves was one of our favorite moments,” one wrote, adding that lunch was “a taste of Sicilian street food ending with cannoli.” Another, on the 18:30 departure, described the evening light and “a perfect meal and wine just off Aci Trezza marina under Mt. Etna.”

It costs around $172 per person, not a flat fee for the boat. It isn’t suitable for people prone to seasickness, with heart conditions or with limited mobility. The operator asks you to share a WhatsApp number, any allergies and whether you’re vegetarian when booking, and small children sit on a parent’s lap.

Seeing the Islands for Less

You don’t need a private charter to see the Cyclops Islands. Almost every tour on this coast passes them:

• The Aci Trezza Odyssey tour, from $22, circles Isola Lachea and the Faraglioni before heading to Aci Castello.
• The Cyclops Coast boat tour with swim stop, from $29, goes beneath the stacks and past Lachea, the castle and the Caves of Ulysses.
• The guided snorkeling tour, from $55, puts you in the water around the islands, over lava beds and seagrass, with a marine biologist’s briefing first.
• The Catania half-day cruises reach the islands after a longer sail up the coast, with food on board.

What the private tour adds is time inside the caves, a guide focused entirely on your group, and a proper lunch.

Tips for Your Visit

• Bring biodegradable sunscreen. You’re swimming in a protected reserve, and the private tour asks for it specifically.
• Don’t expect to land. Tours sail around Isola Lachea and swim in the permitted spots; the island itself is a strictly protected reserve.
• Morning or evening? The coast faces east, so a morning tour lights up the cliffs and villages as you look back at them, while an evening tour gives you warm colour in the sky over Etna.
• Visit the land side too. The castle at Aci Castello, built in 1076, has a civic museum, and its walls give the best land view back across the bay to the islands.

For the full picture of options, see private Cyclops Coast boat tours, snorkeling tours, or every tour compared.

Ready to see the Cyclops Islands up close? Check availability above.