Beaches La Calcara, Marina Longa di Tordigliano, Le Grottelle – from Positano

Premise

This route was traveled on January 2, 2024, and all subsequent observations and considerations fully apply only to that day.

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From the parking lot (hoping to find it close enough) to the fork for Montepertuso, you ascend via CAI 333A up to the building of Rifugio Capo d'Acqua where you can choose between two continuation variants for the initial section.

On the way out, we continued on the higher variant following CAI 333A more or less up to an elevation of 475 meters.

At this elevation, CAI 333A makes a right hairpin turn and then you go straight on another obvious path.

By bypassing Capo di Masina, you go under a stretch with a scenic rocky band, then descend briefly to a fork (not signposted but with a fairly clear track) rejoining the initial variant and few meters later you find on the left a descending staircase corresponding to a sign "POSITANO CORVO".

You continue straight to a pass bordered on the outside by a large tower.

After the pass, you gently descend around a shaded basin and continue traversing finding various informative wooden signs.

Soon after the sign «Welcome CHIOSSE» indicating you are on the Sentiero di Chiosse, there is a sign at the fork with the Sentiero dei Briganti (the fork is located about 60/70 meters before what is shown in the current version of OpenStreetMap), and then one indicating the border between the municipalities of Positano and Vico Equense.

With very panoramic views of the Amalfi Coast and Li Galli, you reach the building in the locality of Chiosse where there is a sign stating exactly "Anciently Monte Fiosso - Currently Chiosse".

Soon after, you enter a stretch of "wide semi-shelf" below a nice rocky band and continue without problems up to a sign indicating a first possible ascent detour to the Sella di Arola (with Cancello di Arola).

A few meters later is another sign indicating a second possible ascent detour to the Sella di Arola and the descent towards Tordigliano.

From here we descended with... endless switchbacks down to SS 163 with a short intermediate detour to the well-signposted Grotta Nevola.

You reach SS 163 shortly before the "kilometer tile" 8-I and head left on asphalt for about 600 meters until just before tile 8-VII.

Here starts the narrow path descending to the beaches: today there were no signs but the entry is obvious.

The descent is very comfortable down to the first, smaller and central (of the three) beach called La Calcara where there are some buildings and... a large colony of cats! 😺

From here we went immediately towards Marina Longa di Tordigliano continuing right towards the buildings up to a nearly vertical rock step where there is an iron ladder that nullifies the difficulties (however we had to help... our four-legged child 🐕😉).

Then follows a short walkway bordered by protections and, to complete the bypass of the promontory dividing these two beaches, you continue above the cliffs.

Everything is quite intuitive, and the first part of bypassing the promontory is facilitated by some small artificial cement footholds – these footholds serve mostly as visual markers to make it quicker because the walking lines are never truly difficult.

Marina Longa di Tordigliano is... long, over 350 meters seafront, and here we spent about half an hour for a snack and a swim. 🏊

To reach Le Grottelle beach you go back to La Calcara: from the buildings you notice a sort of natural bench-platform that skirts, just above the base cliff, the promontory dividing the two beaches.

Thus, you resume the ascent path from SS 163 and after a few meters you exit above this natural bench-platform.

Soon you bypass the promontory tip and arrive at the key access passage to Le Grottelle.

It is a descending step on rock-boulders, and obviously is very damp-wet; it can be defined as a short alpine grade II, but by no means trivial given the damp-wet condition.

Here we found a fixed rope attached to an hourglass-shaped rock, and using it we descended and then climbed back up: the rope is very useful but does not completely eliminate the difficulties, some attention is always required.

Without a rope it would be a significant problem.

For the return to Positano, as already written in the "SUMMARY" sheet, we always took the Sentiero di Chiosse as base adding only a short detour to Cancello di Arola and arriving via the lower variant to Rifugio Capo d'Acqua (from this direction, just before the refuge there is a good spring with a tap).

a good spring with a tap).