12 mistakes to avoid in Lampedusa
Lampedusa is small, the season is short and almost everything sells out in advance. Here are the twelve first trip mistakes, and what to do instead.
Why Lampedusa punishes improvisation
Lampedusa covers about 20 square kilometres and its tourist season is short and crowded. Between June and September the island holds far more people than during the rest of the year, and almost everything you need, beach slots, scooters, boat tours, tables, runs out first. If you arrive planning to decide day by day, you will end up giving something up.
None of the mistakes below is a disaster. They are the ones that cost you a morning, make you walk in full sun, or burn the only calm sea day of the week. They are also, nearly all of them, avoidable with ten minutes of planning the night before.
The 12 most common first trip mistakes
They are listed by how often they happen, not by how serious they are. If more than three sound familiar, go back over your plan before you leave.
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Turning up at Rabbit Beach without a booking, or arriving late
In recent seasons access has been free but booked online, with two daily time slots and a capped number of places. If you have booked, you must be through the gate within the first hour of your slot, otherwise the booking lapses and your place goes to the waiting list. At the end of the slot everyone leaves.
What to do instead: Book as soon as availability opens, check the current rules on the Reserve website and work backwards from the deadline, parking and the queue at the gate included. Twenty minutes early beats five minutes late.
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Walking down to Rabbit Beach at midday in August
There is almost no natural shade on the sand, and the way back is all uphill, along roughly 800 metres of rocky path. In the middle of an August day that climb is the hardest part of the holiday.
What to do instead: Take the early morning slot, or go in the afternoon as the sun drops. Bring plenty of water, a hat and sunscreen: there is nothing to buy down there.
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Leaving the scooter rental until the last minute
The scooter is the island main way of getting around, and in August the fleet is gone weeks ahead. Book after your flight and you risk being stuck on foot exactly when you want to explore.
What to do instead: Lock in the scooter when you book the trip, not afterwards. If nothing is left, in summer the town bus lines connect the centre, the airport and Rabbit Beach.
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Choosing a beach without checking the wind
Here the wind decides everything. A sirocco clouds the south coast and raises the swell, a mistral leaves that same south coast perfect. The same cove can be a swimming pool or a washing machine twenty four hours apart.
What to do instead: Check the wind forecast the night before and pick your side of the island accordingly: with a sirocco move east, to Cala Pisana, Cala Creta or Mare Morto. The full pattern is in our wind guide.
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Taking the trails in flip flops
The path down to Rabbit Beach and above all the walk to Cala Pulcino, roughly forty minutes over rock with poor signposting and no shade, are uneven ground. Flip flops here buy you twisted ankles and cuts, not comfort.
What to do instead: Closed shoes with a proper sole, water and a hat. A pushchair on the Rabbit Beach path is a bad idea: with small children pick a beach you can drive to.
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Putting the boat trip on your first day
Strong wind from any direction cancels the excursions. If the island tour is squeezed into day one and the sea gets up, there is no second chance.
What to do instead: Schedule it around the middle of your stay, so you keep two or three spare days to catch up. Watch the forecast and, if the weather looks good, bring it forward without hesitating.
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Relying on cards alone
Many kiosks and small businesses prefer cash, and in high season the cash machines in town have queues or run dry over the weekend.
What to do instead: Arrive with cash already in your pocket and top up midweek, not on Saturday night. Keep the card for the bigger bills.
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Expecting natural shade on the beach
Lampedusa is a low, rocky island: there are practically no trees on the beaches. Only a few spots near town, such as Guitgia, Cala Croce and Cala Madonna, have facilities and sun loungers.
What to do instead: Bring a beach umbrella where it is allowed, or split the day in two, sea in the morning and rest somewhere cool during the middle hours.
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Setting up near the nests, or using lights at night
Rabbit Beach is one of the few Italian nesting sites of the Caretta caretta turtle. The fenced areas protect nests that are still incubating, and at night torches and flashes disorient both the females and the freshly hatched young.
What to do instead: Stay outside the fences, plant nothing where the signs say not to, and keep your phone light off after dark. If you see a turtle, tell the volunteers and move away.
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Touching or collecting anything in the water
You are inside the Pelagie Islands Marine Protected Area. Collecting organisms, feeding the fish or anchoring on posidonia are forbidden, and they damage the very seabed you came to see.
What to do instead: Look and nothing more, take back to shore whatever you took into the water, and check the zone rules on the Marine Protected Area website: swimming is banned in zone A, with Rabbit Island as the exception.
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Taking the hydrofoil without a plan B
The hydrofoil from Porto Empedocle runs in summer only, with a handful of departures a week, and it is cancelled when the sea is rough. If your return lines up with a flight from Palermo or Catania, the risk is real.
What to do instead: Keep a spare day, or consider the ferry, which runs all year and copes better with rough sea, or simply fly. Check the service status the day before.
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Getting the timing wrong and finding out on the spot
The Ferragosto week in mid August is the busiest and most expensive of the year, with packed beaches and nothing left to rent. September has the sea at its best temperature, fewer people and still long days, though the sun sets earlier and some seasonal services thin out.
What to do instead: If you can choose, aim for June or September. If you come in mid August, book everything months ahead and move your outings to the first hours of the morning.
The twelve mistakes in one table
One line each: what it costs you and the shortest way out.
| Mistake | What it costs | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Rabbit Beach without a booking, or late | A beach day lost | Book online and get in before the slot deadline |
| Rabbit Beach at midday in August | Sunstroke, a brutal climb back | Early or afternoon slot, water and a hat |
| Scooter booked too late | No way to get around the island | Book it with the trip, or use the summer bus |
| Beach picked without checking the wind | Cloudy water and swell | Forecast the night before, east with sirocco, south with mistral |
| Trails in flip flops | Sprains, cuts, a slow way back | Closed shoes, water, hat |
| Boat trip on day one | Tour cancelled and never rescheduled | Put it mid stay |
| Cards only, no cash | Kiosks and small spending stuck | Cash on you, withdraw midweek |
| Shade taken for granted | Unbearable middle hours | Umbrella where allowed, or beaches with facilities |
| Umbrella near the nests, lights at night | Harm to the nests and fines | Stay outside the fences, lights off |
| Touching or collecting in the water | Damage to the protected area and fines | Look only, no anchoring on posidonia |
| Hydrofoil with no plan B | A missed connection | Spare day, ferry or plane as backup |
| Wrong time of year | High prices and queues | June or September, otherwise book months ahead |
The night before checklist
Five minutes, always the same five, and the next day runs smoothly.
- Wind: check direction and strength for tomorrow, then pick your side of the island.
- Bookings: confirm Rabbit Beach, the boat trip and any table you need.
- Water and sun: bottle filled, sunscreen, hat, a light shirt for the path.
- Cash: make sure you are carrying enough for kiosks and small purchases.
- Sunset time: if a viewpoint is on the plan, check the hour and leave early.
Four things not to underestimate
This is not a dangerous island, but it is small, hot and exposed: trouble here almost always comes from the sun, the sea or the road.
- Sun: between 11am and 4pm there is almost no shade anywhere. Water, a hat and indoor breaks are not optional.
- Trails: rocky routes with no services and no water. If you are heading back after sunset, carry a torch.
- Rough sea: when the excursions stop, there is a reason. Skip snorkelling and exposed rocks when there is swell.
- Scooter: helmet always, watch for sand and gravel on the side roads, never barefoot or in flip flops. The island has a clinic with an emergency room and a hyperbaric chamber, but serious cases are flown to Sicily.
Frequently asked questions
Do you really need to book everything?
Accommodation, flight or ferry and scooter yes: in high season those are the three things that go first. Add Rabbit Beach, where access is capped, and the boat trip. The rest you can decide on the spot, bearing in mind that in August a table is easier to find early in the evening.
Can you stay in Lampedusa without a scooter?
Yes, if you sleep in town. Guitgia, Cala Madonna, the harbour and the airport are all walkable, and in summer the town bus lines connect the centre with Rabbit Beach, running regularly through the day. Taxis exist but there are few of them in high season: you need to book.
How much cash should you carry?
Enough to cover a full day of kiosks, sun loungers, a quick lunch and small purchases, for each person in the group. The cash machines are in town: top up midweek and do not wait for Saturday night or your last day.
Is the Rabbit Beach path dangerous?
Not dangerous, but not a stroll either. It is roughly 800 metres downhill over rocky ground, fifteen to twenty minutes, to be repeated uphill in the heat and without shade. With closed shoes and water everyone does it, children included. The pushchair, on the other hand, stays in the car.
What do you do if the hydrofoil is cancelled?
First check the operator website, because cancellations are sometimes decided only a few hours ahead. The ferry runs all year and copes better with rough sea, but it takes several hours and mostly sails at night; the plane remains the fastest alternative. Tell your accommodation straight away and, if you have a connecting flight, always keep a spare day.
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Book first, decide calmly later
Boat trips and excursions fill up on the calm sea days. Looking at what is available in advance saves you chasing a place at the last minute.