Has anyone visited the Pontine Islands?

Tom: You've succeeded in asking about a destination that no one has asked about before on this forum before, in the last few years, anyway. (This makes you eligible for the Rick Steves Certificate of Achievement, contact Rick's office for a copy suitable for framing)

Unless someone here surprises me (that's happened before), I'm going to suggest that you go here

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g194853-i9803-Ponza_Lazio.html

which is the Ponza forum at Tripadvisor.com (I kid you not, they have a Ponza forum)--because you're going to need advice from specialists with personal experience in the Pontine Islands.

In doing a little research on the Pontine Islands, hopefully this will help you: the link (below) says that the Rome airport is the usual starting point for getting to the islands.

Ferries and hydrofoils run to Ponza from Anzio (42km), which is an hour's train journey from Rome. Other ferries travel to Ponza and Ventotene from Terracina and Formia, both on the Latina coastline between Rome and Naples. In the summer there is also a hydrofoil service from the island of Ischia to Ponza.

The above is from the website (link below). I haven't been there, but have a feeling your pushing the envelope by trying it as a day trip from Rome. But don't rely on my SWAG because I don't have personal knowledge and am guessing based on a couple of things I read on a quick net search.

Here's the most helpful website I found on a quick search

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/lazio/pontineislands.html

You might have more fun going to Ostia Lido and the beaches there. Much closer than Ponza, although it's nowhere near as beautiful (based on the pictures I've seen of Ponza) and what a coworker has told me.

Thanks a lot for the information.