Aeolian Islands · visited October 2026 · sources checked 1 October 2026

Filicudi and Pecorini a Mare: the quiet island at the western end.

The Pecorini buoy field, the Coast Guard’s cave and rockfall rules, cash, water and fuel, the nearest chandlers, Bronze Age villages and where to eat in October. Researched shore intel from published sources—not a pilotage plan or a live forecast.

The verdict

Filicudi is what the Aeolians were before the crowds: about 9.5 km², a few hundred residents, one road, mule tracks, and three-quarters of the land a nature reserve since 1997. For a yacht it is a buoy stop in settled weather, not a harbour: Pecorini a Mare on the south coast is the tiny fishing hamlet with the buoy field, and Filicudi Porto on the east side has the ferries, the shops and the post office. Arrive with cash, water and fuel from Lipari or Salina. We picked up a buoy off Pecorini at the start of October 2026.

Rules afloat: read these first

  • No entry to the Grotta del Bue Marino, or to any natural sea cave in the Aeolians—by boat, dinghy, kayak or swimming. Lipari Coast Guard ordinance 20/2020, restated in 42/2025. Filicudi Wildlife Conservation and the Coast Guard also stretch a marker cable across the cave mouth from June to the end of September.
  • 150 m rockfall exclusion (boats, swimmers and fishing) all year at Grotta del Bue Marino, Scoglio Giafante, Punta dello Zucco Grande, Scoglio La Canna and Punta Stimpagnato (Ord. 20/2020 art. 1.2). Look at La Canna and the cave from outside that line.
  • Bathing-safety ordinance 42/2025: during the bathing season, which runs to 31 October 2026, no transit, stopping, mooring or anchoring within 300 m of the coast or 200 m of sheer cliffs, except in licensed buoy fields and marked launch corridors. Bring the tender in through a corridor, dead slow.
  • No anchoring in the Pecorini buoy field, and swimming inside a marked buoy field is banned too. Swim off the beach or a little along the coast.
  • No marine protected area is in force around the Aeolians yet; Filicudi Wildlife Conservation is still campaigning for one. The ordinances above, the land reserve and UNESCO status are what apply. No black-water discharge and nothing over the side.

Shelter by wind direction

  • Pecorini a Mare is in the lee from the north and north-east and open to the south-east, south and south-west.
  • The local portolano is blunt: “Filicudi has no safe moorings; in strong winds return to Salina or Lipari.” Take that at face value and leave early if a southerly is forecast.
  • Plan B on the island: the buoys off Filicudi Porto on the east side (CENF, below). Mind the reef off Capo Graziano, which runs roughly 250 m to the east.
  • Ferries and hydrofoils use Filicudi Porto; keep clear of the hydrofoil berth.

Buoys and landing

  • I Delfini, Pecorini: +39 340 148 4645. Listed in the filicudi.it portolano; they also run round-the-island boat tours.
  • La Boa, Pecorini: filicudi.it publishes +39 340 766 7999. A second number one digit different, 340 764 7999, is also in circulation; if one doesn’t answer, try the other.
  • Navily lists the Pecorini field with +39 388 791 3398 and VHF 09, without saying which operator that is: about 15 seasonal visitor buoys on sand, up to 32 m LOA, anchoring prohibited.
  • Price: a late-September 2026 sailor review paid about €8 per metre a night. Unconfirmed; agree the price when the boat comes round.
  • Shuttle: August and September 2026 reviews say the buoy hire included a RIB shuttle to the village and back for dinner. Ask; it saves launching the dinghy.
  • Filicudi Porto buoys: CENF, +39 340 957 9831, VHF 72.
  • Landing at Pecorini: a small pier and a steep pebble beach. No water at the pier.

Fuel, water and cash

  • Cash first: the island has one cash machine, the Poste Italiane Postamat at the post office (090 9889053), renewed in 2023. Guides warn it runs out or fails, and the rustic places prefer cash. Arrive with euros.
  • Water: none at Pecorini. Ask at the Marina di Filicudi pontoon at Porto (+39 328 655 9228) or the CENF buoys; otherwise fill up on Lipari.
  • Fuel: an older operator page lists a marine pump on the Porto mole. Whether it is open late in the season is unconfirmed, so phone 090 9889984 before relying on it. The reliable option is Eolian Bunker on the Marina Lunga pier, Lipari (090 9812335).

Chandlery & boat jobs

No chandlery or nautical hardware shop found on Filicudi. The nearest are on Lipari:

  • Ferramenta Granata Natoli, Via Prof. E. Carnevale 49, Lipari, near Sottomonastero: 090 9811503. A hardware store with a marine section; Mon–Fri 08:30–13:00 & 16:00–20:00, Sat 08:30–13:00.
  • Lipari Service, Via San Vincenzo, Canneto (Lipari): marine spares and tools; 090 8960940. Hours: check locally.
  • On Salina, Nautica Santa Marina rents buoys rather than selling parts. For anything serious, Milazzo.

Stock is unknown: phone with the part number before the hop. See the Lipari guide.

Provisions, pharmacy & doctor

  • Grocery shops are at Filicudi Porto. The Pecorini shop opens in summer only, so expect it shut from October. A vegetable van calls twice a week. Bakery: check locally.
  • Pharmacy: +39 393 477 8829.
  • Out-of-hours doctor (Guardia Medica), Rocca di Ciauli: 090 9889691.
  • Carabinieri: 090 9889942. Emergency 112 / 118. Anything serious goes to Lipari by boat or helicopter.

Getting around

  • One road links Porto, Rocca di Ciauli and Pecorini. No public bus was found.
  • On foot: the old mule track from Pecorini to Porto via Rocca di Ciauli takes 30–45 minutes. It is exposed; carry water.
  • Taxi vans run on the island for about €5 a head; ask at the bar or your buoy operator, who also give lifts. Scooters: CENF, Via Nino Santamaria, Porto, 090 9889948.
  • By sea: Liberty Lines hydrofoils and Siremar ferries run year-round from Filicudi Porto to Alicudi, Salina, Lipari and Milazzo. Winter timetables are thin; check before relying on them.

A little history

The Greeks called the island Phoinikoussa—Aristotle linked the name to palms, others to ferns, which also name the summit, Fossa Felci (774 m). The lavas at Zucco Grande, dated at over a million years, are the oldest rock yet found in the Aeolians. Capo Graziano has two Bronze Age villages: an older one on the plain at Filo Braccio (c. 18th–17th century BC), and a hilltop village of about 20 oval huts on the Montagnola, which yielded Mycenaean and Cycladic pottery (1500–1300 BC) and was violently destroyed in the 13th century BC. The last Mediterranean monk seal here was shot in 1937 at the Grotta del Bue Marino—“sea-ox” was the old name for the seal. Emigration emptied the island, mostly to Australia and to Waltham, Massachusetts. In May 1971 the state sent 18 alleged Mafia bosses here in internal exile, and almost all the remaining islanders left in protest. Artists and writers rediscovered Filicudi from the 1970s, and most of the island became a nature reserve in 1997. La Canna, the 71–74 m volcanic neck off the north-west coast, was once a coral-fishing ground.

What to see & do

  • Pecorini a Mare: painted houses, fishing boats, a pebble beach and the Chiesa di San Giuseppe above. No traffic at the waterfront.
  • Capo Graziano prehistoric village: about 15 minutes up a path from Filicudi Porto, with the Capo Graziano pebble beach below.
  • Fossa Felci (774 m): from Valdichiesa, the church village at about 300 m. Allow 3–4 hours there and back. There is no water on any trail.
  • Zucco Grande ghost village: about an hour of easy walking from Valdichiesa. Do not continue to Siccagni over the Sciara on the Pecorini side—people have died on that stretch; go only with a local guide.
  • Punta Stimpagnato at sunset: a path to the west tip, with the sun dropping behind Alicudi. Locals take a couple of beers. Le Punte beach, about 20 minutes on foot from Porto, faces the same sunset.
  • Round the island: take the yacht or a local boat tour (I Delfini runs about 2 hours from Pecorini) to see La Canna, the Bue Marino cave and Giafante—from 150 m or more.
  • Film note: Caro diario (1993) was shot on neighbouring Alicudi and at Lingua on Salina, not on Filicudi.

Eat & drink in October

The season is closing; phone before you walk.

  • La Sirena, Pecorini waterfront: the historic pension with fish and Aeolian dishes. Restaurant 13:00–14:30 & 20:00–23:00, cocktail bar 18:00–24:00, plus the Vineria Pecovini. The hotel closes 10 October 2026. Restaurant and bar +39 328 686 9921.
  • Saloon, Pecorini: the island’s bar since the late 1950s—Malvasia, Birra Messina, wines and sipping rums. A late-September 2026 review called the aperitivo legendary. Hours: check locally.
  • A Lumera: a family restaurant with fish of the day, Filicudi recipes and pizza from an outdoor oven; +39 328 019 0203. October opening: check locally.
  • Il Boschetto, a garden restaurant a few minutes above Pecorini: pizza, couscous and grilled fish; +39 347 992 2514. Hours: check locally.
  • Da Nino sul Mare, above the Porto beach: bar, rooms and restaurant, open 1 April–31 October; 090 9889984.
  • La Canna, the hotel restaurant above the Capo Graziano bay: widely called the island’s best table; book on 090 9889956. Winter closing date: check locally.

What I’d do

Come in from Lipari or Salina with cash, water and fuel aboard, on a forecast with nothing from the south. Take a Pecorini buoy, have an aperitivo at the Saloon and dinner at La Sirena while it is still open. Next morning walk the mule track to Porto for the post office and shops, then up to the Capo Graziano village. Sunset at Stimpagnato, and a lap of the island to see La Canna and the Bue Marino—from outside the 150 m line.

Sources & verification

Sources checked 1 October 2026. Opening hours, buoy prices, the fuel pump and the La Boa number have not been phone-confirmed; anything marked “check locally” is unverified. The ordinance details come from the Coast Guard’s own PDFs. Shelter notes summarise the local portolano and sailor reviews; they are not a pilotage plan, so use the chart, forecast and local operator. No private boat position, berth or guest information is published.