Beaching it

We have been going to the beach on every available day since summer arrived, about a month ago. The wonderful thing about Salento is the amount and variety of coastline that there is. Living where we do, in the centre of the peninsular, we can choose a different beach every day.

For the last few years we have been really lazy as we were given permission to use a friend’s hotel pool. It was bliss and we made the most of it but unfortunately this year they have changed the rules to make the pool only for hotel guests. Fair enough, and although we were gutted when we first found out, actually it has been a blessing in disguise. We have been given the motivation to get out there and explore this beautiful place where we live.

Pre babies we had a totally different criteria for the perfect bathing spot. Isolation was the aim and as the summer got hotter and busier, the rockier it became as we went further and further off the beaten track. That’s great when there are just adults, you can get into the water in difficult places, walk a long way from the car, take very little with you and sit in the full sun.

Now it is a completely different ball game. We are usually looking for a shallow, sandy beach, good shade and usually within easy access of the car unless we get prepared and kitted up for a hike. It’s imperative to have a picnic prepared if a restaurant is not the first stop, to have good things to lie on, a change of clothes for everyone, water for drinking and washing, beach toys… the list continues.

We’ve found so many lovely places that I am planning a Salento Beach Guide for next year. This morning we went to our nearest beach, San Mauro, on the Ionian coast. We haven’t been for a few years and despite not really liking it in the past in our new family form it was fantastic.