Porto Cesareo

The coast of Porto Cesareo, with its long swathes of beaches featuring the finest sand, is part of the real naturalistic heritage of Salento. The area around the town’s harbour, in particular, is a genuine natural ‘nursery’ for species of every kind, thanks to its warm and shallow waters.
At just 500 metres from the shores of the port, in a romantic tableau of colourful fishing smacks, Isola Grande, which is also called Isola dei Conigli, basks in the sun with its woods of acacias and Aleppo pines. To the north of Porto Cesareo, the coast is a series of lidos and beaches lapped by crystal-clear waters. Of the original boundary of dunes and Mediterranean maquis that covered and distinguished the coastline, unfortunately only faint and sporadic traces remain, except after the Torre Lapillo marina, where tourism urbanization has not been so detrimental to nature.
Don’t miss: a visit to Isola dei Conigli (Rabbit Island) on one of the fishing boats moored in the harbour, preferably at sunset, and the procession in the sea to commemorate the feast of the patron saint, Santa Cesarea Vergine, 20th and 21st August.

Distance: 28 km from Lecce (30 mins) direction Monteroni - Leverano