Leg 53 of 97 · Passage plan · RYA Yachtmaster standard
Giardini Naxos to Siracusa
South under Etna, across the Gulf of Catania and past the oil port of Augusta, to Siracusa, with its island old town of Ortigia and the great natural harbour of the Porto Grande.
07:30 CEST from Giardini Naxos. 1 hour 50 minutes after sunrise (05:42 CEST).
Arrive
About 16:13 CEST at Siracusa. In the late afternoon, with about 4 hours 10 minutes of daylight in hand (sunset 20:22 CEST).
Tides
Range about 0.2 m: no practical effect
Wind
Sea breezes; afternoon gusts off Etna
Boat
35 to 38 ft sailing yacht, 1.9 m draught, 6 kn under sail, 5.5 kn under engine
Crew
Skipper and 3 crew, 2 watches of 2
Track and waypoints 1 to 5, with ports of refuge as squares.
Go or no-go
Decide at 06:30 CEST. Go only if all of these hold:
No wind above force 5, and no easterly above force 4.
Siracusa berth confirmed.
Visibility 3 nm or more: the approaches to Catania and Augusta are busy.
If the weather is wrong, stay at Giardini Naxos. Catania is the harbour on the way.
Route and waypoints
Waypoints are planning positions in open water, checked against a 1:10m coastline to be at least 1.5 nm off land except at the harbour ends. Distances and courses are calculated from them. Plot every one on the current chart before use. Courses are true.
#
Waypoint
Latitude
Longitude
Course
Leg nm
Total nm
ETA
Notes
0
Giardini Naxos harbour
37°49.3′N
015°16.5′E
07:30 CEST
Depart.
1
Giardini Naxos approach
37°49.5′N
015°17.5′E
076°T
0.8
0.8
07:42 CEST
Out of the bay, then south.
2
Off Acireale
37°36.0′N
015°13.0′E
195°T
14.0
14.8
10:02 CEST
2 nm off the lava coast.
3
Off Capo Santa Croce
37°14.5′N
015°18.0′E
170°T
21.9
36.7
13:41 CEST
2 nm off. Augusta to the west: tankers and naval ships.
4
East of Ortigia
37°04.0′N
015°19.0′E
176°T
10.5
47.2
15:26 CEST
1.5 nm off.
5
Porto Grande approach
37°02.8′N
015°18.5′E
198°T
1.3
48.5
15:45 CEST
South-east of the entrance, north of the Plemmirio area.
6
Siracusa, Porto Grande
37°03.6′N
015°17.1′E
306°T
1.4
49.8
16:13 CEST
Inside the harbour, off the Foro Italico. Position approximate. Check on the chart
Tides and time
Giardini Naxos · Sun 4 Jul · CEST (UTC+2)
HW
04:00
0.1 m
LW
09:44
0.0 m
HW
16:17
0.2 m
LW
23:00
0.0 m
From the Catania station.
Siracusa · Sun 4 Jul · CEST (UTC+2)
HW
04:00
0.1 m
LW
09:44
0.0 m
HW
16:17
0.2 m
LW
23:00
0.0 m
From the Catania station.
Sunday 4 July 2027. Tides. The range here is 0.1 to 0.3 m: tides make no practical difference. Wind and air pressure move the sea level more than the tide does.
Both ends use the Catania station.
Tide times are predictions made for this plan from the TICON-4 harmonic constants (DGFI-TUM) with the Neaps tide predictor, because the official 2027 tables were not yet published when it was written. Tested against the official APDL table for Leixões on 23 July 2026, the predicted times were within 8 minutes and the heights 0.1 to 0.2 m lower. Heights are above lowest astronomical tide. Check every time against the official 2027 table before sailing.
Daylight. Sunrise at Giardini Naxos 05:42 CEST. Sunset at Siracusa 20:22 CEST.
Weather
Settled in summer. Sea breezes from the south-east.
Gulf of Catania. Open to the east; a sea builds in an easterly.
Forecasts to check
Italian forecasts: Aeronautica Militare Meteomar and gale warnings (avviso di burrasca), meteoam.it. Forecast areas Tirreno meridionale, Stretto di Sicilia and Ionio. Zone names and issue times: Check the pilot book
NAVTEX Augusta: 518 kHz, station V. Roma: station R. Check the times on the receiver.
Italian coast radio VHF weather broadcasts: Check the pilot book
Hazards
Augusta. One of Italy's largest oil ports and a naval base, with tankers anchored off and restricted naval areas. Keep 2 nm off and outside any charted military area. Check on the chart
Catania. Ferries and commercial traffic.
Porto Grande. The Anapo river gives a steady current in the harbour.
Plemmirio marine protected area, round Capo Murro di Porco. Zone A (no navigation, anchoring or mooring) off the cape between 36°59.94'N and 37°01.04'N, east of the coast to 15°20.45'E. Zone B: sail allowed, engine at 5 kn, no anchoring, mooring only on the park's buoys. Zone C (the rest, out to 15°21.15'E and down to 36°59.44'N): engine at 10 kn, anchoring only on sand in 2 marked areas. Buoys need a paid authorisation bought online (pagoPA), which asks for an Italian fiscal code or the country of residence. Consorzio Plemmirio 0931 449310, [email protected].
Ports of refuge
Port
From the route
Use it when
Notes
Giardini Naxos
Start
Within the first hour
Harbour.
Catania
6 nm west of waypoint 2
Weather turns
Check the pilot book
Siracusa
Destination
First choice
Marina Yachting, about 180 berths; Foro Italico quay, about 100.
Pilotage
Leaving Giardini Naxos
Leave the bay and head south, 2 nm off the coast.
Into the Porto Grande
From east of Ortigia, head south, then west into the harbour between Castello Maniace and Punta Castelluccio.
Call Marina Yachting for a berth. VHF and phone: Check the pilot book
Person overboard. Shout, point, throw the danger buoy, press MOB, DSC distress alert, Mayday on 16.
Before leaving
Forecasts read and logged before the go or no-go time
Italian notices to mariners (Avvisi ai naviganti) checked for the route
Waypoints entered and checked against the chart
Ship's log started in UTC
Crew briefing: route, watches, safety gear, MOB, fog
Siracusa berth booked
Fuel for 10 hours under engine, plus a reserve
Water, food and hot drinks for 11 hours
Lifejackets with crotch straps, jackstays rigged, harnesses
Liferaft, grab bag, flares in date, handheld VHF
Radar, AIS and navigation lights tested
Passports, boat papers and insurance aboard
Sources
Siracusa: Italian Wikipedia, “Porto di Siracusa”.
Lights: English Wikipedia, Capo Santa Croce and Capo Murro di Porco lighthouses.
Plemmirio: plemmirio.eu (decree of 15 September 2004; disciplinare 2022; ormeggio).
Capitaneria di porto ordinances for Lipari, Milazzo, Messina, Catania, Siracusa and Pozzallo could not be read: guardiacostiera.gov.it was unreachable. Check the pilot book
Lights in Italy: Wikipedia, List of lighthouses in Italy (characteristics, heights, ranges); check against the Italian Navy list of lights (Elenco dei fari).
Italian harbour ordinances (Capitanerie di porto) could not be read for this plan: guardiacostiera.gov.it was unreachable. Check the pilot book
Tides: predictions from TICON-4 harmonic constants (Hart-Davis, Dettmering and Seitz, DGFI-TUM, 2025, doi 10.17882/109129) with Neaps (openwaters.io). Check against the Instituto Hidrográfico 2027 tables.
Sunrise and sunset: calculated (NOAA method).
Lights: The Lighthouse Directory (Rowlett), ibiblio.org/lighthouse, Portugal pages revised August 2024. Cross-check with the IH List of Lights, volume I.