Guest book

Home » Guest book

Good morning my friend

Whilst staying in the wonderful Residence Domus Cilento in Santa Maria di Castellabate I was fortunate to come across a local expert of the area. His name is Nicola and he runs a selection of bespoke tours of Cilento's attractions. One such attraction is the marine park, which we visited on Nicola's boat, captained by a highly experienced seafarer. The trip was the highlight of my holiday with my fourteen year old son. The scenery was breathtaking as we embarked on our journey along the coast and we made three stops to snorkel in water, which was as clear as the Red Sea. The areas which Nicola took us too were a true taste of paradise and my son and I were in our element. The trip included a lunch and this was extraordinarily good, consisting of a series of courses prepared lovingly by Nicola's wife. It was a seafood extravaganza, and as much local wine as we could drink. This was followed by an exquisite homemade mandarin liqueur, fresh from Nicola's bountiful garden. It was the best meal we had on our three week stay. If you would like to capture the true essence of Cilento I sincerely recommend you contact Nicola as his level of professionalism and love of his area is truly delightful and will bring a smile to your face. My only regret was learning of this trip towards the end of my stay as I would have repeated it three or four times.

God bless
Stephen Caldwell - London
August 2011

Dear Nico
The Masaniello boat trip was definitely the high light of our family vacation to Castellabate, Italy. Boat owner, Nico showed up to our villa on time and we followed him to his boat about 20 km away-we boarded the boat with his captain Jon and a translator. Nico made sure to tell us this was "our trip" and we could do whatever we wanted. The boat was clean and big enough for everyone to have room to lounge about. We started off with fishing for the kids. The captain, a seasoned fisherman, showed the 6 kids (ages 4-12) how to bait the line and troll for small fish. The kids loved pulling their fish on board and watching them in the bucket, soon to be returned to the sea. We then stopped at beautiful inlets where everyone could jump in the water (from the top of the boat!) and swim and snorkel in the clear mediterranean sea. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful marina where Nico's wife had prepared fresh tomato bruscetta, calamari and different fishes all purchased local of Castellabate or fresh from his garden. We also had delicious wines from the region and to top off our lunch Nico brought out his homemade orangecello made from his own orange trees. After lunch there was more swimming, resting and the trip was not complete without a stop off at the ice cream/coffee boat! Overall Nico and his crew were fantastic and had a great rapport with everyone. My kids loved the crew and we will all remember our boat trip for years to come. I would highly recommend it, especially if you're looking for an authentic Italian experience.

august 2011 Jennifer - Frankfurt , Germany ( summerinitaly vacation )

Bravo Masaniello Tourist pour la qualitÃ© de la prestation proposÃ©e : La gentillesse et simplicitÃ© de Nicola, le patron, n'a d'Ã©quivalent que l'extrÃªme beautÃ© des sites vus ou explorÃ©s, l'exquise saveur du repas concoctÃ© par son Ã©pouse Sonia, la compÃ©tence du capitaine du bateau. Tout est fait pour nous permettre de vivre un moment de dÃ©tente exceptionnelle et faire que cette journÃ©e de sortie en mer soit inoubliable ! Certainement unique et inimitable sous bien des plans, cette balade en mer et toutes ses activitÃ©s attenantes ont fait l'unanimitÃ© de notre famille. A tel point que c'est avec un grand enthousiasme que nous avons fait une seconde sortie afin de revivre les mÃªmes sensations. En fait, Ã§a devrait Ãªtre un incontournable pour ceux qui adorent la mer, les paysages Ã©poustouflants et les activitÃ©s aquatiques. PLAISIR GARANTI. Fabuleux moments de richesses humains partagÃ©s. FÃ©licitations et un grand MERCI Nicola.

Famille SAINTILAN Philippe, Rennes, France. Aout 2011

Hello Nicola :

The Sapere and Sapori tour was magnificent. We first drove off to the hills of the Cilento National Parks and we were impressed by the vegetation, the hillsides covered with olive and figs trees, the ancient villages with houses still standing after centuries. We were shocked when we entered one of these houses and found interiors that could be on the cover of a design magazine. Another house or “palazzo” looked abandoned, but, instead, we found out that it was the residence of a renowned Italian play writer that comes to this place when he needs a quiet setting to find inspiration. In fact several houses around the palazzo are rented every year to an elite of visitors from abroad seeking for privacy, a unique scenery and good food. Food was truly unique. Nowhere else but in the company of Nicola you can taste the white figs, a specialty of one of the villages we visited and exported all over the world for a sophisticated consumer. In the same trip we tasted wine, limoncello and other drinks produced with environment friendly procedures. It really took some self discipline not to indulge with the wine and other products that were offered to us. Back home we showed pictures to our friends and all of us still could not believe the places we saw and the food we tried. Thank you Nicola.

Kate & family Atlanta - USA

Dear Nicola
Back in Brittany, we want to thank you again for the 2 amazing days trips on your boat. We had such a great time, swimming, diving, discovering your wonderful coast and we just loved your wife Sonia's cooking and your mandarin liquor. We listen very often "oh sole mio" and we are back in S. Maria di Castellabate again.... We hope to see you again next summer.

Take care Isabelle, RÃ©my, Brieuc and Adrien Rennes (France)
August 2011

Dear Nicola.

Thank you for a wonderful boat trip on board the "Masaniello" on the Tyrreneian sea. Our family had a lovely time swimming and diving in the crystal clear waters under the safe guidance of our host Nicola. Especially enjoyable were the masses of small fish rushing towards the bread crumbs we very willingly shared with them. The food served on board was delicious - big hugs and thanks to your wife, Nicola, for the well-tasting seafood dishes, wine, and mandarin liquor. The weather was wonderful, with a cooling breeze, and even time for a nap after lunch. Excellent, and just the way we wanted it and had dreamt about.

Best, and grateful, wishes,

Else, Roald, Julian, Silja, Vidar, Ingvild, Hilde, Jarand, from Oslo, Norway.
july 2011

On a hot and beautiful day in July 2011, we went out for a daytrip with Masaniellotour. Two Dutch families with children from 9 to 19. We had a wonderful day. It was the highlight of our vacation. Almost everything was perfect: the boot, the swimming in the sea. And the food! Seafood prepared by Nicola's wife. Just delicious.

Please keep in mind that there is no toilet on board.

However, we can recommend Masaniellotour to everybody.

Godfried and Jetty van Run from The Netherlands

Thank you again for the great tour!!! We had a wonderful time!!! The food was fabulous! Please tell your wife again thank you for cooking such delicious food for us. Good luck to your business.

july 2010 - elias , karen and childrens ( florida u.s.a )

june 2010

Nico provided a special tour for my wife and I, visiting places we would never have reached and relating tales we would never have heard, without a special guide. Nico is very passionate and knowledgeable about Cilento and would definitely recommend Masaniello Tours for anyone visiting the area.

bruce and audrey - newcastle uk

21 agosto 2009

"If you are looking for a great day out then we thoroughly recommend booking a day with Nicola on his boat. As a party of 13 (3 famillies), we booked a day out with Nicola during August 2009 on the strength of a recommendation from the holiday village we were staying at and we had one of the best days of our holiday. Nicola was really kind and friendly and took great care of us and he was fantastic with the kids. Nicola's boat is only simple but was easily big enough for the 13 of us. It offered plenty of shade and ample space to sit or lay out and soak up the sun. Nicola has a great knowledge of the local area and took us to fantastic places along the beautiful Campania coast where we could swim and take in the scenery and history of the area. He took great care to make sure we understood the depth of the water so that we would swim safely and made sure that a life preserver teathered to the boat was in the water all the times anyone was in the water. Nicola still has a great sense of fun and once he was sure we were safe, we all had a fantastic time jumping off all parts of the boat and messing about - we laughed and laughed! Lunch time was another amazing experience with the most delicious collection of home cooked food and home produced wine. We had a lovely lazy lunch bobbing about on the boat followed by eating freshly cut slices of melon while swimming about, how often have you done that?! When it came to the cruise home, Nicola managed to make this fun by sitting the kids on the bow of the boat and getting every small wave to break over the bow, it did not take long for the adults to find a place to sit to join in the fun! We were all sad when Nicola dropped us home and the kids spend the rest of the holiday asking to go again. We will definitely book another trip with Nicola next time we're in Campania.

JIM and JO HAYTER ( oxford )

agosto 2009

hi Nicola

"This was the one of most magical days of our holiday - the boat trip to the
island of the mythical Greek sirens was stunning enough in itself but what
made it so special was the company of the charming skipper and his crew who
took us to quiet coves for snorkelling and - the absolute high-light -
served up an unforgettable lunch of simple but delicious local food made
that morning by his wife. Seafood bruschetta, made with locally caught fish
and olive oil from their own garden together with local 'Swiss roll'
mozzarella and Palma ham and a special orange version of limoncello, again
made with oranges from the skipper's garden Giovanni, were all sensational. The
memory of it will stay with us long after the suntan has faded".

All the best

David Jayne Irving - 1 August 2010

Dear Nicola,

we (my wife Christine and my two sons Flavio and Valentino) are sitting in our kitchen on a cold November day and are looking at the photos from our boat trip with you in June. It was maybe the best day of our holidays in Cilento and Amalfi coast. Especially Flavio and Valentino are still remebering with bright eyes the trip, the food, the sea and the whole atmosphere. We have to come back.

All the best for you.

Greetings from Germany

Sebastiano, Christine, Flavio and Valentino

The dramatic coastline the Italians kept for themselves

While the Brits and the Americans flock to the Amalfi coast, Italians drive straight past and head instead for the mountains and beaches of the unspoit Cilento region. Jane Dunford explores its historic villages, secluded coves and beautifully preserved Greek temples

it's six in the evening in the medieval hilltop town of Castellabate and the winding lanes echo with the sound of sneezing, spluttering and a worrying hacking cough.

The priest at Santa Maria Assunta church is determined to deliver his sermon - broadcast over a loudspeaker, so even the teenagers sulking in the square don't miss out - though I think he'd have been better advised to stay in bed with a Lemsip.

Perched nearly 300m above sea level, overlooking Italy's Cilento coast, Castellabate is incredibly atmospheric, despite the unusual soundtrack. It's dominated by a 12th-century castle, once used as a retreat from Saracen raids.

I climb steep stairways, disappear down dark alleys, re-emerge into pretty piazzas where flat-capped men play dominoes outside tiny bars, and gawp at the sight of the cliffs tumbling into the sea far below.

Just two hours south of the bustling chaos of Naples, the Cilento region is one of the most remote parts of Campania. Instead of turning right off the A3 and heading to the undeniably beautiful but often crowded and pricey Amalfi coast, I'd continued on past Salerno, leaving better-known resorts behind.

Much of the area is covered by the Cilento national park - the second largest in Italy - and it boasts 100km of coastline and a wild, mountainous interior sprinkled with historic villages still wedded to a traditional way of life.

This is where ordinary Neapolitans escape to in the summer and is still largely off the tourist radar, granted little more than a passing mention in most guidebooks.

A zigzagging road takes me down from Castellabate to the coastal village of Santa Maria di Castellabate, where the evening passeggiata is in full swing, with young and old strolling along the seafront. At the heart of the historic centre is a sandy beach, surrounded by noble palazzi and fishermen's houses.

There's a somewhat genteel ambience about the place, and the village still has its very own prince in residence, I discover - Angelo di Belmonte who lives in the 17th-century Palazzo Belmonte (part of which is now a luxury hotel).

I spend the night in the lovely Hotel L'Approdo, right on the water's edge at San Marco di Castellabate, Santa Maria's smaller neighbour. From here you can walk the picturesque coastal path along Cape Licosa, follow a donkey track through pine forests to the top of Mount Licosa for wonderful views, or take a boat to a tiny island that's inhabited by lizards. This is a land of myth and legend and it's said that the area's named after the siren Leucosia who came here to die, heart-broken after she failed to lure Odysseus and his crew ashore with her singing.

JUNE DUNFORD

THE OBSERVER, Sunday 9 august 2009

GUARDIAN.CO.UK