Naples

Nearly every Bay of Naples island runs both, and the trade is consistent:

• Hydrofoil or catamaran from Beverello or Mergellina — roughly half the time, no vehicles, and the first to be cancelled when the sea gets up.
• Conventional ferry from Calata Porta di Massa — slower and cheaper, takes cars and scooters, keeps sailing in weather that stops the fast boats.

For Capri this is largely academic, since the island restricts visitor vehicles anyway. For Ischia it is a real decision, because Ischia is big enough to want wheels.

From our timetable for Naples departures:

• Capri — 4 sailings, about 50 minutes, with Alilauro, Caremar, NLG and SNAV. Elsewhere the range is quoted at 50 minutes to 1 h 30 m depending on vessel, from around €25.
• Ischia — 4 sailings, roughly 60 minutes, four operators including Medmar.
• Procida — 4 sailings, about 35 minutes, Caremar and SNAV.
• Sorrento — 4 sailings, roughly 40 minutes, Alilauro and NLG.

These are our listed sailings; the full published frequency across all operators in high summer is considerably higher, particularly to Capri.

Naples is not only a bay port. Naples to Palermo is the busiest crossing in our listings with 10 sailings, worked by GNV, Grimaldi and Tirrenia — an overnight ship with cabins that replaces a night's accommodation and lands you in Sicily at breakfast.

It leaves from the commercial berths rather than Beverello, and the check-in behaves like a long-haul ferry, not an island hop.

Beverello and Calata Porta di Massa are the same port on a map and fifteen minutes apart on foot, with luggage, in traffic. Mergellina is a different neighbourhood entirely — roughly 3 km west, reachable by metro or taxi but not on foot from the centre.

If you booked a fast boat and then changed to a conventional one, you have also changed terminals. Rebook and re-read.

Napoli Centrale is about 2 km from Beverello — a short taxi, or metro line 1 to Municipio which surfaces beside the port. Capodichino airport is roughly 7 km away with the Alibus running directly to the maritime station.

Cruise passengers dock at Stazione Marittima, which sits between Beverello and Calata Porta di Massa — convenient for a same-day island excursion, and the reason those two quays are busiest mid-morning.

The bay runs year-round, unlike much of the Greek network: Capri, Ischia and Procida all keep winter services, thinner but reliable. What changes is the fast-craft frequency, which multiplies from Easter and peaks in August.

Rough weather suspends hydrofoils while the conventional ferries continue. In practice that makes Calata Porta di Massa the safer bet on a marginal day, even though it is the slower boat and the longer walk.

Three very different places, all within an hour:

• Capri — dramatic, expensive, crowded by day and quiet after the last boat. Vehicle restrictions mean you arrive on foot whatever you intended.
• Ischia — far larger, thermal spas, a working island with its own towns. Worth a car, and it has three ports of its own.
• Procida — the smallest and least developed, 35 minutes away, and the one most day-trippers skip.