In front of the Trapanese coast opens the Egadi archipelago, the Marine Nature Reserve largest in the Mediterranean for its no less than 524 sq. km.

It includes three major islands-Levanzo, Favignana and Marettimo-and two uninhabited islets, Formica and Maraone.
Three islands, a sea with enchanting color, beaches and rugged coastline.
Few inhabitants and the atmosphere of places where time flows in its own way. But above all, the depths of the sea: staring at it for hours would probably do nothing to dampen the awe of the first glimpse.

A rich variety of different environments, created by the joint action of wind, geological features, hydrodynamic and morphological conditions, where life has taken many forms.

A paradise for those who enjoy the sea from the surface and, even more so, for those who want to explore its secret tangles that lurk in the depths. Small inlets where there is room for only a few and an infinity of caves, some where you can get to by boat and others that only divers are allowed to investigate.
Colors, smells, tastes and sounds that cannot speak the same language as city people. Places where you wake up and the first thing you ask yourself is “which way is the wind blowing today ? What will the sea be like ? “.

Marettimo
It is the farthest from the coast. As soon as you disembark on the island, before you even realize that the entire town is concentrated on the one spot where the mountain plunges into the sea without excessive eagerness, you will meet the fishermen.
They are waiting for you, already ready with their boats, to offer you a tour of the island. It is a worthwhile experience. They will take you to see the caves around the island and tell you about the history and special features of each one.
Look at the water: with every meter you will see the sea below you changing shades and above you the mountain walls overhanging the sea. In only one spot on that island could man live: right there where the village is. The rest is mountain. Mountain and sea, the two souls of the island, the two words that give it its name: sea-timo.

Perhaps you will make a stop at Cala Bianca and surely pass by the Castle. They will tell you about Marettimo with the simplicity of someone who lives there and ask you where you want to stop: here there are no beaches that you can reach by yourself. Here there is the mountain and only so many small coves where you can land from the sea. Do not expect to find, for your entertainment, anything more than a few bars or a few small restaurants. Here you live by nature alone.

Favignana
The largest and most famous of the three islands, the one that comes closest to a real city. The butterfly that landed on the sea and the queen of the tuna fisheries in the days when slaughter made the Florios’ fortune.
Island with the clearest waters, where every corner is a new landscape to be discovered: Cala Azzurra, Cala Rossa, Cala Rotonda and all those little nameless coves. Your task is only to discover which one you like best. White beaches or small coves surrounded by rocks, rocks from which children dive with masterful somersaults, and seabeds that seem to be made just for the delight of divers.

Levanzo
Green and mountainous, the smallest of the Egadi Islands is known worldwide because it has the honor of preserving, in the Grotta del Genovese, paintings and graffiti from the final phase of the Paleolithic period.
Guided tours will allow you to admire figures of men, animals and fish dating back as far as 10,000 to 15,000 years.

Managing entity: Municipality of Favignana
Piazza Europa – Favignana

Getting there

The islands can be reached from:

– Trapani www.usticalines.it
– Marsala www.usticalines.it and www.siremar.it

FLORA & FAUNA

Flora

Levanzo and Marettimo, thanks to their mountainous nature and less human presence, enjoy a dense vegetation. Marettimo, in particular, having detached from the rest of Sicily at an earlier time than the others, has developed numerous endemics of its own, some very rare in the rest of Sicily and others totally nonexistent.
Marettimo therefore is a true botanical garden created naturally on a rock that broke away 600,000 years ago from Sicily. The flora here is so rich that to list all of the more than 500 recognized species would be impossible.

Suffice it to mention that the area near the settlement is covered with dense Mediterranean scrub consisting mainly of Erica multiflora, a woody plant with a beautiful pinkish hue, Elichrysum pendulum, Rosemary, Satureja fruticulosa, Euphorbia dendroides, which colors the environment with its vivid tones, the small evergreen shrubs of Cistus, Ruta chalepensis with its woody stem and yellow petals, and Daphne oleifolia, a species found only here, along with a few specimens of Holm oak and Aleppo pine.

On the walls that descend vertically to the depths of the sea, on the other hand, a very rich vegetation has developed made up of very rare adaptations and unique associations: there are the bushes of Bupleurum, a paleoendemism with delicate twigs, the characteristic cushions of Locinera implexa, Brassica macrocarpa, an endemism typical of these cliffs with yellow inflorescences.
The same thing can be said for Levanzo.
Favignana, on the other hand, is the flatter and also the one most exploited by man. It is more barren although traces of Garrigue, Mediterranean scrub persist, especially Lentiscus, Carob, Euphorbia and Sumac, and rock vegetation including the Sea Cabbage, an endemic species exclusive to the Egadi Islands.

The sea – The more compact rocks of Levanzo and Marettimo favor, not too deep, the development of light-loving vegetation. Prominent among this is Cystoseira sp., which takes root best in shallowly sloping seabeds.
Favignana ‘s softer seabed, on the other hand, is an ‘excellent site for the growth of marine angiosperms such as Posidonia oceanica, endemic to the Mediterranean, and Cymodocea nodosa, which can be recognized by its red-tinged stem and elongated leaves.

In the first few meters of depth, there are algae typical of well-lit environments such as Padina pavonia, fan-shaped brown algae, and Acetabularia acetabulum, with its characteristic umbrella shape. In less well-lit environments, it is possible to see encrusting Sponges and numerous colonies of Anthozoans, octopus-shaped aquatic animals such as Astroides calycularis (the madrepore that creates rounded red encrustations), Sea Daisy, a yellow-colored octopus hexacoral, and False Coral.

Fauna

Although the Egadi archipelago is a Marine Reserve, it is also of considerable importance for the fauna found within the islands, especially migratory fauna. The Griffon Vulture, beautiful with its broad wings, the Canovaccio, the Biancone, a large bird of prey with fringed wings, the Berta, which likes above all to keep itself airborne but is also adept at swimming, and the Cormorano, whose tapered body and webbed legs enable it to swim quickly underwater, regularly pass through here.

Sometimes it may also happen to catch sight of specimens of Stork, Crane, Flamingo and Pelican.
The Peregrine Falcon, Great Swift, Barn Owl, Lonely Sparrow, Little Hat, and, most noteworthy, live permanently in these mountains, the Bonelli’s Eagle, an endangered species.

At sea – The Posidonia oceanica prairie forms a continuous cover between Favignana and Levanzo.
It constitutes a true ecosystem, representing a perfect habitat for the reproduction of numerous species of organisms that find shelter and nourishment here. Numerous species of fish live here, such as the Damsel, recognizable by its red-striped livery and darker bands, the Red Castagnola, beautiful precisely because of its bright red color, the sparaglione seabream and cephalopods such as the Cuttlefish, which are preyed upon by larger species such as the Redfish, Seabream and Octopus.

Beyond a depth of 30-40 meters, the environment is semi-dark and the surface of the rocks is covered with encrusting organisms and the colorful Gorgonians, red and yellow, and the splendid purple Paramuricea. At these depths, among the cracks in the rocks, lobster, grouper, conger eel, with specimens of considerable size, and moray eel find an ideal environment.