Marina Grande (Big Marina), Sorrento (must see)

It's not a great idea to take the names of the two Marinas literally. Big Marina (Marina Grande) is the smaller of the two. It is a fishing village, and it has restaurants. Small Marina (Marina Piccola) is a large marina, but it is a ferry terminal and transport hub. One is a destination. The other is but a link to a destination.

Big Marina is a community in itself. It has restaurants and bars, hotels, and a church. It is also a pretty place to walk in. The Marina nestles in a nook of the Amalfi Coast. It is like a world waiting to be discovered but much better than Rockaway Beach in the old days. It has kept its rustic insouciance.

The Marina port is secluded from the rest of busy Sorrento by a rocky promontory which is said to be the site of a Roman villa of Emperor Augustus's nephew, Marcellus. Marina village still clings, in some ways, to its pre-industrial life. See a bit of that life at sunset, when the fishermen clean up their nets and boats for another day.