Monterosso Beach

After the disappointing pebble beaches in the south of France, Monterosso provided a nice change in scenery with its beautiful long sandy shoreline! The largest walkable coastline of the Cinque Terre, Monterosso is divided into two parts — the western part where the train station is, and the eastern part called «Alto Monterosso,» where the ferry dock is. You can rent kayaks and paddleboards all along both parts of Monterosso, but the slide pedal boats are only in Alto Monterosso. I highly recommend seeing the Cinque Terre by boat if you are comfortable on the water. We kayaked from here to Vernazza one afternoon and then rented a pedal/​slide boat the next day to play around and have a picnic on. They don’t offer up life jackets for any water activities (though I think they have them if you desire them) and they don’t have lifeguards like we do in the states, so you are mostly at your own risk. Fortunately the Mediterranean is pretty calm so there’s nothing to be afraid of. Well, except that there are jellyfish! Very cool!

Monterosso is the largest village and the only with a proper beach with real sand to enjoy the water and relax.

Monterosso is the only one of the five towns that arguably has a proper beach and it is a huge one (at least in the old part of Town). Actually, there’s a «pay» side where you can hire one of the many sun lounges and parasols, as well as a small changing hut and a shower. Then there’s the free beach on the other side of the white fence divider. That’s nice too, but without the extras or anything to come between you and the deep blue sea. There also appears to be a nice beach right in front of the Train Station on the new side of Town.