Santa Caterina

Santa Caterina is a seaside village of Nardò enclosed between the tower of the same name, to the south, and Torre dell'Alto, to the north, at the edge of the Porto Selvaggio park. The coast is low and rocky, with higher stretches to the north; in the middle is a small sandy bay, with a beach club and a little free beach, where the seabed slopes gently but the sand soon gives way to stones and rocks. Elsewhere you get into the water from the rock, with water shoes.

Next to the bay is the small harbour with the fishermen's boats, and from here canoe trips and dives set off along the coast towards the park. In the bay further north, at the foot of Torre dell'Alto, there is an islet, and caves with green-blue water open in the rock walls. In Messapian times the port of Nardò was here.

The car parks are close by. Nardò is a Blue Flag municipality. The coast faces south-west: with north (tramontana), north-east (grecale), east (levante), south-east (scirocco) and north-west (maestrale) winds it is sheltered, with south (ostro), south-west (libeccio) and west (ponente) winds the sea gets rough. It is part of the Torre Uluzzo Natura 2000 site.