Gargano in September 6 Hiking along the coast from Sfinalicchio to Torre Calalunga

On Monday morning we get off to an early start and drive to Sfinalicchio bay where we find parking easily by the bus stop and set off on foot first along the beach and then up along the coast. 

It's not an official path but a route we found on Wikiloc and we thank the poster for recording his walk so other people know you can walk that stretch of coast. The whole route would take us to Manaccora Bay but since we have already seen the last stretch our objective is Cala dei Turchi.

It's warm but there's a cool breeze and the views are so nice and nice views require photos so our progress is slow but pleasant. It's an interesting stretch of coast, lowish but rugged headlines,

even with an arch on the headland after Sfinalicchio. 

Even though at one point a house owner has put a now rusty fence or walls right down on the rocks 

the path squeezes along close to the water taking us from towers to trabucchi 

between the various bays each of which has its own residence, campsite or tourist village even though there are relatively few people actually on the beach so late in the season.

Just before Camping Internazionale Manacore (careful, not the Village in Baia di Manaccora) there is a spectacular and perfectly preserved and indeed working trabucco. We watch the elderly man reeling in the nets for a while but there's no sign of a catch. 

The trabucco is an intricate system or ropes, beams and pulleys which allow fishing nets to be cast into the deep without leaving the safety of land. 

This one is still used and we stand a while to watch man reeling in the nets although they seem to be empty.

The path continues along the coast in among the Mediterranean undergrowth and we have soon arrived at Cala dei Turchi and Torre Calalunga. At Cala dei Turchi there are already some people on the beach with a dog so we go back to a really excellent picnic spot just near Manacore beach. It's isolated, under a pine tree, right on the water's edge of the calm bay yet we are unseen by the campsite guests. Impossible to resist the temptation to slip down into the calm water for a refreshing swim. The water seems clean and is warm, is not crystal transparent but dips down slowly so is safe for the uncertain swimmer like me. Who is apparently out of training too......

It's a very pleasant place for a picnic and we linger a while in the cool before setting off again. The last stretch back to Sfinale is really hot despite the cool breeze. 

We stop for an exorbitantly expensive cappuccino in a mediocre lido and then drive back to base.

After a rest we go to our 'own' sunlounger and umbrella on the beach and decide on accommodation for the last week of our Gargano holiday. We then wander in the direction of Vieste, walking along the beach, to look for something tasty for supper and decide on a sort of mince kebab. They are quickly ready, tasty and easy after an intense day.