THE CAPRAIA ISLAND PORT
Capraia is the third largest island in the Tuscan archipelago.
It has a surface area of about 20 m2. It is 8 km long and 4 km wide. The island is actually closer to Corsica’s coastline (31 km) than the Italian one (54 km).
The island has its own municipality, the Municipality of Capraia Isola, which is part of the province of Livorno and is the smallest municipality in Tuscany.
The island can be reached by boat or by ferry from the port of Livorno, which is about 64 km away, and by a fast shuttle service in the summer.
Its port is located in a sheltered inlet on the north-east coast, which consists of a succession of inlets of varying depth, between Punta di Porto Vecchio to the north and Punta del Fanale to the South east, at latitude 43°44’ North. and 10°58’ East longitude.
From 1873 to 1986 it was a prison island and the port was mainly used for commercial traffic that supplied the penal colony.
After the prison was closed recreational boating became increasingly popular, in addition to fishing activities and passenger traffic as well as vessels bringing supplies for the 400 local inhabitants and the tourist accommodation facilities.
The port offers a quay for passenger traffic about 134 meters long and a 3,200 m2 pre-boarding yard.
The “Marina di Capraia” boating facility is managed by the SOPROTUR company which uses 4 floating piers and has a total of 100 berths available. In the eastern part of the bay there is also a buoy field for pleasure craft.