‘Nel blu dipinto di blu’, the famous singer Domenico Modugno sang referring to the sky, where he dreamt about flying… but the citation worked perfectly for the dark blue sea swinging around me, as if painted with a marker… I was floating in liquid watercolor, observing the red iron-dust land fault sinking into a glimmering sea. No sounds, if not the distant bubbling of water due to oxygen tanks streams coming up to surface and seagull’s call.

This is Capraia, one of the islands of the Tuscan archipelago, deriving its name from a Roman appellation standing for ‘goats’, capra in Latin or karpa, whose remote meaning is rock. You can actually find the very similar toponym for Capri Island in Southern Italy. This is a very small ‘rock’ indeed, just 8 km long, of volcanic origin. For this reason the rock faces are rather steep and the sea bottom very deep, the paradise for scuba divers. There is no proper beach around the whole island, if not for a slim strip of sandy beach near the harbour area, which means that only motorboats and sailing ships make waves in this pristine sea.

Before tourism took up the island was only inhabited by a few fishermen families, striving against pirates, or prisoners, since the island was converted into a farming penal colony from the last century up to 1986. In fact, when it was left by the last prisoner, Capraia had only been the land of a few very rare species of vegetation, such as the dwarf palm, which was said to have covered most of European countries hundreds of years ago, when the climate was much similar to the tropical one. As a lost sugar load floating in the Mediterranean Sea, Capraia rises in the distance as a whitish peaky rock sending back the lighthouse beams as unique sign of civilization.

Nevertheless, it was very much sought after by the pirates, for its central position between land and the big islands of Corsica and Sardinia, perfect place to attack vessels full of rich cargos. Dragut, one of the legendary buccaneers in the XVI century was hiding his treasures in its caves, but nobody has ever found them…as far as we know…

When you are in Capraia, you feel like a ‘free’ prisoner, who has no need to lock the front door, as nobody will ever escape from the island without being trapped first; everybody knows each other and there is no way a curly-red-head passes unnoticed along her way, as it happened to me; you can drink any beer, but the local one produced with elicriso flowers (i.e., native strawflowers) smells of the island; you can dine in front of the most striking view under the lighthouse; most of its hotels are floating on the protected bay in front of its harbour. The agenda of boat trip holiday-maker in Capraia includes lot of sun-bathing, diving or snorkeling, hiking on the natural trails departing from Porto and crossing the island’s corners, relaxing in one of the small bars, eating fresh fish, hooked by local fishermen at night. Capraia is a natural park and for this reason fishing is forbidden according to the park area rules.

However, you should not miss the opportunity to hang on some local goat cheese selection and a shot of Aleatico native sweet wine or the very typical squid fried or boiled with vegetable crudité. Capraia is the island I can easily spot from the coast of Northern Tuscany, where I live. It seems so easy to reach and when the air is clear, you might almost grab it - a small piece of paradise, where you can be happy to stay there ‘felice di stare lassù…’ - the song said.

Info: Planning your trip