Isola Bella from the Via Pirandello belvedere

Isola Bella sits in a cove directly below Taormina, a small rocky island covered in Mediterranean scrub and joined to the shore by a narrow bar of pebbles that appears and disappears with the sea. Seen from above, the water on either side of that bar is two different shades of turquoise, and the island reads as a dark green shape against them.

The belvedere on Via Pirandello, on the way down from the town, is where the shot is made. From there the composition is complete without any work: island, spit, bay, and the coast curving away. It is a high viewpoint, so people in the frame are small — use them for scale, at the parapet, rather than trying for a portrait. The best colour in the water is between late morning and mid-afternoon when the sun is high enough to light it through; that is the opposite of most spots and worth knowing.

The island itself is a nature reserve with a ticket and fixed hours, reached across the spit from the beach; the beach below is partly free and partly bathing clubs. Down to the cove is a cable car from Taormina or a long stepped path. If time is short, the belvedere alone gives the picture — it is a two-minute stop with parking nearby, and no descent at all.