Ionic Coast
From San Foca you can easily reach the Ionic Coast of Salento. You can rent a car or avail of the advantage of the “Salento in Bus” which stops at Gallipoli and Porto Cesario.
The coast overlooking the Ionian sea is a true spectacle of nature: the absence of rivers makes clear waters, limestone rocks create a fine sand and white hues. The combination of sand and sea life to a strip of paradise is very similar to those of the tropics. The most popular place of the ionian coast of Salento, are Gallipoli e Porto Cesareo.
The town of Gallipoli is divided into two parts respectively called Borgo and Centro Storico, connected by a bridge. The Borgo is the modern part of the city and is located to the east, on a promontory, while the Centro Storico is the old town, located to the west on a calcareous origin island.
Porto Cesareo is a pretty little town of Salento whose coastline is characterized by stretches of bays and lagoons with huge expanses of golden sand to tiny grains, which are limited to the ground by beautiful dunes with a characteristic and appreciated Mediterrean vegetation, inserted in the EU priority habitat.
The coastline is characterized by the presence of numerous capes and islets, consists of sandy coves alternate with stretches of low cliffs.
The sea has physical and chemical characteristics typical of the Mediterrean, with colorful coral formations and incredible clear water.
Porto Cesario holds the Marine Protected Area and the “Riserva Naturale Orientata Palude del Conte e Duna Costiera – Porto Cesareo”.