Tour Amalfi Coast via boat?

There is a marvelous ferry that will take you all along the Amalfi Coast from Positano to Salerno for about 12 euro one way. I did this during my trip and was in awe of the view, the ferry and the incredible low price. Check out Travelmar online.

I drove to Pompei and Sorrento without any memorable issues in the past, but definitely recommend staying on the major highways as long as possible. When I got off the highway one exit too soon on the way to Herculaneum, mid-day traffic on the local roads was horrendous, even worse than it had been on the Amalfi Coast drive. For that reason, I would probably avoid driving into Naples. On the other hand, hotels near the main train station are also very near the end of the A3 autostrada and some have their own parking.

Do you think it would be smarter to stay in the Pompei area then? And mass transit it into Naples to sight see/catch a ferry?

I'm not 100% but pretty sure that there aren't any ferries which operate directly from Naples to locations on the Amalfi coast. They DO run to Sorrento - which would be my choice of location anyway if wanting to do Pompeii plus any of the jetboats around the region.

There will be far more scheduled runs from there to where you want to sightsee, and it'll be quicker: the Amalfi would take a long time to reach by boat from Naples even if they did make that run. You'd be a quick 30 minutes to Pompeii by train: very easy.

Sightseeing can be done in Naples on your way back to Rome: stow your luggage at the station's deposito bagagli service (fee) or at the archeological museum, if that's the only thing you intend to see. Having been through Naples in a shuttle, we were VERY glad neither of us were driving!

I'm not sure where you should drop the car, though. Anyone? It might easiest if it could be turned in before Sorrento, with your return to Rome by train but I'm out of my league on that one. :O)

Ok that makes sense. I have been considering staying in Sorrento as well.

For boat possibilities, go to Orari traghetti
https
https://www.costadiamalfi.it/italiano/traghetti_orari.htm

On this website you will also find all sorts of info on the Amalfi coast, what you can find, do.
There are flags on the top of the website, so you can click on to have translation in English.

That website doesn't have ferry schedules that I can see, though. The link previously provided or this one...

http://www.coopsantandrea.com/en/servizidilinea/servizi.asp

…are good options for those.

Also should you have a boat license (sailboat or motor boat) another idea would be to rent a boat, buy a sailing map or use a gps or even iPhone and off you go!
Another interesting thing to do is contact a fisherman and go fishing with them but you must leave around 4 am.
Enjoy AC

Not sure if they still allow this but when we were staying in Positano right on the beach they rented out motor boats.
Not sure the name of the company they operated on the beach area and had a canopy.

I was quite shocked, it was a little pricey but much less than it would cost in the states and I rented for the day a decent size boat for the two of us and we motored all around the coast line.
The sea was a little choppy that day so we could not easy anchor and go swimming but seeing all of the castle like estates and towns from the sea was quite an experience.

They only requested my drivers license which was a US license and I had no sort of boating license.

I wish I had a boat license, as it is I'm not even going to be driving unless I learn stick between now and June!

I checked on the name of the company and it looks like there are 2 that both have a canopy and offer boat rentals so cannot remember which of the two it was.
http://www.positanoboats.info/Default.html
http://www.bluestarpositano.it/servizieng.htm

Both offer boat rental without a captain which is what we did.
At the time you did not need any kind of boating license. Believe a credit card deposit and drivers license were the requirement.

Thanks for those links! They both leave from Positano only it seems?

OP, you didn't mention if you have boating experience at home. Isn't this actually more risky that driving an asphalt road in good condition, but with twisty curves? I'm prejudiced, because I'm afraid of the ocean. (I do swim off beaches.)

BTW, Naples is much less recommended for a car than is the Amalfi Coast. The problem is street width, crowding, and sideswiping even while parked. Not to mention parking. Look here for past posts about parking in Sorrento and on the Amalfi Coast.

Frankly, we chose to sleep one night in Naples and five nights in Sorrento specifically because we felt we didn't need a car. It's true that we spent 250 or so Euros for a car and driver for an 8-hour tour of the AC, pickup and return to Hotel Ambasciatori, Sorrento. But we're old enough to have imperatives other than just budget. As I have written before, every May night in Sorrento there was 1/4 mile line of cars lined up for the underground public (not FREE, just PUBLIC) garage near our OUTLYING hotel, in Sorrento. In the real high season, fugggeddaboutit.

Drive from Castropignano-Pompei scavi,
Parking is available before the Circumvesuvian train station.
Follow the crowds to the entrance.
Spend at least 3 hours.
Drive from Pompeii to Sorrento hotel, drop bags then turn in car on Via Corso.
13th ferry along AC. Explore a few towns.
14th train to Naples. Bag check at station.
See Napoli, evening train to Rome.

No boating experience here so we're looking to join a boat tour with a captain. Its just two of us.

Any recommendations for ones that leave out of Sorrento? Our hotel is in Vico Equence and the drive to Positano looks like 40+ mins on the map.

No personal experience with your question, but I know my brother was stuck for $1,500 for dropping his car in a different city from where he picked it up. So make sure that does not happen to you.

I booked the car rental with Hertz, and made note of the pick up and drop off locations. There wasn't anything about an extra charge, I'll double check though. Thanks!

Vixen, do you understand that the Circumvesuviana from Naples to Vico Equense has recently stopped at Pompeii Scavi, 50 meters from the ticket booth? The bus to Positano leaves from the Sorrento station of the same train. Your hotel choice is not a problem.